Effect of Organic Loading Rate on the Microbial Community in Anaerobic Chambered Reactor Processing Ethanol Distillery Vinasse

Author(s)

da Conceicao, Vinicius Masquetti ^[1] ; Pozzi, Eloisa ^[2] ; Sakamoto, Isabel Kimiko ^[2] ; Motteran, Fabricio ^[3] ; Pires, Eduardo Cleto ^{[2, 4]}

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Fed Rio de Janeiro, Dept Construct Technol, UFRJ, Pedro Calmon Ave, BR-55021941 Rio De Janeiro, RJ - Brazil

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Hydraul & Sanitat, EESC USP, Trabalhador Sao Carlense Ave 400, BR-13566590 Sao Carlos, SP - Brazil

^[3] Univ Fed Pernambuco, Dept Civil & Environm Engn, Mol Biol & Environm Technol Lab, UFPE, Arquitetura Ave S-N, BR-50740550 Recife, PE - Brazil

^[4] Univ Ribeirao Preto, Grad Program Environm Technol, Unaerp, Costabile Romano Ave 2201, BR-14096900 Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: WATER AIR AND SOIL POLLUTION; v. 232, n. 12 DEC 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

The gradual increase in organic loading is a strategy that has been used in reactor operation of wastewater treatment to adapt the microbial community and its metabolic activities. Within this context, the aim of this research was to investigate the microbial community present in an anaerobic chambered reactor (ACR) operating for 270 days treating ethanol distillery stillage. The operation the ACR reactor started with low feed rate which was increased gradually so that the organic load rate (OLR) ranged from 0.5 to 2.5 g COD m(-3) day(-1). Performance monitoring included physicochemical analyses, methane production, microscopy, and biomolecular analyses. The operational data shows satisfactory performance in terms of COD removal, averaging over 92.5%. DGGE analyses revealed that the structure of the microbial community of Bacteria domain is more sensitive to reactor operational conditions than that of the Archaea domain, when the OLR increased. A clear relationship was observed between the microbial diversity and the dominance for Bacteria and Archaea domains to different OLR, indicating adaptation of communities to the operating conditions imposed on the ACR. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/19561-5 - Application of anaerobic baffled reactor in the processing of stillage of sugar cane for the production of methane
• Grantee: Vinicius Masquetti da Conceição
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate