CO Biomethanation with Different Anaerobic Granular Sludges

Biomethanation of the syngas from biomass gasification provides an alternative method for production of biofuel and chemicals. CO in syngas plays a key role in biomethanation of syngas, as it is both a substrate and an inhibitor of certain methanogenesis processes. In this study, CO biomethanation by using a mixture of N-2 and CO as the gas substrate, was investigated with the help of 5 adapted anaerobic granular sludges under thermophilic and mesophilic conditions. The results show that CO biomethanation by the adapted inocula is omnipresent. The sludge from the juice plant has a methane yield more than 80% of the theoretical value both at 37 degrees C and 55 degrees C. Increasing the temperature from 37 degrees C to 55 degrees C has a slight effect on the final methane production, but can significantly increase the CO consumption rate and shorten the time for CO biomethanation. [GRAPHICS] .