Anaerobic digestion is an established method for the biological conversion of waste feedstocks to biogas and biomethane. While anaerobic digestion is an excellent waste management technique, it can be susceptible to toxins and pollutants from contaminated feedstocks, which may have a detrimental impact on a digester’s efficiency and productivity. Ethylene glycol (EG) is readily used in the heat-transfer loops of anaerobic digestion facilities to maintain reactor temperature. Failure of the structural integrity of these heat transfer loops can cause EG to leak into the digester, potentially causing a decrease in the resultant gas yields. Batch fermentations were incubated with 0, 10, 100 and 500 ppm (parts per million) of EG, and analysis showed that the EG was completely metabolised by the digester microbiome. The concentrations of EG tested showed significant increases in gas yields, however there were no significant changes to the digester microbiome.

厌氧消化是将废物原料生物转化为沼气和生物甲烷的既定方法。虽然厌氧消化是一种出色的废物管理技术，但它可能容易受到受污染原料中的毒素和污染物的影响，这可能会对消化器的效率和生产率产生不利影响。乙二醇 (EG) 很容易用于厌氧消化设施的传热回路中，以维持反应器温度。这些传热回路结构完整性的破坏可能会导致EG泄漏到消化器中，从而可能导致最终气体产量下降。分批发酵与 0、10、100 和 500 ppm（百万分之一）的 EG 一起孵育，分析表明 EG 完全被消化器微生物组代谢。测试的 EG 浓度显示气体产量显着增加，但消化器微生物组没有显着变化。