title: Degradation of methanethiol in anaerobic sewers and its correlation with methanogenic activities.
abstract: Methanethiol (MT) is considered one of the predominant odorants in sewer systems. Therefore, understanding MT transformation in sewers is essential to sewer odor assessment and abatement. In this study, we investigated the degradation of MT in laboratory anaerobic sewers. Experiments were carried out in seven anaerobic sewer reactors with biofilms at different stages of development. MT degradation was found to be strongly dependent on the methanogenic activity of sewer biofilms. The MT degradation rate accelerated with the increase of methanogenic activity of sewer biofilms, resulting in MT accumulation (i.e. net production) in sewer reactors with relatively low methanogenic activities, and MT removal in reactors with higher methanogenic activities. A Monod-type kinetic expression was developed to describe MT degradation kinetics in anaerobic sewers, in which the maximum degradation rate was modeled as a function of the maximum methane production rate through a power function. It was also found that MT concentration had a linear relationship with acetate concentration, which may be used for preliminary assessment of MT presence in anaerobic sewers.
authors.affiliation: Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia 4072, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia 4072, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Shihu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia 4072, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Keshab Raj
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia 4072, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Bing-Jie
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Ni
authors.affiliation: Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia 4072, Queensland, Australia. Electronic address: zhiguo@awmc.uq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Zhiguo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yuan
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D018441:Biofilms; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology; D007700:Kinetics; D008697:Methane / Q000378:metabolism*; D009812:Odorants; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology*; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D012722:Sewage; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds; C005231:methylmercaptan; D008697:Methane
keywords: Anaerobic sewers; Methanethiol (MT); Methanogenic activity; Odor; Volatile organic sulfur compound (VOSC)