10.2. Factors affecting the anaerobic digestion process

The microbial consortium in the AD process consists of several different microorganism groups which grow syntrophically or antagonistically, resulting in different responses to environmental changes. Therefore, when the activity of one of the microorganism groups is repressed, the growth of other microorganism groups is affected, the microbial population is changed, which may lower process efficiency or even cause a process failure. The main factors affecting the AD process are evaluated below.

10.2.1. Temperature

Temperature is one of the key parameters affecting the AD because it influences the microbial growth, enzymes activities, substrate characteristics, and consequently the methane yield. ...

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