Abstract
In order to maximize the efficiency of methane fermentation on short-chain fatty acids, growth media containing acetic acid and butyric acid as major carbon sources were supplied to a thermophilic down-flow anaerobic packed-bed reactor. The organic loading rate (OLR) to the reactor ranged from 0.2 to 169 kg-dichromate chemical oxygen demand(CODcr)/m3-reactor/day, corresponding to a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of between 1.4 h and 20 days. Stable methane production was maintained at HRTs as short as 2 h (OLR=120 kg-CODcr/m3/day), with the short-chain fatty acids in the feed almost completely removed during the process. The apparent substrate removal efficiency, determined from the total CODcr values in the influent and effluent, was 75% at short HRTs. However, the actual substrate removal efficiency must have been greater than 75%, since a fraction of substrate was also utilized in microbial cell synthesis, and these cells were part of the measured total CODcr.
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The project was conducted as a High Efficiency Bioenergy Conversion Project supported by a NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization of Japan) grant.
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Tatara, M., Yamazawa, A., Ueno, Y. et al. High-rate thermophilic methane fermentation on short-chain fatty acids in a down-flow anaerobic packed-bed reactor. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 27, 105–113 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-004-0387-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-004-0387-8