1. Regulatory role of n-propanol in propylene glycol biomethanization under overload.
- Author
-
Seok J and Komisar SJ
- Subjects
- Aircraft, Bacteria, Anaerobic physiology, Biodegradation, Environmental, Ice, Methane analysis, Methane chemistry, Propylene Glycol chemistry, Solvents chemistry, Bioreactors, Propylene Glycol metabolism, Solvents metabolism
- Abstract
This work examines the transient response of an anaerobic fluidized bed bioreactor to an overload of propylene glycol (PG), the primary component in aircraft de-icing waste. Under favorable operating conditions, PG was converted to n-propanol (n-PrOH) and propionate (HPr), and subsequently n-PrOH was completely converted into HPr. HPr was then fully degraded to methane and carbon dioxide via acetate. Under an overload condition, n-PrOH conversion to propionate was completely blocked but propionate degradation continued, contrary to free-energy computations in which n-PrOH should rapidly degrade and HPr should accumulate. When the imposed overload condition was relieved, the accumulated n-PrOH was rapidly converted into propionate. n-PrOH, then, could act as a temporal sink for reducing equivalents (XH(2)) and could regulate the overall PG methanazation process. n-PrOH should be monitored along with typical VFAs such as HPr to avoid sudden VFA accumulation and thus to optimize process performance for PG methanization., (Copyright 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd.)
- Published
- 2003
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