• KSBB Journal
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.425-430
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• 2005

Thermophilic $H_2$ was produced for 1 year using a bench-scale continuous stirred tank reactor(CSTR). The CSTR was inoculated with anaerobically digested sludge after heat treatment and fed with a glucose-based medium. The reactor showed relatively short start-up period(30 days) and high maximal $H_2$ yield(2.4 mol $H_2/mol$ glucose). Keeping pH 5.0 or less suppressed methanogenic activity. Bacteria affiliated with Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum kept being dominant from approximately 40 days as determined by DGGE. Environmental perturbation(pH or temperature) caused the decrease of biomass concentration in the reactor and the instability of reactor performance, $H_2$ production rate and $H_2$ yield. The unstable performance was accompanied with high concentration of lactate in the effluent. Taken together, the poor recovery of CSTR after perturbations could be partly explained by low biomass concentration and/or metabolic shift of the major population in the CSTR.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.431-437
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• 2005

Molecular methods were employed to investigate microorganisms in a thermophilic continuous stirred tank reactor(CSTR) used for continuous $H_2$ production. The reactor was inoculated with heat-treated anaerobic sludge and fed with a glucose-based medium. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis showed dynamic changes of bacterial populations in the reactor during 43 days of operation. Gas composition was constant from approximately 14 days but population shift still occurred. Populations affiliated with Fervidobactrium gondwanens and Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum were dominant on 21 and 41 days, respectively. Keeping pH of the medium at 5.0 could suppress methanogenic activity that was detected during initial operation period. $CH_4$ and mcrA detected in the samples obtained from the reactor or inoculum suggested the heat treatment condition employed in this study is not enough to remove methanogens in the inoculum. PCR using primer sets specific to 4 main orders of methanogens suggested that major $H_2$-consuming methanogens in the CSTR belong to the order Methanobacteriales.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.33-41
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• 1997

An attempt was made to enhance anaerobic treatment efficiency by adopting the anaerobic sequencing batch reactor(ASBR) process at a thermophilic temperature. Operational characteristics of the ASBR process were studied using laboratory scale reactors and concentrated organic wastewater composed of soluble starch and essential nutrients. Effects of fill to react ratio (F/R) were examined in the Phase I experiment, where the equivalent hydraulic retention time(HRT) was maintained at 5 days with the influent COD of 10g/L. A continuous stirred tank reactor(CSTR) was operated in parallel as a reference. Treatment efficiency was higher for the ASBRs because of continuous accumulation of volatile suspended solids(VSS) compared to the CSTR. However, the rate of gas production and organic removal per unit VSS in the ASBRs was much lower than the CSTR. This was caused by reduced methane fermentation due to accumulation of volatile acids(VA), especially for the case of low F/R, during the fill period. When the F/R was high, maximum VA was low and the VA decreased in short period. Consequently, more stable operation was possible with higher F/R. Effects of hydraulic loading rate on the efficiency was studied in the Phase II experiment, where the organic loading rate was elevated to 3333mg/L-d with the F/R of 0.12. Reduction of organic removal along with rapid increase of VA was observed and the stability of reaction was seriously impaired, when the influent COD was doubled. However, operation of the ASBR was quite stable, when the hydraulic loading rate was doubled and a cycle time was adjusted to 12 hour. It is essential to avoid rapid accumulation of VA during the fill period in order to maintain operational stability of the ASBR.