Leaching and anaerobic digestion of poultry litter for biogas production and nutrient transformation.

Anaerobic digestion of poultry litter is a potentially sustainable means of stabilizing this waste while generating biogas. However, technical challenges remain including seasonality of litter production, low C/N ratios, limited digestibility of bedding, and questions about transformation of nutrients during digestion. This study investigated biogas production and nutrient transformations during anaerobic digestion of poultry litter leachate and whole litter. Use of fresh litter collected from within the house was also compared to waste litter cake that was stored outdoors on the farm. The results showed that litter leachates had higher biomethane potential (0.24-0.30 L/gVS) than whole litter (0.15-0.16 L/gVS) and the insoluble bedding material left after leaching (0.08-0.13 L/gVS). Leachates prepared from waste litter cake had lower uric acid and higher acetic acid concentrations than fresh litter indicating that decomposition had occurred during storage. Consequently, waste litter cake had faster initial biogas production but lower final biogas yields compared to fresh litter. In all reactors, uric and acetic acids were completely consumed during digestion, phosphate levels decreased but ammonium levels increased. The results demonstrate that poultry litter leachate is amenable to digestion despite a low C/N ratio and that the remaining insoluble bedding material has been partially stripped of its nutrients. Moreover, litter can be stored prior to digestion but some losses in biomethane potential should be expected due to decomposition of organics during storage.