ABSTRACT
The anaerobic digestion (AD) operation complexity raise the importance of stability testing to verify whether the operating conditions are under control and whether the process is working as required. The current method of verifying process stability is by a range of the ratio between volatile fatty acidity and total alkalinity (VFA/ TA) within which stable conditions are brought about; these rates vary with the content of organic material. A few indicators as pH or constant biogas production are also used. Therefore, the aim of this study was to propose the use of Shewhart control chart for individual measures as a stability test for AD, as well as to demonstrate its use in poultry litter AD. The method showed to be advantageous since it standardizes a variation range for the process according to the average and verifies the stability by direct measures, such as organic material removal efficiency and biogas production.
KEYWORDS:
process monitoring; statistical process control; waste treatment
