The evaluation of anaerobic digester performance by coenzyme F420 analysis

Abstract The performance of pilot plant anaerobic digesters (plug flow, hydraulic and contact) supplied with pig slurry was assessed in terms of the methane production rate, volatile solids reduction and the methanogenic activity by coenzyme F 420 analysis. The plug flow and hydraulic digesters showed higher and more consistent potential methanogenic activities ( Q CH4 (F 420 )) compared with the contact digester. The performance of the contact digester was also inferior as indicated by volatile solids reduction.