title: Lower operational limits to volatile fatty acid degradation with dilute wastewaters in an anaerobic fluidized bed reactor.
abstract: A general concern that anaerobic treatment of dilute wastewaters is limited by the inability of methanogenic and related syntrophic organisms to reduce substrate concentrations adequately was evaluated using a 35 °C granular activated carbon-containing laboratory-scale fluidized bed reactor fed an acetate-propionate equal chemical oxygen demand (COD) mixture synthetic wastewater. Contrary to general expectations, effluent acetate and propionate concentrations remained near or below their detection limits of 0.4 mg COD/L with influent COD of 200mg/L, 17 min hydraulic retention time, and organic loading as high as 17 kg COD/m(3)d, or with influent COD values ranging from 45 to 2010 mg COD/L and organic loadings of 4.2-4.5 kg COD/m(3)d. The effluent acetate concentrations in these well-fed systems were at or much below reported threshold limits for starving non-fed cultures, suggesting that a better understanding of threshold values and factors affecting treatment efficiency with anaerobic treatment of dilute wastewaters is needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, Inha University, Namgu, Yonghyun dong 253, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Chungheon
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Jaeho
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.forename: Perry L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: McCarty
mesh_terms: D000085:Acetates / Q000032:analysis; D000693:Anaerobiosis; D001105:Archaea / Q000378:metabolism; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D057919:Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology; D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile / Q000032:analysis*; D010100:Oxygen / Q000032:analysis; D011422:Propionates / Q000032:analysis; D012212:Rheology; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid; D018508:Water Purification / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D000085:Acetates; D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile; D011422:Propionates; D010100:Oxygen