Evaluation of the hydrolytic–acidogenic step of a two-stage mesophilic anaerobic digestion process of sunflower oil cake

The influence of the hydraulic retention time (HRT) and organic loading rate (OLR) on the performance of the hydrolytic–acidogenic step of a two-stage anaerobic digestion process of sunflower oil cake (SuOC) were assessed. The experiments were performed in laboratory-scale completely stirred tank reactors at mesophilic (35 °C) temperature. Six OLR (ranging from 4 to 9 g VS L⁻¹ d⁻¹) for four HRTs (8, 10, 12 and 15 days) were tested to check the effect of each operational variable. Based on the results obtained, it can be concluded that the hydrolysis yields obtained for all HRTs and OLRs assayed were in the range of 20.5–30.1%. In addition, the acidification degree of the substrate was mainly influenced by the OLR but not by the HRTs, the highest value (83.8%) being achieved for an HRT of 10 days and an OLR of 6 g VS L⁻¹ d⁻¹.     

The effect of decreasing alkalinity on microbial community dynamics in a sulfate-reducing bioreactor as analyzed by PCR-SSCP

PCR-single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) and Southern blotting techniques were adopted to investigate microbial community dynamics in a sulfate-reducing bioreactor caused by decreasing influent alkalinity. Experimental results indicated that the sulfate-removal rate approached 87% in 25 d under the conditions of influent alkalinity of 4000 mg/L (as CaCO₃) and sulfate-loading rate of 4.8 g/(L·d), which indicated that the bioreactor started up successfully. The analysis of microbial community structure in this stage showed that Lactococcus sp., Anaerofilum sp. and Kluyvera sp. were dominant populations. It was found that when influent alkalinity reduced to 1000 mg/L, sulfate-removal rate decreased rapidly to 35% in 3 d. Then influent alkalinity was increased to 3000 mg/L, the sulfate-removal rate rose to 55%. Under these conditions, the populations of Dysgonomonas sp., Sporobacte sp., Obesumbacterium sp. and Clostridium sp. got to rich, which predominated in the community together with Lactococcus sp., Anaerofilum sp. and Kluyvera sp. However, when the alkalinity was decreased to 1500 mg/L, the sulfate-removal rate rose to and kept stable at 70% and populations of Dysgonomonas sp., Sporobacter sp. and Obesumbacterium sp. died out, while some strains of Desulfovibrio sp. and Clostridium sp. increased in concentration. In order to determine the minimum alkalinity value that the system could tolerate, the influent alkalinity was decreased from 1500 to 400 mg/L secondly. This resulted in the sulfate-removal rate, pH value and effluent alkalinity dropping quickly. The amount of Petrotoga sp., Prevotella sp., Kluyvera sp. and Neisseria sp. reduced obviously. The result data from Southern blotting indicated that the amount of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRBs) decreased with influent alkalinity dropping. Analysis of the microbial community structure and diversity showed that the SRBs populations were very abundant in the inoculated activated sludge and the alkalinity decrease caused the reduction of the populations noted. Most of resident populations in the bioreactor were fermentative acidogenic bacteria (FABs), among which the phylum Firmicute was in the majority, but SRBs were very few. This community structure demonstrates the cooperation between SRBs and FABs, which sustains the system’s high sulfate-removal and operation stability.     

Different types of sludge granules in UASB reactors treating acidified wastewaters

The influence of a high energy substrate, i.e. sucrose, on the granular sludge yield and the development of different types of granular sludge was investigated by using Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Bed (UASB) reactors fed with synthetic wastewater. The feed COD was a mixture of volatile fatty acids (VFA) i.e., 20, 40, and 40% of the COD as C₂-, C₃-, and C₄-VFA, respectively. Furthermore, experiments were carried out in which 10 and 30% of the VFA COD was substituted with sucrose. The following distinctly different types of granules were observed in each testrun: in the reactor fed with solely VFA, black (B) and white (W) granules developed; in the reactor fed with a mixture of 90% VFA and 10% sucrose, three types of granules i.e., B, W, and grey (G) granules could be seen; in the reactor fed with 70% VFA and 30% sucrose, only W and G granules were found. The granular sludge yield increased proportional to the amount of sucrose COD. At steady-state performance of the reactors, specific acidogenic (SAA) and methanogenic (SMA) activity tests on these granules revealed that B granules had the highest SMA with low SAA. The W granules had very high SMA with low SAA. G granules gave the highest SAA with a considerable SMA. Measurement of coenzyme F₄₂₀ revealed that B granules consist mainly of acetoclastic methanogens. The fore-mentioned tests were supplemented with analyses of the wash-out cells present in the reactor effluent and the results suggested that acidogens, if present, prevail at the granule surface. The B granules were particularly rich in Ca, Mn, and Zn minerals. The size distribution analysis showed that the granule diameter increased in the following order: B相似文献   

Acidogenic fermentation of source separated mixtures of vegetables and fruits wasted from supermarkets

A pilot scale mesophilic anaerobic acidogenic fermenter was fed with mixtures of vegetables and fruits shredded by a hammer mill and mixed in a stock tank, in order to produce a liquid phase suitable as RBCOD source in denitrification and EBPR processes. Different operative conditions were studied working with a HRT in the range 1–:12 days. The effluent coming from the fermenter was screw pressed, and the solid phase was recycled adopting different ratios to the fermenter, in order to define its effect on the final liquid phase composition. The variations of the VFA, lactate, methyl and ethyl alcohol concentrations, TCOD, SCOD and pH during more than one year were analysed and discussed both with reference to the fresh feed, and to the content of the fermenter. It was found that almost all the organic matter in the liquid phase inside the fermenter was represented by VFA (mainly acetate), lactate (in particular) and methyl and ethyl alcohols when HRT was longer than 6 days.     

The effect of decreasing alkalinity on microbial community dynamics in a sulfate-reducing bioreactor as analyzed by PCR-SSCP

Alkalinity refers to the substance that can react with acid in an aqueous system, which measures its capac-ity to neutralize hydrogen iron (H ). Alkalinity influ-ences greatly the stability and treatment ability of an-aerobic bioreactor. It has been well …     

Diffusion of lactose in acidogenic biofilms

Effective diffusivity of lactose in active acidogenic biofilms was measured at 35 degrees C and pH 4.6 with a specially designed diffusion cell. The diffusion cell was designed and operated in such a way that the lactose concentrations on the surface and at the center of a living bacterial aggregate could be measured at steady state. As a model parameter in a widely accepted reaction-diffusion equation which describes lactose distribution in living biofilms, the effective diffusivity of lactose in the biofilms was found to be about 65% of the lactose diffusivity in free solutions. It was experimentally determined that the active biofilms had about 66% void volume made up of channels through which the lactose molecules were transported into the bacterial aggregates. Therefore, the decrease in lactose diffusivity was mainly caused by the biofilm's solid biomass fraction rather than the tortuosity of the channels. (c) 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Characterization of a hydrogen-producing granular sludge

This study demonstrated that hydrogen-producing acidogenic sludge could agglutinate into granules in a well-mixed reactor treating a synthetic sucrose-containing wastewater at 26 degrees C, pH 5.5, with 6 h of hydraulic retention. A typical matured granule is 1.6 mm in diameter, 1.038 g/mL in density, 11% in ash content, and over 50 m/h in settling velocity. Treating a solution containing 12.15 g/L of sucrose at a volumetric loading rate of 48.6 g/(L x d), the reactor containing 20 g/L of granular sludge degraded 97% of sucrose. Effluent comprised 46% acetate and 49% butyrate and the methane-free biogas comprised 63% hydrogen, 35% carbon dioxide, and 2% nitrogen. Hydrogen production rate was 13.0 L/(L x d), and the yield was 0.28 L/g-sucrose. The granule had multiple cracks on the surface and comprised two morphological types of bacteria: fusiform bacilli and a spore-forming bacterium. Phylogenetic analysis showed that 69.1% of the clones were affiliated with four Clostridium species in the family Clostridiaceae, and 13.5% with Sporolactobacillus racemicus in the Bacillus/Staphylococcus group.