Effects of Residual Hypochlorite Ion on Methane Production during the Initial Anaerobic Digestion Stage of Pig Slurry

The hypochlorite ion ($OCl^-$) is a widely used disinfecting agent in pig rearing in Korea, but its residual effect on $CH_4$ production from pig slurry is unclear. The objective of this study was to investigate the inhibition effects of residual $OCl^-$ on $CH_4$ production during the initial anaerobic digestion stage of pig slurry. Three organic concentrations (9.9, 26.2 and 43.7 g/L) of volatile solids (VS) were tested with the addition of 52.3 mg/L $OCl^-$, ten times of the typical concentration used in Korea, or without $OCl^-$ (Control) in anaerobic batch culture. The culture was run under mesophilic ($38^{\circ}C$) conditions for 20 d. At the lowest organic concentration with $OCl^-$, the VS degradation was 10.3% lower (p<0.05) than Control, while at the higher organic concentration with $OCl^-$, it did not differ from Control. $CH_4$ yields were higher in the control treatments than their $OCl^-$ counterpart cultures, and $CH_4$ yields of Control and $OCl^-$ treatments at the organic concentrations of 9.9, 26.2 and 43.7 g/L differed in the probability level (p) of 0.31, 0.04, and 0.06, respectively. Additionally, $CH_4$ concentration increased steeply and reached 70.0% within 4 d in the absence $OCl^-$, but a gradual increase up to 60.0% was observed in 6 d in the $OCl^-$ treated cultures. The $R_m$ (the maximum specific $CH_4$ production rate) and ${\lambda}$ (lag phase time) of 9.9 g/L with $OCl^-$ were 8.1 ml/d and 25.6 d, while the $R_m$ was increased to 15.1 ml/d, and ${\lambda}$ was reduced to 11.4 d in PS-III (higher organic concentration) with $OCl^-$. The results suggest that a prolonged fermentation time was necessary for the methanogens to overcome the initial $OCl^-$ inhibitory effect, and an anaerobic reactor operated with high organic loadings was more advantageous to mitigate the inhibitory effect of residual hypochlorite ion.