title: Effect of polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel as a biocarrier on volatile fatty acids production of a two-stage thermophilic anaerobic membrane bioreactor.
abstract: This work studied the effect of polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel (PVA-gel) beads, as an effective biocarrier for volatile fatty acid (VFA) production in hydrolytic reactor of a two-stage thermophilic anaerobic membrane bioreactor (TAnMBR). The two-stage TAnMBR, treating synthetic high strength particulate wastewater with influent chemical oxygen demand (COD) [16.4±0.8 g/L], was operated at 55 °C. Under steady state conditions, the reactor was operated at an organic loading rate of 8.2±0.4 kg COD/m(3) d. Operational performance of the system was monitored by assessing VFA composition and quantity, methane production and COD removal efficiency. Increment of VFA production was observed with PVA-gel addition. Hydrolytic effluent contained large amount of acetic acid and n-butyric acid. However, increase in VFA production adversely affected the methanogenic reactor performance due to lack of methanogenic archaea.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Engineering and Management Program, School of Environment Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 4, Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand.
authors.forename: Supawat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chaikasem
authors.affiliation: Department of Urban Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan.
authors.forename: Amila
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abeynayaka
authors.affiliation: Environmental Engineering and Management Program, School of Environment Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 4, Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand. Electronic address: visu@ait.asia.
authors.forename: Chettiyappan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Visvanathan
mesh_terms: D000143:Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D000693:Anaerobiosis; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology*; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D008697:Methane / Q000096:biosynthesis; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol / Q000737:chemistry*; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D000143:Acids; D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; C062364:polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol; D008697:Methane
keywords: Membrane bioreactor; Methane production; PVA-gel; Thermophilic anaerobic; Volatile fatty acids