TY - JOUR
T1 - Culture scale-up and immobilisation of a mixed methanotrophic consortium for methane remediation in pilot-scale bio-filters
AU - Karthikeyan, Obulisamy Parthiba
AU - Saravanan, Nadarajan
AU - Cirés, Samuel
AU - Alvarez-Roa, Carlos
AU - Razaghi, Ali
AU - Chidambarampadmavathy, Karthigeyan
AU - Velu, Chinnathambi
AU - Subashchandrabose, Gobalakrishnan
AU - Heimann, Kirsten Ruth
PY - 2017/2/16
Y1 - 2017/2/16
N2 - Robust methanotrophic consortia for methane (CH4) remediation and by-product development are presently not readily available for industrial use. In this study, a mixed methanotrophic consortium (MMC), sequentially enriched from a marine sediment, was assessed for CH4removal efficiency and potential biomass-generated by-product development. Suitable packing material for bio-filters to support MMC biofilm establishment and growth was also evaluated. The enriched MMC removed ∼7–13% CH4under a very high gas flow rate (2.5 L min−1; 20–25% CH4) in continuous-stirred tank reactors (∼10 L working volume) and the biomass contained long-chain fatty acids (i.e. C16and C18). Cultivation of the MMC on plastic bio-balls abated ∼95–97% CH4in pilot-scale non-sterile outdoor-operated bio-filters (0.1 L min−1; 1% CH4). Contamination by cyanobacteria had beneficial effects on treating low-level CH4, by providing additional oxygen for methane oxidation by MMC, suggesting that the co-cultivation of MMC with cyanobacterial mats does not interfere with and may actually be beneficial for remediation of CH4and CO2at industrial scale.
AB - Robust methanotrophic consortia for methane (CH4) remediation and by-product development are presently not readily available for industrial use. In this study, a mixed methanotrophic consortium (MMC), sequentially enriched from a marine sediment, was assessed for CH4removal efficiency and potential biomass-generated by-product development. Suitable packing material for bio-filters to support MMC biofilm establishment and growth was also evaluated. The enriched MMC removed ∼7–13% CH4under a very high gas flow rate (2.5 L min−1; 20–25% CH4) in continuous-stirred tank reactors (∼10 L working volume) and the biomass contained long-chain fatty acids (i.e. C16and C18). Cultivation of the MMC on plastic bio-balls abated ∼95–97% CH4in pilot-scale non-sterile outdoor-operated bio-filters (0.1 L min−1; 1% CH4). Contamination by cyanobacteria had beneficial effects on treating low-level CH4, by providing additional oxygen for methane oxidation by MMC, suggesting that the co-cultivation of MMC with cyanobacterial mats does not interfere with and may actually be beneficial for remediation of CH4and CO2at industrial scale.
KW - bio-ball
KW - bio-filter
KW - continuous-stirred tank reactor
KW - marine sediment
KW - Methane
KW - methanotrophs
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84979010244&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/09593330.2016.1198424
DO - 10.1080/09593330.2016.1198424
M3 - Article
VL - 38
SP - 474
EP - 482
JO - ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY
JF - ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY
SN - 0959-3330
IS - 4
ER -