Enhancing methane yield of chicken litter in anaerobic digestion using magnetite nanoparticles

Guadalupe Stefanny Aguilar-Moreno, Elizabeth Navarro-Cerón, Azucena Velázquez-Hernández, Guadalupe Hernández-Eugenio, Miguel Ángel Aguilar-Méndez, Teodoro Espinosa-Solares

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

46 Scopus citations

Abstract

Methane production of chicken litter in anaerobic digestion (AD) was evaluated with different concentrations of magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles (NPs). The Fe3O4 NPs were synthesized by co-precipitation, where the effect of different concentrations and dissolution temperatures of the passivant and precursors, as well as the sonication time, on NPs size was determined. The best NPs were selected based on the smallest hydrodynamic diameter (79.37 nm) with the highest absolute value of zeta potential (−18.06 mV). These NPs were analyzed in a transmission electron microscope (average size of 4.2 nm) and by X-ray diffraction (to corroborate their structure). These 4.2 nm NPs were used to evaluate their effect on AD of chicken litter under mesophilic conditions. The treatments for AD were the control (only chicken litter) and the addition of different concentrations of Fe3O4 NPs (20, 40 and 60 mg L−1). The treatment with 20 mg L−1 of NPs had the highest methane production rate (2.55 mL CH4∙gvsf−1∙d−1) and the highest cumulative methane yield (137.23 mL CH4∙gvsf−1), the last one with an increase of 73.9% compared to the control, while the concentration of volatile fatty acids was similar in all treatments. In general, NPs had a biostimulating effect on methanogenic activity.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)204-213
Number of pages10
JournalRenewable Energy
Volume147
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2020
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Biochemical methane potential
  • Co-precipitation
  • FeO
  • Gompertz model
  • Methane production enhancement

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