title: Method for evaluating anaerobic digester performance.
abstract: The degradation rate and efficiency of digestion processes is typically measured by introducing a substrate or pollutant into a digester and then monitoring the effluents for the pollutant or substrate, a costly and slow process. A new method for rapid measurement of the rates and efficiencies of anaerobic degradation of pollutants and lignocellulose substrates from various pretreatments is described. The method uses micro-reactors (10-30mL) containing a mixed culture of anaerobic bacteria obtained from a working anaerobic digester. The rate of degradation of pollutants and metabolic heat rate are measured in parallel sets of micro-reactors. Measurement of metabolic rate and pollutant degradation simultaneously is an effective means of rapidly examining pollutant degradation on a micro-scale. Calorimetric measurements alone allow rapid, relative evaluation of various substrate pretreatment methods.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602-5700, USA.
authors.forename: Taylor
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cline
authors.forename: Nathan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Logan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shumway
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yeung
authors.forename: Conly L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: Lee D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: Jaron C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Hansen
mesh_terms: D001421:Bacteria, Anaerobic / Q000502:physiology*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology*; D002151:Calorimetry / Q000379:methods*; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins