Long-term performance and microbial community analysis of a full-scale synthesis gas fed reactor treating sulfate- and zinc-rich wastewater.

ABSTRACT: The performance of a full-scale (500 m3) sulfidogenic synthesis gas fed gas-lift reactor treating metal- and sulfate-rich wastewater was investigated over a period of 128 weeks. After startup, the reactor had a high methanogenic activity of 46 Nm3.h(-1). Lowering the carbon dioxide feed rate during the first 6 weeks gradually lowered the methane production rate. Between weeks 8 and 93, less than 1% of the hydrogen supplied was used for methanogenesis. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis of polymerase chain reaction-amplified 16S rRNA gene fragments showed that the archaeal community decreased in diversity but did not disappear completely. After the carbon dioxide feed rate increased in week 88, the methane production rate also increased, confirming that methane production was

SUBMITTER: van Houten BH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2729981 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature