Abstract
Normally, propionate and butyrate account for approximately 20% of the methane produced in an anaerobic digestion. The degradation of these volatile fatty acids involves at least two groups of bacteria, the obligately hydrogen-producing acetogenic bacteria oxidizing the acids and the methane-producing bacteria utilizing the hydrogen produced (for a review see reference 1). Owing to the unfavorable thermodynamics of fatty acid oxidation under standard conditions, the metabolism of the acetogenic bacteria demands a low partial pressure of hydrogen normally maintained by the hydrogen — utilizing methanogenic bacteria.
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Ahring, B., Westermann, P., Mah, R.A. (1990). Thermophilic Anaerobic Oxidation of Butyrate in Axenic Culture. In: Bélaich, JP., Bruschi, M., Garcia, JL. (eds) Microbiology and Biochemistry of Strict Anaerobes Involved in Interspecies Hydrogen Transfer. Federation of European Microbiological Societies Symposium Series, vol 54. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0613-9_31
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0613-9_31
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