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Appl Environ Microbiol. 1987 January; 53(1): 27-32
Copyright © 1987, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Biofilm Dynamics and Kinetics during High-Rate Sulfate Reduction under Anaerobic Conditions

Per Halkjaer Nielsen

Environmental Engineering Laboratory, University of Aalborg, DK-9000 Aalborg, Denmark

ABSTRACT

The sulfate kinetics in an anaerobic, sulfate-reducing biofilm were investigated with an annular biofilm reactor. Biofilm growth, sulfide production, and kinetic constants (Km and Vmax) for the bacterial sulfate uptake within the biofilm were determined. These parameters were used to model the biofilm kinetics, and the experimental results were in good agreement with the model predictions. Typical zero-order volume rate constants for sulfate reduction in a biofilm without substrate limitation ranged from 56 to 93 µmol of SO24-cm–3 h–1 at 20°C. The temperature dependence (Q10) of sulfate reduction was equivalent to 3.4 at between 9 and 20°C. The measured rates of sulfate reduction could explain the relatively high sulfide levels found in sewers and wastewater treatment systems. Furthermore, it has been shown that sulfate reduction in biofilms just a few hundred micrometers thick is limited by sulfate diffusion into biofilm at concentrations below 0.5 mM. This observation might, in some cases, be an explanation for the relatively poor capacity of the sulfate-reducing bacteria to compete with the methanogenic bacteria in anaerobic wastewater treatment in submerged filters.

Appl Environ Microbiol. 1987 January; 53(1): 27-32
Copyright © 1987, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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Copyright © 1987 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.