Click on the underlined title to access the document or go back to the Search Results screen to download the PDF version.

If you are not an ASABE member or if your employer has not arranged for access to the full-text, Click here for options.

The operation and design of farm digesters has been primarily based on empirical models resulting in highly conservative (i.e. capital intensive) systems. In this research the Anaerobic Digestion Model No. 1 (ADM1), developed for municipal waste by the International Water Association, was used to simulate a mesophilic pilot scale digester treating dairy manure. The focus of this research was to develop a kinetic parameter set specific to dairy manure allowing for the simulation of digesters operated under transient conditions. Such a model could be used to evaluate changes in digester operation, feed stocks or assist in digester design. Model calibration was carried out by varying 32 biochemical parameters using Nedler-Mead optimization algorithm to fit the model to pilot plant data (COD, volatile fatty acids, biogas flow and biogas composition). The performance of the calibrated model was then compared with an empirically calibrated model. Results suggest that the calibrated model could simulate the dynamic behavior of the pilot scale digester reasonably well illustrating the potential use of the model to the agricultural community.