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| Author(s): |
Sávia Gavazza dos Santos
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Press: | São Carlos. |
| Institution: | Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC/SBD) |
| Defense date: | 2003-07-22 |
| Examining board members: |
Eugenio Foresti;
Pedro Além Sobrinho;
Maria de Lourdes Florêncio dos Santos;
Marcelo Zaiat
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| Advisor: | Eugenio Foresti |
| Abstract | |
This thesis presents and discusses the data obtained from an experimental work designed to evaluate the comparative performance of denitrifying batch reactors utilizing ethanol, methanol and methane gas as electron donors. The experiments were carried out at using bench-scale reactors. The experiments using methane gas were meant to verify the effectiveness of such a by-product of anaerobic reactors instead of exogenous electron donors commonly used, such as methanol and ethanol. To achieve this main objective, the kinetic parameters of denitrification for the distinct electron donors assayed were determined in different operating conditions. Besides, the microbial population changes inside the reactors along the experimental time were evaluated in respect to the microbial diversity, by means of microscopy analysis (optical, fluorescent and electronic scanning) and the Molecular Biology technique, PCR/DGGE. Complete denitrification was achieved with all the compounds tested, and ethanol was the most effective electron donor for denitrification. The best carbon to nitrogen ratio for denitrification was 1.0. However, this parameter was found to be inadequate for using in denitrification process, since it does not express the real capacity of the compound used to donate electrons. Denitrification with methane occurred in the presence and also in the absence of oxygen, although at lower velocities compared to those with the other compounds. However, the reactor configuration utilized in this study was not adequate to promote the effective methane gas dissolution in the liquid phase. Therefore, it is suggested the development of appropriate reactor configurations to minimize mass transfer resistances from the gas to the liquid phase and also from that to the biomass. (AU) | |