Effects of sulfate concentration and sludge retention time on the interaction between methane production and sulfate reduction for butyrate

1994 ◽  
Vol 30 (8) ◽  
pp. 45-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Mizuno ◽  
Y. Y. Li ◽  
T. Noike

The effects of sulfate concentration and COD/S ratio on the anaerobic degradation of butyrate were investigated by using 2.0 L anaerobic chemostat-type reactor at 35°C. The study was conducted over a wide range of the COD/S ratio (1.5 to 148) by varying COD concentrations (2500–10000 mg/L) and sulfate concentrations (68–1667 mg-S/L) in the substrate. The sludge retention time at each COD/S ratio was changed from 5 to 20 days. The interaction between methane producing bacteria (MPB) and sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) was evidently influenced by COD/S ratio in the substrate. When COD/S ratio was 6.0 or more, methane production was the predominate reaction and over 80% of the total electron flow was used by MPB. At the COD/S ratio of 1.5, SRB utilzed over 50% of the total electron flow. A large amount of sulfate reduction resulted in not only the decrease of methane production, but also the rapid increase of the bacterial growth. The degradation pathway of butyrate and the composition of bacterial populations in the reactor were also dominated by COD/S ratio. In sulfate depleted condition, butyrate was degraded to methane via acetate and hydrogen by MPB. On the other hand, butyrate was firstly degraded into sulfide and acetate in sulfate rich conditions by SRB, and the produced acetate was then degraded by acetate consuming MPB and SRB. The methanogenesis from acetate was inhibited by the high concentration of sulfide.

1999 ◽  
Vol 65 (12) ◽  
pp. 5493-5499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas O. Mountfort ◽  
Heinrich F. Kaspar ◽  
Malcolm Downes ◽  
Rodney A. Asher

ABSTRACT A study of anaerobic sediments below cyanobacterial mats of a low-salinity meltwater pond called Orange Pond on the McMurdo Ice Shelf at temperatures simulating those in the summer season (<5°C) revealed that both sulfate reduction and methane production were important terminal anaerobic processes. Addition of [2-14C]acetate to sediment samples resulted in the passage of label mainly to CO2. Acetate addition (0 to 27 mM) had little effect on methanogenesis (a 1.1-fold increase), and while the rate of acetate dissimilation was greater than the rate of methane production (6.4 nmol cm−3 h−1compared to 2.5 to 6 nmol cm−3 h−1), the portion of methane production attributed to acetate cleavage was <2%. Substantial increases in the methane production rate were observed with H2 (2.4-fold), and H2 uptake was totally accounted for by methane production under physiological conditions. Formate also stimulated methane production (twofold), presumably through H2 release mediated through hydrogen lyase. Addition of sulfate up to 50-fold the natural levels in the sediment (interstitial concentration, ∼0.3 mM) did not substantially inhibit methanogenesis, but the process was inhibited by 50-fold chloride (36 mM). No net rate of methane oxidation was observed when sediments were incubated anaerobically, and denitrification rates were substantially lower than rates for sulfate reduction and methanogenesis. The results indicate that carbon flow from acetate is coupled mainly to sulfate reduction and that methane is largely generated from H2 and CO2 where chloride, but not sulfate, has a modulating role. Rates of methanogenesis at in situ temperatures were four- to fivefold less than maximal rates found at 20°C.


1998 ◽  
Vol 38 (8-9) ◽  
pp. 317-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gong-Ming Zhou ◽  
Herbert H. P. Fang

This study was conducted to investigate the methanogenic and sulfidogenic activities of biomass in a UASB reactor treating wastewater containing benzoate (680 mg l−1) and sulfate (increased from 1080 to 2680 mg l−1) at 37°C and 12 hours of hydraulic retention. Results showed that after 120 days of acclimation, sludge consistently removed 99.5% of benzoate regardless of increased sulfate concentrations. Sulfidogenesis gradually out-competed methanogenesis during the acclimation phase, as indicated by the increase of sulfate-reducing efficiency (up to 99%) accompanied by the decrease of methane production. Overall sulfate removal efficiency was limited after the reactor had reached its maximum sulfate reduction rate of 2.1 g S (l d−1). Further increasing sulfate concentration from 1080 mg l−1 to 2680 mg l−1 lowered the sulfate-reducing efficiency from 85% to 39%. Flow of available electrons toward sulfidogenesis increased with the decrease of benzoate concentration, and was only slightly affected by the sulfate concentration or the benzoate/SO42−-S ratio.


1998 ◽  
Vol 38 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 513-520 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Mizuno ◽  
H. Takagi ◽  
T. Noike

The biological sulfate removal in the acidogenic bioreactor with an ultrafiltration membrane system was investigated at 35°C. Sucrose was used as the sole organic substrate. The sulfate concentration in the substrate ranged from 0 to 600mgS·1−1. The chemostat reactor was operated to compare with the membrane bioreactor. The fouling phenomenon caused by FeS precipitate was observed at higher concentration of sulfate. However, it was possible to continuously operate the membrane bioreactor by cleaning the membrane. The efficiency of sulfate removal by sulfate reduction reached about 100% in the membrane bioreactor, and 55 to 87% of sulfide was removed from the permeate by the membrane filtration. The composition of the metabolite was remarkably changed by the change in sulfate concentration. When the sulfate concentration increased, acetate and 2-proponol significantly increased while n-butyrate and 3-pentanol decreased. The sulfate-reducing bacteria play the role as acetogenic bacteria consuming volatile fatty acids and alcohols as electron donors under sulfate-rich conditions. The results show that the acidogenesis and sulfate reduction simultaneously proceed in the membrane bioreactor.


Author(s):  
Mariana Matos ◽  
Rafaela A.P. Cruz ◽  
Pedro Cardoso ◽  
Fernando Silva ◽  
Elisabete B. Freitas ◽  
...  

2009 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
LP. Sartori ◽  
MG. Nogueira ◽  
R. Henry ◽  
EM. Moretto

During three consecutive years, monthly samples of zooplankton were taken in the lacustrine (dam) zone of Jurumirim (São Paulo, Brazil). The seasonal effect on basic limnological features (thermal regime, oxygen distribution, phytoplankton biomass, etc.) was also examined. The influence of the seasonality on the fluctuation of the zooplankton composition and abundance was not clearly detected (low degree of recurrent patterns). Rotifers (32 taxa) were the most abundant organisms during almost the entire study period with some seasonal alternations in the maximum abundance peaks of the main taxa (Conochilus unicornis, Keratella americana, K. cochlearis and Hexarthra spp.), except for Polyarthra (mainly P. vulgaris). Only occasionally copepods were numerically dominant. Higher copepod abundance was positively associated to periods of increase in the water retention time. Among the Copepoda (10 taxa) the calanoids (mainly Notodiaptomus iheringi) were more abundant, especially in warmer periods. Conversely, cyclopoids had higher abundance in autumn and winter. The species Thermocyclops minutus and T. decipiens co-occurred, but the first attained higher abundance. Some evidence of co-existence strategies between both species are considered. Cladocera (17 taxa) was never numerically dominant and the main taxa (Bosmina spp., Ceriodaphnia spp. and Diaphanosoma spp.) occurred almost the whole study period and did not present a seasonal pattern of fluctuation. Diaphanosoma (mainly D. birgei) attained the highest abundance among cladocerans. Most organisms were always found at the surface, but they also occupy the whole water column, even in periods of stratified conditions and low oxygen concentration in the bottom layers. Among the main zooplanktonic taxa, only Hexarthra avoids deep layers. An exceptionally high concentration of Copepoda nauplii on the surface was influenced by low transparency, high concentration of phytoplankton at this layer and low oxygen concentration at the bottom. In periods of higher retention timevariability there was a more heterogeneous distribution of the zooplankton in the water column. The increase in the retention time seems also to favor the copepod development. Finally, some inter-decade changes are considered on the basis of zooplankton assemblage structure observations.


2006 ◽  
Vol 53 (11) ◽  
pp. 269-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.T. Hay ◽  
D.D. Sun ◽  
S.L. Khor ◽  
J.O. Leckie

A high strength industrial wastewater was treated using a pilot scale submerged membrane bioreactor (MBR) at a sludge retention time (SRT) of 200 d. The MBR was operated at a high sludge concentration of 20 g/L and a low F/M ratio of 0.11 during 300 d of operation. It was found that the MBR could achieve COD and TOC overall removal efficiencies at more than 99 and 98% TN removal. The turbidity of the permeate was consistently in the range of 0.123 to 0.136 NTU and colour254 absorbance readings varied from 0.0912 to 0.0962 a.u. cm−1. The sludge concentration was inversely proportional to the hydraulic retention time (HRT), yielded excellent organic removal and extremely low sludge production (0.0016 kgVSS/day).


1997 ◽  
Vol 36 (12) ◽  
pp. 143-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuzo Tanaka ◽  
Young-Ho Lee

Control of sulfate reduction by adding molybdate was investigated to enhance the methane production under batch and continuous operation in the anaerobic digestion of a sulfate-rich lysine wastewater. In phase 1 of the continuous operation, four anaerobic filters were fed with the lysine wastewater and then added with molybdate at 1,3,5 and 10 mM just after methane producing bacteria (MPB) were completely inhited by H2S produced by sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB). In phase 2, three anaerobic filters were operated with continuous or intermittent addition of 3 mM molybdate from the beginning of operation, including one with no molybdate as a control. Batch experiments revealed that the sulfate reduction was strongly inhibited and finally ceased by adding 3 mM or more of molybdate, resulting in great enhancement of the methane production. In phase 1 of the continuous experiments, all reactors showed the cessation of the methane production when the content of H2S reached 9–10 % in biogas, but the MPB activity was gradually recovered after initiating the molybdate addition at 3 or 5 mM. The 10 mM dosage of molybdate, however, had an inhibiting effect to MPB as well as SRB, resulting in the accumulation of acetate within the reactor. In phase 2, the control reactor continued to decrease the methane production, and a methane conversion rate was only 3 % in the control, while 35 and 10 % in continuously-added and intermittently-added reactors, respectively. Thus, it was confirmed that the MPB activity was greatly enhanced under control of the SRB activity by the continuous addition of molybdate. Comparing phase 2 with phase 1, addition from the start-up of the process is considered more effective than addition after the methane production dropped in the control of the sulfate reduction by molybdate.


Author(s):  
Fábio Orssatto ◽  
Maria Hermínia Ferreira Tavares ◽  
Flávia Manente da Silva ◽  
Eduardo Eyng ◽  
Leandro Fleck

This work evaluated the removal of total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) and total phosphorus (P) through electrocoagulation and used aluminum electrodes to optimize the potential differential (pd) and hydraulic retention time (HRT) variables in a batch reactor. The experimental design used was Rotatable Central Composite Design (RCCD). The application of the electrocoagulation in the treatment of effluents from pig slaughterhouses and packing plants proved to be efficient in relation to the removal of TKN and total phosphorus, obtaining maximum efficiency equal to 67.15% and 99%, respectively. The maximum TKN removal value was found in Test 12, where treatment conditions were 30 minutes for HRT and 20 volts for pd, which corresponds to 0.86 A of electric current and a current density of 17.2 mA cm-2. For P, the only test that removed below 99% was the first. Through statistical analyses, it was only possible to obtain a mathematical model for TKN removal. While the response surface graph did not present a defined range of the best conditions for the independent variables, it was possible to observe the tendency for better removal, a wide range of pd and values over 30 minutes for retention time.


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