Interest in anaerobic co-digestion of fats, oils, and greases (FOG) has increased recently, resulting in research efforts to enhance stability of these systems and increase biogas production. Ammonia inhibition has been well-established for anaerobic digestion of municipal sludge from wastewater treatment plants. However, the inhibitory effects that occur in the presence of FOG are typically overshadowed by long chain fatty acid inhibition from the FOG. The effects of ammonia itself have not been separated and thoroughly studied in the presence and absence of FOG. This study investigated ammonia inhibition in batch anaerobic digesters inoculated from mono-substrate and co-substrate anaerobic digesters in the presence and absence of noninhibitory concentrations of FOG. Above a 1,700 mg/L total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) threshold, both inocula exhibited decreased methane production rates and increased lag phase times. Below this threshold, the mono-digester inoculum was more sensitive to ammonia than the co-digester inoculum. TAN inhibitory effects were mitigated by the presence of ammonia-tolerant microbes such as Syntrophomonas spp. and Methanoculleus spp., which were both more prevalent in the co-digester inoculum. The co-digester inoculum also had a twofold increase in methanogens compared with the mono-digester inoculum, making it more resistant to organic acid accumulation and decreased rates of methane production. Finally, the presence of FOG increased the inhibitory effects of ammonia for both digesters tested in this experiment, suggesting that ammonia sensitivity is increased with increased metabolic activity. This increased sensitivity to ammonia in the presence of FOG could have direct implications on the intensification of FOG co-digestion systems for increased methane production.
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