Influence of augmentation of biochar during anaerobic co-digestion of Chlorella vulgaris and cellulose

The anaerobic co-digestion (AcoD) of microalgae is a prospective option for generating biomethane from renewable sources. This study investigates the effects of inoculum-to-substrate ratio (ISR), C/N ratio and biochar (BC) load on the AcoD of Chlorella vulgaris and cellulose. An initial augmentation of BC at ISR 0.5–0.9 and C/N ratio 10–30 offered a pH buffering effect and resulted in biomethane yields of 233–241 mL CH4/g VS, corresponding to 1.8–4.6 times the controls. BC addition ameliorated significantly AcoD, supporting the digestate stability at less favourable conditions. The effect of the process variables was further studied with a 23 factorial design and response optimisation. Under the design conditions, the variables had less influence over methane production. Higher ISRs and C/N ratios favoured AcoD, whereas increasing amounts of BC reduced biomethane yield but enhanced production rate. The factorial design highlighted the importance of BC-load on AcoD, establishing an optimum of 0.58 % (w/v).