Treatment of ammonium-rich swine waste in modified porphyritic andesite fixed-bed anaerobic bioreactor

In this study, a modified porphyritic andesite (WRS) was developed as ammonium adsorbent and bed material for the anaerobic digestion of ammonium-rich swine waste. The performance in bioreactors with modified WRS, natural WRS, calcium chloride and no additives was investigated. The bioreactor with modified WRS exhibited the best performance, with start-up time on the 7th day, methane yield of 359.71 ml/g-VS, and COD removal of 67.99% during all 44 days of the experiment at 35 °C. The effective ammonium adsorption and essential ions dissociation for microorganisms by modified WRS, as well as the immobilization of microbial on the surface of the modified WRS play a great role on the high efficiency anaerobic digestion of ammonium-rich swine waste.