Anaerobic digestion of chicken manure by a leach-bed process coupled with side-stream membrane ammonia separation.

This study pioneered the use of a single-stage methanogenic leach bed reactor (LBR) for high-solids (total solid content: 14%-16%) anaerobic mono-digestion of chicken manure. Chicken manure was loaded into the LBR in cloth sachets without adding any bulking agents. Ammonia was separated and recovered by placing a hydrophobic gas diffusion membrane in a leachate collection chamber. Methane production in the membrane-integrated LBR was 0.272 m3/kgVS and 2.3 times higher than that in the control LBR. The results revealed that using membrane-integrated LBR for anaerobic digestion is a simple and cost-efficient technology for the mono-digestion of chicken manure and ammonia removal.