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SmartChem® Used to Study Anaerobic Digestion of Swine Manure
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A study published in Processes (MDPI, 2025) investigated how ammonia-stripped biogas slurry (ASBS) and various additives—rice husk biochar (RHB) and waste iron powder (WIP)—affect thermophilic high-solid anaerobic digestion (AD) of swine manure. The authors evaluated methane production, ammonia dynamics, volatile fatty acids, and changes in substrate degradation under different conditions.
In this study, a SmartChem® 200 Discrete Auto Analyzer (AMS Alliance) was used to measure total phosphorus (TP) in the liquid phase. The TP concentration was quantified using ammonium molybdate spectrophotometry (often called the Molybdenum Blue method), performed on the SmartChem® 200, as described in the analytical methods section.
What is the Purpose of Measuring Total Phosphorus?
Total phosphorus is routinely measured in anaerobic digestion studies because it helps assess nutrient content, mass balance, and the potential environmental impacts of digestate and recycled biogas slurry. TP data help characterize the chemical composition of the slurry before and after ammonia stripping and enable comparison between raw biogas slurry (RBS) and ammonia-stripped biogas slurry (ASBS).
In this study, the SmartChem® 200 was therefore used for one specific analytical task: providing TP measurements reported in Table 1 to characterize the feedstocks used in the anaerobic digestion experiments.
SmartChem® Series Applications
SmartChem® discrete automated analyzers are widely used across environmental, agricultural, food & beverage, and industrial laboratories to deliver fast, accurate, and fully automated wet-chemistry results. Designed for high-throughput testing, they support a broad range of enzymatic and colorimetric methods, from nutrients and metals to process-control chemistries, while minimizing labor and human error.
Available SmartChem® 200 Configurations
The instrument is modular allowing you to configure your analyzer.
Reference: Enhancing Thermophilic High-Solid Anaerobic Digestion of Swine Manure Using Ammonia-Stripped Biogas Slurry Reflux Amended with Waste Iron Powder and Biochar, Processes, 2025. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13123787.
This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomass Energy Conversion for Efficient and Sustainable Utilization https://www.mdpi.com/journal/processes/special_issues/A5L6I7G65R
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Can the SmartChem® Analyze Various Types of Soil?
Yes, soil properties vary significantly from region to region. Some areas of the world may have a moister, clay soil; others may have a dryer silt-base, or more rocky, dense characteristics. The SmartChem® Discrete Analyzers offer multiple matrices and parameters relating to soil quality to assist researchers, agricultural labs, and regulatory agencies with better and faster environmental analysis.
Can the SmartChem be used to Analyze Fertilizers
Yes, multiple fertilizer parameters can be tested.
What Makes the SmartChem® Analyzers a Walk-Away Solution?
The SmartChem® analyzers use reusable cuvettes and are equipped with built-in cuvette washing stations, eliminating the need for scientists to load, wash and reload any consumables during the analysis. Additionally, special wash rules can be programmed for specific methods.
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