Mean Oxidation Number of Organic Carbons for Quantifying Biomethane in Organophosphorous Compounds

Anaerobic digestion is a complex biochemical process in which organic matters are mineralized and stabilized into biogas and digestate by microorganisms in the absence of oxygen. Buswell’s equation is an ideal model to represent anaerobic digestion for counting theoretical quantity of biogas and digestate in organic matters. Although the degradability and recovery of phosphorous element in digestate have been studied, the impact of phosphorous element on quantity of biomethane and theoretical biomethane potential in organophosphorous compounds are rarely explored. The quantity of biomethane is dependent on the elemental composition of organic matters, and the mean oxidation number of organic carbons is used as a counting parameter in Buswell’s equation. Biowastes which contain organophosphorous compounds are chosen to demonstrate this notion. This article has two purposes. First, the mathematical relationships among empirical formula of organic matter, mean oxidation number of organic carbons, quantity of biomethane, and theoretical biomethane potential are explored. Second, the impact of quantity of phosphorous element on quantity of biomethane, theoretical biomethane potential, and the ratio of biomethane to carbon dioxide are studied.