ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Chem.
Sec. Green and Sustainable Chemistry
This article is part of the Research TopicBiomass Innovations for a Renewable and Sustainable Chemicals IndustryView all articles
Biogas Production and Microbial Profile Estimation in Bioreactor Landfills
Provisionally accepted
- 1Faculty of Quality Management and Inspection & Quarantine, Yibin University, Yibin 644000, China, Yibin, China
- 2Key Laboratory of Yangtze Aquatic Environment, Yibin Research base, Yibin University, Yibin 644000, China, Yibin, China
- 3Yibin Vocational and Technical College, Yibin, China
- 4Sichuan Tongyi Environmental Science & Technology Group Co., Ltd, Yibin, 644400, China, Yibin, China
- 5Yibin University, Yibin, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
To replicate the landfill's MSW biodegradation process, a bioreactor was employed. In order to identify markers that could forecast the methane generation process, researchers looked at the relationship between the methanogenic process and the properties of the leachate from anaerobic digestion (AD). To further investigate the underlying causes of the inhibition of methane production and to offer recommendations for enhancing the AD system's methane production capacity, we compared the features and differences in the microbial community structure of leachate samples from different reaction periods and soiled samples (at end-state MSW and cover). Biogas production potential was found to be 74.36 L.kg-1, and the rate constant for MSW digestion gas production was 0.0359 d-1. There was some correlation between the leachate's pH and TOC/TN and the methane generation process. There was a clear lag in the correlation between pH value variation and the methanogenic process, indicating that pH value alone is not a sufficient signal. Due to ammonia buildup, the fermentation system became unstable with a TOC/TN value below 13, and gas output was minimal. In terms of microbial species and abundance, the degree to which the leachate and MSW samples were genetically similar inversely related to the length of the reaction period. The observed absence of Nitrospira in the leachate likely interrupts the nitrogen conversion cycle. Therefore, inoculation with Nitrospira-containing agents is crucial for maintaining system stability and enhancing treatment efficiency. The nitrification process primarily occurred in the cover layer. Decreased methane generation capability in the digestive system was mostly caused by ammonia poisoning, which reduced the action of acetate-utilizing methanogenic archaea. Acting as a biochemical reaction zone, the intermediate cover layer harbored greater microbial diversity, which contributed to enhanced anaerobic digestion and supports increased system stability.
Keywords: anaerobic digestion, Bioreactor landfill, Leachates, Methane yield, microbiome
Received: 09 Nov 2025; Accepted: 16 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Zeng, Pan, Wang, Huang, Luo, Yu, Ren and Tahri. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Walid Tahri
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.