Applied Energy 134 (2014) 349355

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Applied Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy

Kinetics of temperature effects and its signicance to the heating

strategy for anaerobic digestion of swine wastewater
Liangwei Deng , Hongnan Yang, Gangjin Liu, Dan Zheng, Ziai Chen, Yi Liu, Xiaodong Pu, Li Song,
Zhiyong Wang, Yunhui Lei
Biogas Institute of Ministry of Agriculture, Chengdu, PR China

h i g h l i g h t s
 Quantitative effects of temperature on the treatment of swine wastewater was evaluated.
 The maximum volumetric biogas production rates (Rpmax) for digestion of swine wastewater between 15 and 35 C were found.
 Temperatureactivity coefcients (h) of Rpmax between 15 and 35 C were obtained.
 The optimal heating strategy is an increase in digestion temperature from 15 to 20 C.

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 22 May 2014
Received in revised form 4 August 2014
Accepted 7 August 2014
Available online 29 August 2014
Keywords:
Swine wastewater
Biogas
Temperature
Kinetics
Heating strategy

a b s t r a c t
The effects of temperature on biogas production and the heating strategy for anaerobic digestion of swine
wastewater were investigated. Through a kinetic model, the maximum volumetric rate of biogas production (Rpmax) for digestion at 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 C were found to be 0.282, 1.189, 1.464, 1.789, and
2.049 L L1 d1, respectively. The temperatureactivity coefcient of Rpmax was 1.332 at 1520 C,
1.043 at 2025 C, 1.041 at 2530 C, and 1.028 at 3035 C. Anaerobic digestion appeared to be more
sensitive to temperature variation within 1520 C than to variation within 2035 C. In terms of energy
inputoutput ratio and total annual cost, the optimal heating strategy is an increase in the fermentation
temperature from 15 to 20 C.
2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Anaerobic digestion has been widely used in the treatment of
swine wastewater because of its ability to produce renewable
energy sources such as methane with concurrent reduction of
emissions of organic pollutants and greenhouse gas. Many countries have adopted it, including China, Germany, Austria, Denmark,
Italy, and The Netherlands [1,2]. Factors inuencing the efciency
of anaerobic digestion include feedstock, microbial biomass, inhibitor, reactor, mixing, pH, and trace elements [3], among which temperature, has a great inuence on microbial availability, biogas
yield, methane content [4,5], ammonia concentration [6], is an
important one. In general, the higher is the temperature, the higher
is the microbial activity up to an optimum temperature. There are
three ranges of temperature in which anaerobic digestion is
carried out, namely, ambient range (1525 C), mesophilic range
Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +86 28 85236376.
E-mail address: dengliangwei@caas.cn (L. Deng).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.08.027
0306-2619/ 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

(3537 C), and thermophilic range (5060 C). Anaerobic digestion at ambient temperature is vulnerable to changes in environmental temperature; it has low efciency at low temperature. To
increase its efciency, most reactors are operated at either mesophilic or thermophilic temperatures, which have optima at 35
and 55 C, respectively. Anaerobic digestion under mesophilic or
thermophilic conditions results in higher metabolic rates and
greater destruction of pathogens and weed seeds. However, mesophilic or thermophilic treatment has drawbacks such as higher risk
for inhibition caused by ammonia toxicity at higher temperature,
as well as higher energy requirements than those of ambient-temperature systems. The increase in methane yield or production rate
has to be balanced against the increased energy requirement to
maintain operation of the reactor at higher temperature. Therefore,
the digestion temperature applied depends on the local climate,
feedstock, and economical efciency of heating.
Over the last decades, the effect of temperature on anaerobic
digestion has been widely investigated [5,717]. Reducing the
operating temperature could considerably slow down microbial

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L. Deng et al. / Applied Energy 134 (2014) 349355

activity and affect treatment efciency. For instance, the methanogenic activity of biomass adapted to landll leachate was found to
be 1.65.2 times higher at 22 C than at 11 C [18]. When concentrated slaughterhouse wastewater was treated in anaerobic
sequencing batch reactors (ASBRs), the reactors showed high average methanogenic activity of 0.37, 0.34, and 0.12 g CH4COD g1 VSS
d1 (22.4, 12.7, and 11.8 LCH4 d1) respectively at 30, 25, and 20 C.
In particular, 90.8%, 88.7%, and 84.2% of the COD removed was
transformed into methane at 30, 25, and 20 C, respectively [13].
A nonlinear decrease in the maximum specic substrate removal
rate (kmax) was also observed when the temperature of the ASBR
was reduced from the mesophilic to the psychrophilic range. The
kmax value was 28.3% lower at 20 C compared with that at 25 C,
whereas it only decreased by 7.0% between 15 and 20 C. The temperature correction coefcient at 7.525Cwas determined to be
1.08 [19]. Masse et al. [17] used anaerobic sequencing batch reactors to treat swine manure and observed that the soluble chemical
oxygen demand decreased from 94.2 1.1% at 20 C to 78.8 3.0%
at 15 C and to 60.4 6.4% at 10 C. Removal of the total chemical
oxygen demand (COD) also tends to decrease as temperature is
lowered. The effects of water temperature and hydraulic retention
time (HRT) on the treatment efciency of the anaerobic lter process were investigated, and the relationship between system temperature and rst-order rate constant for each anaerobic lter
system was developed [16,20]. Most of the research on the effects
of temperature examines methanogenic activity, removal rate of
pollutants, efuent quality, and process stability. However, very
limited information is available on the quantitative effects of temperature on the treatment capacity, which is more important for
the design of wastewater treatment plants. For instance, the volume of digesters for anaerobic treatment of swine wastewater
should be designed to operate at temperatures of 15, 20, 25, 30,
and 35 C.
A new model describing the relationship between the treatment
capacity (in terms of the volumetric biogas production rate, Rp) and
the OLR was developed. On the basis of this nding, anaerobic
digestion of swine wastewater was carried out at temperatures
of 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 C and at different loading rates to obtain
the temperatureactivity coefcient (h) and to reveal the quantitative effects of temperature on the treatment capacity for anaerobic
digestion of swine wastewater at various OLRs. Subsequently, the
heating efciency of anaerobic digestion at various temperature
ranges was evaluated to determine a cost-efcient heating
strategy.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Swine wastewater and inoculum
The swine wastewater used for this study was collected from a
farm 35 km away from the laboratory. Swine wastewater samples
for the experiment were collected form a homogenization tank and
then stored at 4 C until use for experiments. In the experiments,
the average concentration of the total solids (TS) in the inuent
wastewater was 1.08%. Sludge obtained from laboratory-scale
digesters used for treating swine wastewater was used as inoculum for the experimental digester.
2.2. Anaerobic digestion experiments
The experimental equipment (digesters) was the same as that
used in a previous study [1]. A digester with an effective volume
of 1000 mL was constructed from a plastic bottle. It was sealed
with a plastic cap and attached to a pipe for venting biogas. A
1000 mL wide-mouth glass bottle was used as a biogas collector.

It was sealed with rubber stoppers to contain the ow of biogas.

Water discharged from the biogas collector was collected by using
a 1000 mL wide-mouth glass bottle. The amount of discharged
water that was identical to the biogas output was measured by
using a graduated cylinder [1]. Each digester was inoculated with
500 mL of anaerobic sludge at the beginning of the experiments.
In order to distinguish the amount of biogas produced by the inoculum, control experiments were performed with digesters containing 500 mL of sludge and 500 mL of tap water. The digester was
operated in draw-and-ll mode twice a day. A specied volume
of supernatant from the digester was decanted, and was then
replaced with the same volume of inuent. The inuent volume,
HRT, and OLR of the experiments at different temperatures are
listed in Table 1. Each experiment was done in duplicates. A water
bath was used to maintain the temperature of the digesters. When
biogas production for each experiment was found to be stable for
at least 10 days, the experiment was stopped. Biogas production
was determined once or twice a day, and the pH of the liquid
mixture was determined once a day. Analysis for COD, ammonia
nitrogen (NH3N), and biogas were done once a week.
2.3. Analytical methods
Analyses for TS, volatile solids (VS), COD, and NH3N were performed according to standard methods [21]. In addition, biological
oxygen demand (BOD5) was measured by using a BOD meter
(Oxide Control A12; WTW-Wissenschaftlich Technische Werkstatten GmbH, Germany). The pH of the wastewater and liquid mixture in the digesters was determined by using a pH electrode
(inoLab pH 7200; WTW-Wissenschaftlich Technische Werkstatten GmbH, Germany). Biogas production was measured on a biogas
analyzer (Biogas 401; ADOS GmbH Instrumentation and Control,
Germany).
Origin software (version 8.0) was used to t the experimental
data and create mathematical model presented in this work.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Performance of digesters at various temperatures and OLRs
The best treatment of wastewater not only removes pollutants
but also produces useful product. The rate of product generation
from pollutants reects the conversion of pollutants by microorganisms. The sum of all gas compounds in the product of anaerobic
digestion is most commonly determined by online measurements
and, consequently, is widely used in modeling applications [22].
In many studies, biogas is used for estimating parameters [23,24].
Thus, the biogas production rate is the most accurate and direct
parameter that reects the conversion of pollutants by microorganisms. However, this rate only reects biogas production per unit
time (L d1 or m3 d1). Biogas production of digesters with different
volumes is not comparable. The biogas production rate (L d1 or
m3 d1) divided by digester volume, referred to as Rp (L d1 L1 or
m3 d1 m1), reects the productivity of the biogas plant and thus
indicates the efciency of the plant. Therefore, Rp could be used
as a design parameter. Rp values at different OLRs and temperatures
are shown in Fig. 1. Digestion experiments began at 35and 20 C. Rp

Table 1
The operation parameter in anaerobic digestion experiment.
Item

Experimental parameters

Inuent volume (mL)

HRT (d)
Loading rate (g TS L1 d1)

112
8.93
1.21

152
6.58
1.64

202
4.95
2.17

270
3.70
2.91

360
2.78
3.87

351

Volumetric biogas production

/L.L-1.d-1

L. Deng et al. / Applied Energy 134 (2014) 349355

0.3
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05

3.87
1

Volumetric biogas production rate

/LL-1d-1

2.91

2.17

1.64

1.21

0
2

10

11

12

13

Time/d
1.2
1.1
1
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0

3.87
1

2.91

2.17

1.64

1.21

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

Volumetric biogas production rate

/LL-1d-1

Time/d
1.6
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4

3.87

0.2

2.91

2.17

1.64

1.21

0.0
1

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

Volumetric biogas production rate

/LL-1d-1

Time/d
2
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0

3.87
1

2.91
9

10

11

2.17
12

13

14

1.64
15

16

17

1.21
18

19

20

Volumetric biogas production rate

/LL-1d-1

Time/d
2.4
2.2
2
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0

3.87
1

2.91

2.17
9

10

1.64
11

12

1.21
13

14

Time/d
Fig. 1. The volumetric biogas production rates at different organic loading rates and different temperature.

reached a stable value after a long period, whereas it rapidly stabilized in the digestion experiments at 15, 25, and 30 C because of
following on the previous experiments. As the experiments proceeded, Rp increased, reached a maximum, decreased, and then
reached stable values, except in the experiment at 15 C (Fig. 1).
In the stable stage, Rp ranged within 0.052.50 L d1 L1 at
15 C, 0.351.10 L d1 L1 at 20 C, 0.451.40 L d1 L1 at 25 C,
0.501.80 L d1 L1 at 30 C, and 0.601.90 L d1 L1 at 35C at OLRs
of 1.213.87 g TS L1 d1. Karim et al. [25] obtained an Rp value of
0.840.94 L L1 d1 at a temperature of 35 C and OLR of

3.08 g TS L1 d1 in an experiment on biogas fermentation of cow

and swine slurry. In our experiment, the Rp at 35 C was higher than
that at 35 C possibly because of the different feedstock and digesters used.
3.2. The inuence of temperature on biogas yield
Data on Rp at various temperatures and OLRs during the stable
stage were averaged (Table 2). It can be seen in Table 2 that an
increase in temperature and OLR, was accompanied by an increase

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L. Deng et al. / Applied Energy 134 (2014) 349355

in Rp value. Although the OLR at a given temperature linearly

increased by 33.3%, the Rp value nonlinearly increased. When the
OLR increased from 1.21 to 1.64 g TS L1 d1, the Rp value also
increased by 33%. However, the Rp value only increased by
25% when the OLR increased from 2.91 to 3.87 g TS L1 d1. This
difference may be explained by saturation of microorganisms by
the substrate. According to The variation trend of the Rp with the
OLR, the relationship between Rp and OLR could be described using
Eq. (1):

Rp

Rpmax
1 eK LR Lr

where Rp is the volumetric biogas production rate (L L1 d1); Rpmax

is the maximum volumetric biogas production rate (L L1 d1); Lr
is the OLR (g TS L1 d1). KLR is the half-saturation constant
(g TS L1 d1), it is the OLR at one half of the Rpmax.Linearization
of Eq. (1) results in the relation

1
eK LR
1

10eLr
Rp 10Rpmax
Rpmax

Eq. (2) was used to determine Rpmax and KLR from a linear plot of 1/
Rp versus 10eLr at a temperature range of 1535 C (Fig. 2). Rpmax
and KLR, could be obtained from the slope and yintercept of the plot,
respectively, (Table 3). Values of the determination coefcient (R2),
which reects the reliability of the regression, are also given in
Table 3. Regression showed high linearity (R2 = 0.9890.999).
As Table 3 shows, KLR values are similar at different temperatures, but the Rpmax values vary considerably. Rpmax values of
wastewater digestion at 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 C were 0.282,
1.189, 1.464, 1.789, and 2.049 L L1 d1, respectively. Rpmax at
20 C is 4.20 times higher than that at 15 C, that is, when the temperature increased from 15 to 20 C. Rpmax had the largest increase,
by 320% and by 23.1% from 20 to 25 C, by 22.2% from 25 to 30 C,
and by 14.5% from 20 to 25 C.
Quantication of the effect of temperature on the biokinetic
coefcients for anaerobic digestion could be expressed in Eq. (3)
[26]:

RpmaxT 2 RpmaxT 1 hT 2 T 1

where Rpmax(T1) is the Rp at temperature T1 (L L1 d1); Rpmax(T2) is

the Rp at temperature T2 (L L1 d1); h is the temperatureactivity
coefcient; T is the temperature (C). The values of h between different temperatures (Table 4) could be achieved based on the data in
Table 3. Table 4 shows that h of the Rpmax between 15 and 20 C
is the highest (1.332) compared with h between 20 and 25 C
(1.043), between 25 and 30 C (1.041), and between 30 and 35 C
(1.028). When the temperature was >20 C, h values were similar
(1.03 to 1.04). The h value that reects the increased proportion
of Rp was the highest when the temperature increased from 15 to
20 C at the same OLR. These results indicate that anaerobic digestion of swine wastewater was much more sensitive to variation in
temperature from 15 to 20 C than to variation from 20 to 35 C
in our study. The h values obtained in our study were different from
those in the literature. When a static granular bed reactor was used
to treat swine wastewater at 24 and 16 C, h of the kmax was

determined to be 1.09 [12]. Overall, h values of the kmax for an ASBR

used to treat synthetic substrate with nonfat dry milk at 7.525 C
were equal to 1.08 [19]. h values at temperature ranges of 1520 C
and 2025 C were estimated to be 1.059 and 1.069, respectively by
using data from the aforementioned study. When Lin et al. [27]
investigated the temperature dependence of biokinetic parameters
for the methanogenesis of volatile fatty acids at 1550 C, they
found that h is 1.077 in at 1535 C. h values obtained in other studies corresponded to a wide temperature range, which can overlap
with a narrow, sensitive temperature interval. And this narrow temperature interval can cut amount of construction and operational
costs. However in our study, the temperature interval was 5 C;
thus, the h value obtained could accurately reect the inuence of
temperature on biokinetic parameters.
3.3. Heating strategy for the digester used in the treatment of swine
wastewater
Flushed swine wastewater or any type of separated animal
wastewater is a low-temperature and low-concentration liquid
waste with VS content in the range of 12% [28]. An economical
method of maintaining the temperature of anaerobic digestion is
heating the reactor by using excess thermal energy from biogas
engines of a combined heat and power (CHP) [3,29]. However,
excess thermal energy from biogas engines is limited. Thermal
energy conversion efciencies for the CHP are 4045% [30,31]. It
is necessary to heat the substrate to reach a higher digestion temperature in order to ensure the treatment effect. For heating of
digesters treating low-temperature and low-concentration liquid
waste, the energy inputoutput ratio and cost are two important
factors that must be considered. The h value obtained in this study
provides a basis for the analysis of heating strategies.
Taking a 10,000-head pig farm as an example, the amount of
wastewater including manure, urine, and ushed water was estimated tobe about 20 liters per pig per day, or 200 m3 d1 for the
entire livestock farm.
The energy inputoutput ratio and cost estimates for digesters
in Tables 5 and 6 were calculated on the basis of the following
criteria:
(1) The COD concentration of swine wastewater and the estimated biogas output when wastewater was anaerobically
treated were assumed to be 12,000 mg L1 and 1000 m3,
respectively. The heat value of the biogas was approximately
21 MJ m3.
(2) The annual average temperature was assumed to be 15 C.
Heat loss and heat requirement for feedstock were calculated according to the literature [26]. Coal was used to heat
the digesters. A heating value for coal of 30 MJ m3 and a
heat efciency of 65% for the hot-water boiler were used
[32]. The price of coal was assumed to be 0.60 yuan per
kilogram.
(3) The Rp of the plant was assumed to reach 85% of the Rpmax,
that is, the designed value of 1.00 m3 m3 d1 at 20 C.
Designed Rpmax values at 15, 25, 30, and 35 C were
calculated according to Eq. (3) (Tables 3 and 4). The unit

Table 2
The volumetric biogas production rates at different temperature and different organic loading rate.
Loading rate/g TS L1 d1
Volumetric biogas production rate (L L1 d1)

15 C
20 C
25 C
30 C
35 C

1.21

1.64

2.17

2.91

3.87

0.0964 0.0047
0.401 0.0291
0.499 0.0302
0.578 0.0322
0.645 0.0474

0.133 0.0057
0.532 0.0346
0.650 0.0195
0.776 0.0326
0.871 0.0599

0.157 0.0072
0.690 0.0361
0.848 0.0510
1.016 0.0406
1.180 0.0815

0.216 0.0054
0.848 0.0352
1.083 0.0583
1.240 0.0356
1.430 0.1010

0.245 0.0068
1.065 0.0456
1.283 0.0924
1.597 0.0429
1.776 0.0767

L. Deng et al. / Applied Energy 134 (2014) 349355

353

11.00
10.00

1/Rp

/L-1Ld

9.00
8.00
7.00

y = 2.240x + 3.539
R = 0.989

6.00
5.00
4.00

3.00
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20 1.40 1.60 1.80 2.00 2.20 2.40 2.60 2.80 3.00 3.20 3.40

1/Rp

/L-1Ld

10e-Lr
2.90
2.70
2.50
2.30
2.10
1.90
1.70
1.50
y = 0.546x + 0.841
1.30
1.10
R = 0.998
0.90
0.70
0.50
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20 1.40 1.60 1.80 2.00 2.20 2.40 2.60 2.80 3.00 3.20 3.40

1/Rp

/L-1Ld

10e-Lr
2.40
2.20
2.00
1.80
1.60
1.40
1.20
1.00
y = 0.439x + 0.683
0.80
R = 0.999
0.60
0.40
0.20
0.00
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20 1.40 1.60 1.80 2.00 2.20 2.40 2.60 2.80 3.00 3.20 3.40

1/Rp

/L-1Ld

10e-Lr
2.00
1.80
1.60
1.40
1.20
1.00
y = 0.385x + 0.559
0.80
R = 0.996
0.60
0.40
0.20
0.00
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20 1.40 1.60 1.80 2.00 2.20 2.40 2.60 2.80 3.00 3.20 3.40

1/Rp

/L-1Ld

10e-Lr
2.00
1.80
1.60
1.40
1.20
1.00
0.80
y = 0.343x + 0.488
0.60
R = 0.997
0.40
0.20
0.00
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20 1.40 1.60 1.80 2.00 2.20 2.40 2.60 2.80 3.00 3.20 3.40

10e-Lr
Fig. 2. A linear plot of 1/Rp versus 10e-Lr for the temperature range of 15 C to 35 C.

investment for construction of the digester was estimated to

be 600700 yuan per cubic meter of digester; larger digesters require less unit investment for construction.
(4) The volume of digesters and biogas output were xed at
1000 m3 (Table 5) and 1000 m3 d1, respectively (Table 6).
As Table 5 shows, at a digester volume of 1000 m3 and initial
fermentation temperature of 15 C, increasing the fermentation
temperature to 25, 30, or 35 C could increase the biogas output

(energy) compared with that achieved by increasing the temperature to 20 C. The heat loss and heat requirement for feedstock in
the former case is much greater than those in the latter case.
Therefore, the net energy output achieved by increasing the fermentation temperature from 15 to 20 C is greater than that
achieved by an increase from 15 to 25 C, from 15 to 30 C, or from
15 to 35 C. The energy inputoutput ratio may be used as an index
for heating efciency. If the energy inputoutput ratio is equal to1,
then the input heat energy is equal to the net output energy

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L. Deng et al. / Applied Energy 134 (2014) 349355

Table 3
The maximum volumetric biogas production rate and Half-saturation constant at different temperature.
Temperature (C)

Maximum volumetric biogas

production rate Rpmax (L L1 d1)

Half-saturation
constant KLR (g TS L1 d1)

Determination coefcient R2

15
20
25
30
35

0.283
1.189
1.464
1.789
2.049

1.845
1.871
1.861
1.930
1.950

0.989
0.998
0.999
0.996
0.997

(increased biogas energy). If the energy inputoutput ratio is less

than 1, then the input heat energy is greater than the net output
energy. Table 5 shows that the energy inputoutput ratio when
the fermentation temperature increases from 15 to 20 C is the
highest (2.384) compared with that from 15 to 25 C (1.554),
from15 to 30 C (1.313), and from 15 to 35 C (1.157). When the
fermentation temperature increases from 15 to 20 C, an input of
1 energy unit into the heat digester could result in 2.384 units of
energy output. Heating digesters had good energy efciency. However, when the fermentation temperature increases from 15 to
35 C, the energy inputoutput ratio is close to 1, implying that

the biogas energy increased by heating almost equaled the input

energy. In these cases, heat does not make sense. Therefore, under
the condition of limited heat energy, the optimal heat strategy is an
increase in the fermentation temperature from 15 to 20 C, as indicated by the energy inputoutput ratio.
Besides the energy inputoutput ratio of the heating strategy,
the economy needs to be considered. Raising the fermentation
temperature can improve the efciency of biogas production and
decrease the volume of the digester, and consequently reduce the
investment cost for digester construction. However, heating the
digester requires fuel, which increases the operation cost. The cost

Table 4
Temperatureactivity coefcient at different range of temperature.
Range of temperature
h
h
h
h
h

(1520 C)
(2025 C)
(2530 C)
(3035 C)
(2535 C)

Temperatureactivity coefcient

Range of temperature

1.332
1.043
1.041
1.028
1.034

h
h
h
h
h

Temperatureactivity coefcient

(1525 C)
(1530 C)
(1535 C)
(2030 C)
(2035 C)

1.179
1.131
1.104
1.042
1.037

Table 5
Energy input-out ratio under different heating mode.
Temperature
a

1

Heat loss (MJ d )

Heat requirement for Feedstocka (MJ d1)
Heat efciency (%)
Input energya (MJ d1)
Volumetric biogas production rate (m3 L1 d1)
Volume of digester (m3)
Biogas output (m3 d1)
Increased biogas outputa (m3 d1)
Heating value of biogas (MJ m3)
Increased energy outputa (MJ d1)
Net energy outputa (MJ d1)
Energy input-out ratioa,b
a
b

15 C

20 C

25 C

30 C

35 C

0
0
65
0
0.238
1000
238
0
21
0
0
0

214.8
4187
65
6712
1.000
1000
1000
762
21
16,002
9290
2.384

429.5
8374
65
13,543
1.234
1000
1234
996
21
20,916
7373
1.544

644.3
12,560
65
20,315
1.508
1000
1508
1270
21
26,670
6355
1.313

859.1
16,747
65
27,087
1.731
1000
1731
1493
21
31,353
4266
1.157

The values when increasing digestion temperature from 15 C to 20 C, 25 C, 30 C and 35 C respectively.

Energy input-out ratio is dened as the ratio of increased energy output to input energy.

Table 6
Annual total cost for digester including investment and heating.

Temperature

15 C

20 C

25 C

30 C

35 C

Biogas output (m3 d1)

Designed volumetric biogas production rate (m3 m3 d1)
Designed volume of digestor (m3)
Unit investment for construction of digester (Yaun m3)
Total investment for construction(Thousand Yuan)
Effective life of digester (year)
Annual investment cost (Thousand Yuan year1)
Input energya (MJ d1)
Heating value of coal (MJ kg1)
Amount of coal for heating (kg d1)
Price of coal (Yuan kg1)
Annual cost for heating (Thousand Yuan year1)
Annual total cost including construction investment and heating (Thousand Yuan year1)

1000
0.238
4200
600
2520
15
168
0
30
0
0.60
0
168

1000
1.000
1000
650
650
15
43.3
6712
30
225.7
0.60
49.4
92.3

1000
1.234
800
680
544
15
36.3
13,543
30
451.4
0.60
98.9
135.1

1000
1.508
630
700
441
15
29.4
20,315
30
677.2
0.60
148.3
177.7

1000
1.731
580
700
406
15
27.1
27,087
30
902.9
0.60
197.7
224.8

Input energy when increasing digestion temperature from 15 C to 20 C, 25 C, 30 C and 35 C respectively.

L. Deng et al. / Applied Energy 134 (2014) 349355

per year could be split from the total investment for digester construction, while the cost of fuel for heating could be added to compare the economy of various heating modes. For a biogas output of
1000 m3 and initial fermentation temperature of 15 C, the annual
total cost of construction investment and heating for the mode of
temperature increase from 15 to 20 and to 25 C is less than that
for the mode without heating (Table 6). The annual total cost for
the mode of heating of from 15 to 30 C is close to that for the
mode without heating. However, the annual total cost for the mode
of heating from 15 to 35 C is higher than that for the mode without heating. Therefore, the optimal heating strategy is an increase
in the fermentation temperature from 15 to 20 C.
4. Conclusion
The temperature has a signicant inuence on the efciency of
biogas production, energy inputoutput ratio, and total cost of construction investment and heating in the digestion of swine wastewater. Based on this study, the following specic conclusions could
be drawn:
(1) The kinetic model could accurately describe the relationship
between Rp and OLR at various temperatures. Rpmax values of
wastewater digestion at 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 C were estimated to be 0.282, 1.189, 1.464, 1.789, and 2.049 L L1 d1,
respectively.
(2) Anaerobic digestion of swine wastewater appeared to be
much more sensitive to temperature variations within
1520 C than to those within 2035 C.
(3) h of the Rpmax between 15 and 20 C was the highest (1.332).
h values between 20 and 25 C, 25 and 30 C, and 30 and
35 C were 1.043, 1.041, and 1.028, respectively.
(4) According to the energy inputoutput ratio and annual total
cost of construction and heating, the optimal heating strategy was an increase in the fermentation temperature from
15 to 20 C.

Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge support from the China
Agriculture Research System (CARS-36-10B) and the National
Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.31101749).
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