A change in substance and microbial community structure during the co-composting of kitchen waste anaerobic digestion effluent, sewage sludge and Chinese medicine residue

• Published in: The Science of the total environment 2024-01, Vol.907, p.167679-167679, Article 167679
• Main Authors: Li, Dian, Jiang, Wei, Ye, Yuanyao, Luo, Jiwu, Zhou, Xiaojuan, Yang, Lin, Guo, Gang, Wang, Songlin, Liu, Zizheng, Guo, Wenshan, Ngo, Huu Hao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: ammonia; Anaerobic digestion effluent; Composting; Humus transfer; Microbial community
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167679

Anaerobic digestion is a resource recovery method for organic waste, gaining attention due to carbon reduction. Disposing of anaerobic digestion effluent (ADE) is crucial for developing anaerobic digestion, but conventional wastewater treatment fails to effectively recover nutrients contained in the ADE. In the present study, the ADE without solid-liquid separation was mixed with sewage sludge and Chinese medicine residue for the composting, where the ADE could be recovered at high temperature through humification. Besides, the nitrogen balance, humification process, and microbial dynamics during the composting process were studied. The results showed that the group supplemented with ADE could increase the nitrogen retention efficiency by 2.21 % compared to the control group. High ammonia nitrogen content and salinity did not negatively affect the maturity and phytotoxicity of compost products and even increase the humification degree of compost products. Moreover, additional ADE may not alter microbial community structure, which could contribute to microbial succession. This is the first time to investigate the substance transformation and shift in microbial community structure while applying composting process for ADE treatment, in which the anaerobic-aerobic collaborative disposal process provides an alternative solution for the recovery of ADE. [Display omitted] •1 kg ADE can be consumed by the co-composing with 5 kg mixed raw material.•Ammonia content significantly correlated with phytotoxicity during ADE co-composting•The ADE addition increased nitrogen retention during co-composting process.•The ADE addition promoted the humification process of co-compost.•The ADE addition accelerated the succession rate of thermophilic bacteria.