Understanding and Predicting Foam in Anaerobic Digester

As a result of the ambiguity and complexity
surrounding anaerobic digester foaming, efforts have been made by
various researchers to understand the process of anaerobic digester
foaming so as to proffer a solution that can be universally applied
rather than site specific. All attempts ranging from experimental
analysis to comparative review of other process has not fully
explained the conditions and process of foaming in anaerobic
digester. Studying the current available knowledge on foam
formation and relating it to anaerobic digester process and operating
condition, this piece of work presents a succinct and enhanced
understanding of foaming in anaerobic digesters as well as
introducing a simple method to identify the onset of anaerobic
digester foaming based on analysis of historical data from a field
scale system.

• I. R. Kanu
• T. J. Aspray
• A. J. Adeloye

• Anaerobic digester
• foam
• biogas
• surfactants
• wastewater sludge.

[1] Banfield, P. & Littlejohn, J., 2013. Waste 2 Energy_Seafield Case
Study. (Online) Available at: http://www.ice.org.uk/ice_web_portal/
media/scotland/gwos-waste2energy-seafield-100113.pdf (Accessed 24
February 2014).
[2] Barber, W., 2014. Influence of wastewater treatment on sludge
production and processing. Water and Environment Journal, 28(1), pp.
1-10.
[3] Barjenbruch, M., H., H., O., K. & J., T., 2000. Minimising of foaming in
digesters by pretreatment of the surplus sludge. Water Science and
technology, 42(9), pp. 235-241.
[4] Batstone, D. et al., 2002. Anaerobic Digestion Model No. 1, London:
IWA publishing.
[5] Metcalf and Eddy 2014. Wastewater Engineering - Treatment and
Resource recovery. Fifth Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill International.
[6] Filbert, J. W., 1985. A survey of anaerobic digester operations, Boston:
Specialty conference, Environmental Engineering, American Society of
Civil Engineers.
[7] Ganidi, N., Tyrel, S. & Cartell, E., 2009. Anaerobic digestion foaming
causes - A review. Bioresource Technology, Volume 100, pp. 5546 -
5554.
[8] Guitian, J. & Joseph, D., 1998. How bubbly mixtures foam and foam
control using a fluidized bed. International Journal of Multiphase Flow,
pp. 1-16.
[9] McGinnis, D. et al., 2006. Fate of rising methane bubbles in stratified
waters: How much methane reaches the atmosphere? Journal of
Geophysical Research, 111(C9).
[10] Moeller, L., Herbes, C., Müller, R. A. & Zehnsdorf, A., 2010. Formation
and removal of foam in the process of Anaerobic Digester. Landtechnik
65, 3(Energy production), pp. 207-207.
[11] Moeller, L. et al., 2012. Comparative review of foam formation in
biogas plants and ruminant bloat. Energy, Sustainability and Society,
2(12).
[12] Oerther, D., De Los Reyes, F., De Los Reyes, M. & Raskin, L., 2001.
Quantifying filamentous microorganisms in activated sludge before,
during and after an incident of foaming by oligonucleotide probe
hybridizations and antibody staining. s.l.: Water Research 35, 14, 3325-
3336.
[13] Rodriguez-Roda, I. et al., 2013. Anaerobic Digester Foaming:
occurrence and control in Spain, s.l.: IWA; accessed on February, 10,
2014. URL: http://www.redbiogas.cl/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/
2013/07/IWA-11509.pdf.
[14] Rustum, R. & Adeloye, A., 2011. Artificial Intelligence Modeling of
Wastewater Treatment plants: Theory, applications and limitations.. 1
ed. s.l.: VDM.
[15] Saye, R. I. & Sethian, J., 2013. Rearrangement, Drainage, and. Science,
Volume 340.
[16] Subramanian, B. et al., 2012. Survey of causes and prevention/control of
anaerobic digester foaming- A WERF study, s.l.: WERF.
[17] Subramanian, B. & Pagilla, K., 2015. Mechanisms of foam formation in
anaerobic digesters. Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, Volume
126, pp. 621-630.
[18] Weaire, D., Hutzler, S., Cox, S. & Kern, N., 2003. The fluid dynamics of
foams. JOURNAL OF PHYSICS: CONDENSED MATTER, Volume
15, pp. 65-73.
[19] WEFTEC, 2007. Anaerobic Digestion. In: Operation of Municipal
Wastewater Treatment Plants. s.l.:WWW. WEFNET.org, pp. 30-3 to 30-
58.
[20] Westlund, A., Hagland, E. & M., R., 1998. Operational aspects on
foaming in digesters caused by Microthrix parvecilla. Water science and
technology, 38(8-9), pp. 29-34.
[21] Williams, T. O. & Tim, S., 2012. Mixing Anaerobic Digester with high
strength waste addition. Amherst, Massachusetts, North East Residuals
& Biosolids Conference.