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U.S. Department of Energy
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Microbiological study of methane generation from poultry wastes

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:6323360
Studies have been conducted to investigate the biological potential of methane generation from two types of poultry waste: broiler chicken litter and laying hen manure. Through the systematic study, thermophilic bacterial cultures were initiated and established to produce methane at their highest rates. It was found that different kinds of waste with different chemical compositions required different operational conditions to reach the individual maximal potential. The microbiology of the methane-producing bacteria in the poultry waste-based anaerobic digester was studied. An enriched thermophilic methane-producing culture was isolated. The methanogenic culture can use acetate, ethanol, methylamine, propionate, and H/sub 2/-CO/sub 2/, but not formate and methanol, for growth and methanogenesis. The methanogenic culture was found to be a mixed culture from which a thermophilic Methanococcus sp. and an unidentified rod-shaped microorganism were isolated. The two organisms produced methane symbiotically in the acetate medium.
OSTI ID:
6323360
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English