RESUMO
Anaerobic digestion (AD) of swine manure (SM) commonly shows low biogas output and unsatisfactory economic performance. In this study, thermophilic AD (TAD, 50 ± 1 °C) was combined with thermal hydrolysis pretreatment (THP, 170 °C/10 bar), to investigate its potential for maximizing biogas yield, securing successful digestion and microbial diversity, as well as improving energy balance. Four lab-scale continuously stirred tank reactors were operated for 300 days and compared with each other, i.e., reactor 1 (raw SM fed in mesophilic AD: RSM-MAD), reactor 2 (THP-treated SM fed in MAD: TSM-MAD), reactor 3 (RSM-TAD), and reactor 4 (TSM-TAD). The results showed that THP was efficient to increase methane production of SM, TSM-TAD mode led to the highest methane yield (129.8 ± 40.5 mL-CH4/g-VS/day) among the tests (p < 0.05). Although TAD was more likely to induce free ammonia (> 700 mg/L) or volatile fatty acids (> 6000 mg/L) accumulation compared with MAD in start-up phase, TSM-TAD treatment mode behaved a sustainable digestion process in a long-term operation. For TSM-TAD scenario, higher Shannon-Weaver (3.873) and lower Simpson index (0.061) indicated this mode ensured and enlarged the diversity of bacteria communities. Phylum Bathyarchaeota was dominant (59.3%-90.0%) in archaea community, followed by Euryarchaeota in the four reactors. RSM-MAD treatment mode achieved the highest energy output (4.65 GJ/day), TSM-TAD was less effective (-17.38 GJ/day) due to increased energy demands. Thus improving the energetic efficiency of THP units is recommended for the development of TSM-TAD treatment mode.