Biornass 21 (1990) 157-161

Short Communication

Nickel as an Accelerator of Biogas Production in Water

Hyacinth ( Eichornia crassipes Solms.)

ABSTRACT

The effect of nickel ions on biogas production has been investigated in

3-1itre fermenters. It was observed that nickel is stimulatory up to 5 ppm,
with an optimum at 2"5 ppm, in a water hyacinth-bovine excreta
substrate. A similar effect with nickel was also observed at 5 ppm in
bovine excreta.

Key words: biogas, water hyacinth, bovine excreta, nickel ions.

INTRODUCTION

Anaerobic fermentation of aquatic biomass like water hyacinth can

supplement bioenergy provision and also reduce the nuisance value of
such weeds.~ Weeds are used as animal feed, soil additives, fuel sources
and for the purification of polluted water. Water hyacinth concentrates
nickel up to 0.27 kg h - ~day- ~from eutrophic ponds, 2 and such biomass
from polluted water sources containing nickel enhances methano-
genesis. 3
Bovine excreta (cow dung) harbouring methanogens continues to be a
traditional substrate for methanogenesis. If this is added as a starter
inoculum to any biological waste (without microbial inhibitors), such
wastes can readily produce biogas and thus reduce dependence on
bovine excreta. Charcoal powder and vermiculite, which provide more
surface area for enzyme action, 4 or metal ions, like nickel, which supple-
ment metallo-enzyme function, can augment biogas production per unit
substrate. Hence, the effect of nickel added to a bovine excreta and water
hyacinth mixture at 1:1 (w/w), as well as to bovine excreta alone, was
investigated.
157
Biomass 0144-4565/90/S03.50 -- © 1990 Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd, England.
Printed in Great Britain
158 G. S. Geeta, K. S. Jagadeesh, T. K. R. Reddy

MATERIALS A N D METHODS

A 1 : 1 mixture of water hyacinth collected from a local pond, and bovine

excreta from the livestock pens of the University of Agricultural
Sciences, Dharwad, was mixed with water in a 1:1 proportion. Bovine
excreta and water were mixed at 1:1. The spent slurry (effluent) col-
lected from a continuously-operating biogas digester was incorporated
as the enriched methanogenic inoculum -- 50 ml per 3-1itre fermenter.
The required concentration of nickel was supplemented as nickel
chloride. The fermentable substrates were charged into 3-1itre batch
fermenters and the biogas produced was measured by the water dis-
placement method.

RESULTS A N D DISCUSSION

It was observed that biogas production was enhanced in the bovine

excreta mixture supplemented with nickel up to 25 ppm, with 40% more

TABLE 1
Effect of Nickel on Biogas Production in Bovine Excreta in 3-Litre Bottle Fermenters

Treatment" Concentration of Total gas Gas yield

nickel ions produced increase
(ppm) (h'tres) (% over control)

1. Control 10.88 --
2. 0"5 12'59 16
3. 1"0 14.21 31
4. 5"0 15.20 40
5. 10"0 12.72 17
6. 25'0 11.70 8

"1 kg bovine excreta + 1 litre tap water + 50 ml spent slurry.

Note: Retention period, 30 days; temperature (average), maximum 30.2°C, minimum
16.3°C.

gas being produced at 5 ppm nickel (0.8 ktM) (Table 1). In the water
hyacinth-bovine excreta mixture, biogas production was increased by
54% at 2.5 ppm nickel (Table 2). This stimulation of biogas production
at lower nickel concentrations in the water hyacinth-bovine excreta
mixture might be due to the absorbed nickel in the water hyacinth
material.
 Nickel as an accelerator of biogas production 159

TABLE 2
Effect of Nickel on Biogas Production in the Water Hyacinth-Bovine Excreta Mixture in
3-Litre Bottle Fermenters

Treatment" Concentration of Total biogas Gas yield

nickel ions produced increase
(ppm) (litres) (% over control)

1. Control 3"50 --
2. 0"5 3'68 5
3. 2"5 5"41 54
4. 5"0 3"97 13
5. 12"5 3-02 ( - 14)

"300 g bovine excreta + 300 g water hyacinth + 600 ml tap water + 50 ml spent slurry.
Note: Retention period, 30 days; temperature (average), maximum 29.70C, minimum
15.4°C.

Metallo-enzymes, like ureases, 5 methanogenic hydrogenases, 6 methyl

Coenzyme M reductases 7 and carbon monoxide hydrogenases, ~
contain nickel. Carbon monoxide dehydrogenase in Methanosarcina
thermophila strain TM-1 contains 3-6 g-atoms of nickel per mole; 9 it
is involved in the energy yielding pathway for acetoclastic methanogens, ~
and synthesis of acetate from pyruvate in Clostridium thermoaceticum.~°
Schonheit et al. observed the maximum stimulation of growth of
Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum at a concentration of 1 pM of
nickel in the medium. ~j Similarly good growth of Escherichia coli was
observed when the nickel concentration was reduced from 10 - 3_ 10 - 4 M
to 10-5-10 -6 M (Ref. 12).
At moderate concentrations of nickel, the methyl donor activity of
methyl vitamin B j2 is increased resulting in more gas. However, at higher
concentrations, nickel seems to compete with cobalt in the corrin-moiety
of vitamin B ~2and thus inactivates it. 13 William and Van Den Bergy have
found that the methane production from an anaerobic fixed-film digester
was stimulated at 100 nM nickel. H Methanogenesis appears to be
optimum at low levels and inhibited at high levels of nickel.

CONCLUSIONS

The addition of nickel to bovine excreta, with and without aquatic

biomass (water hyacinth), increases biogas production in bottle digesters.
This is attributed to the activity of the nickel-dependent metallo-
enzymes involved in biogas production.
160 G. S. Geeta, K. S. Jagadeesh, 7".K. R. Reddy

ACKNOWI .EDGEMENT

The authors acknowledge the support received under the All India
Coordinated Research Project on Renewable Energy Sources for
Agriculture and Argo-based Industries, sponsored by the Indian Council
of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi.

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G. S. Geeta, K. S. Jagadeesh & T. K. R. Reddy
Department of Agricultural Microbiology,
University of Agricultural Sciences,
Dharwad 580 005, India

(Received 17 August 1988; revised version received 1 April 1989;

accepted 2 May 1989)