Summary
A thermophilic anaerobic sludge digestor was adapted to lactate metabolism. The adapted sludge showed an improved capacity for lactate degradation when tested by a batch activity test, compared to the performance of unadapted sludge. Acetate was the major intermediate produced during the degradation. When adapted sludge was used as the inoculum for a lactate-fed, upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor, the chemical oxygen demand reduction rate was higher than with unadapted sludge. After 39 days, however, the difference vanished due to an extensive wash-out of sludge from the reactor inoculated with adapted sludge.
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Sørensen, A.H., Winther-Nielsen, M. & Ahring, B.K. Kinetics of lactate, acetate and propionate in unadapted and lactate-adapted thermophilic, anaerobic sewage sludge: the influence of sludge adaptation for start-up of thermophilic UASB-reactors. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 34, 823–827 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00169358
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00169358