Extension of the anaerobic digestion model No. 1 (ADM1) to include phenolic compounds biodegradation processes for the simulation of anaerobic co-digestion of olive mill wastes at thermophilic temperature.

This paper describes for the first time the extension of the anaerobic digestion model No. 1 (ADM1) to handle and simulate the anaerobic degradation processes of phenol compounds and homologues in olive mill wastewater (OMW) and olive mill solid waste (OMSW) at thermophilic temperature (55 degrees C). The general structure of the ADM1 was not changed except for the modifications related to the inclusion of phenolic compounds degradation processes into acetate and further into methane and CO(2). The effect of soluble phenolic compounds upon pH was taken into account in the pH simulation equations. The inhibitory effect of phenolic compounds on the fermenting process and methanogenic sub-populations was accounted for by the use of non-competitive inhibition functions. The most sensitive and new phenolic parameters were calibrated and validated using experimental data from our previous study dealing with the thermophilic anaerobic co-digestion of OMW with OMSW in semi-continuous tubular digesters. The simulation results indicated that the extended ADM1 was able to predict with reasonable accuracy effluent phenol concentrations and gas flow rates and effluent pH of various influent concentrations digested at hydraulic retention times (HRTs) of 36 and 24 days.