• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
• /
• v.15 no.9
• /
• pp.13-18
• /
• 2014

BMP test was carried out to evaluate the characteristics for co-digestion of night soil and food waste. 6 types of sludge were tested in 30 days which were raw, excess, digested, night soil/septic tank (1:1), food waste (food : dilution water = 1:1), and mixed sludge. Bio gas was produced actively after 2 days, and continued in 2 weeks. Gas generation amount was decreased rapidly after considerable space of time. Especially maximum productivity of gas was shown in 7~8 days. The ultimate methane yields of raw, excess, digested, night soil/septic tank, food waste, and mixed sludge were 64.63, 67.49, 66.45, 72.44, 107.85, and 46.71 mL $CH_4/g$ VS respectively from Modified Gompertz model. The lag growth phase time and maximum specific methane production rate of mixed sludge were 1.88 day and 80.4 mL/day respectively. The methane potential of mixed sludge was higher than individual sludge. So high methane potential was expected by controlling mixing ratio of food waste. Besides stable operation of digestion tank and the solution of oligotrophic problem were possible.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.54-61
• /
• 2007

The influences of pH were investigated for anaerobic hydrogen gas production under the constant pH condition ranged from pH 3 to 10. Carbon dioxide and hydrogen gas were main components of the gas but methane was not detected in the produced gas when sucrose was added in enrichment medium. When the modified Gompartz equation was applied for the statistical analysis of experimental data, a hydrogen production potential and maximum gas production rate at pH 5 were 1,182 mL and 112.46 mL/g dry wt biomass/hr. The hydrogen conversion ratio was 22.56%. The butyrate/acetate ratios at pH 5 and pH 6 are 1.63 and 0.38. Higher butyrate/acetate ratio produced more hydrogen gas generation. The Haldane equation model was used to find the optimum pH and fitted well with the experimental data$(r^2=0.98)$. The optimum pH and specific hydrogen production were 5.5 and 119.61 mL/g VSS/h.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.615-621
• /
• 2010

The viability of low-temperature sulfate reduction with hydrogen as electron donor was studied with a bench-scale gas-lift bioreactor (GLB) operated at $9^{\circ}C$. Prior to the GLB experiment, the temperature range of sulfate reduction of the inoculum was assayed. The results of the temperature gradient assay indicated that the inoculum was a psychrotolerant mesophilic enrichment culture that had an optimal temperature for sulfate reduction of $31^{\circ}C$, and minimum and maximum temperatures of $7^{\circ}C$ and $41^{\circ}C$, respectively. In the GLB experiment at $9^{\circ}C$, a sulfate reduction rate of 500-600 mg $l^{-1}d^{-1}$, corresponding to a specific activity of 173 mg ${SO_4}^{2-}g\;VSS^{-1}d^{-1}$, was obtained. The electron flow from the consumed $H_2$-gas to sulfate reduction varied between 27% and 52%, whereas the electron flow to acetate production decreased steadily from 15% to 5%. No methane was produced. Acetate was produced from $CO_2$ and $H_2$ by homoacetogenic bacteria. Acetate supported the growth of some heterotrophic sulfate-reducing bacteria. The sulfate reduction rate in the GLB was limited by the slow biomass growth rate at $9^{\circ}C$ and low biomass retention in the reactor. Nevertheless, this study demonstrated the potential sulfate reduction rate of psychrotolerant sulfate-reducing mesophiles at suboptimal temperature.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.38 no.6
• /
• pp.279-290
• /
• 2016

The performance of upflow anaerobic bioelectrochemical reactor (UABE), equipped with electrodes (anode and cathode) inside the upflow anaerobic reactor, was compared to that of upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor for the treatment of acidic distillery wastewater. The UASB was stable in pH, alkalinity and VFAs until the organic loading rate (OLR) of 4.0 g COD/L.d, but it became unstable over 4.0 g COD/L.d. As a response to the abrupt doubling in OLR, the perturbation in the state variables for the UABE was smaller, compared to the UASB, and quickly recovered. The UABE stability was better than the UASB at higher OLR of 4.0-8.0 g COD/L.d, and the UABE showed better performance in specific methane production rate (2,076mL $CH_4/L.d$), methane content in biogas (66.8%), and COD removal efficiency (82.3%) at 8.0 g COD/L.d than the UASB. The maximum methane yield in UABE was about 407mL/g $COD_r$ at 4.0 g COD/L.d, which was considerably higher than about $282mL/g\;COD_r$ in UASB. The rate limiting step for the bioelectrochemical reaction in UABE was the oxidation of organic matter on the anode surface, and the electrode reactions were considerably affected by the pH at 8.0 g COD/L.d of high OLR. The maximum energy efficiency of UABE was 99.5%, at 4.0 g COD/L.d of OLR. The UABE can be an advanced high rate anaerobic process for the treatment of acidic distillery wastewater.