Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

Anaerobic digestion of wastewater is catalyzed by microbial community metabolism resulting in the*conversion of solid and dissolved wastes into potentially useful products including methane (CH4), also known*as biogas, a high-value and renewable energy and material resource. Commercial-scale anaerobic digesters,*unfortunately, suffer from low conversion efficiencies, variability in CH4 yields and solid residues that can be*costly to remove. These limitations confound profitability and arise primarily from limitations in current*capacity to control microbial metabolic fluxes in the digester milieu. Recent advances in high-throughput*sequencing technologies are enabling unprecedented access to the genetic blueprints underlying microbial*metabolism at the individual, population and community levels in wastewater treatment ecosystems. Initial*investigations have identified direct links between physical and chemical parameters including loading rates,*substrate types, residence times, temperature, and metal concentrations, and microbial community structure and*function. However, effective management and optimization strategies require time-resolved insight into the*relationships between operating parameters, performance metrics, and microbial community metabolism. In*partnership with Metro Vancouver, we will develop this insight through time-series analysis of the anaerobic*digester and solids contact tank at the Lulu Island wastewater treatment plant in Richmond, BC using*high-throughput sequencing approaches. Resulting multi-omic (DNA and RNA) data sets will be used to*profile microbial community structure and activity, and model metabolic potential. This information will be*combined with operating parameters and performance metrics to promote process configurations that increase*CH4 yields with reduced solids. Metro Vancouver is investing over $1 million CAD in a pilot plant as well as*$13 Million CAD into a plant upgrade to feed CH4 from the anaerobic digester into a natural gas distribution*facility. The current project is integral to maximizing return on this investment by providing the data necessary*to model and manipulate underlying microbial interactions driving CH4 production at Lulu Island.