Resumen de La actividad de los microorganismos como parámetro de control de reactores anaeróbicos
José Luis García Morales, Luis Isidoro Romero García, Diego Sales Márquez
Anaerobic digestion is a well-established technology for treatment of sludge and several industrial wastewaters. Also, thermophilic anaerobic digestion is of interest for the treatment of wastes and, indeed, thermophilic processes have been found to be higher than mesophilic processes in terms of removal rate of organic matter. A number of authors has attempted to characterize anaerobic reactor biomass, some in terms of microbial ecology; others in terms of biological activity (measured as utilization rate of different substrates or end products generated). Numerous researchers have proposed batch bioassays to determine the activities of anaerobic cultures in anaerobic ecosystems. The specific activity test also allows the prediction of maximal space loading rate, which can be applied during start-up procedures, and could be very useful for the selection of an adapted sludge for inoculation processes, for the detection of an unbalanced situation between several cultures in a reactor, for the calculation of the maximum organic load rate in a reactor, etc. However, all these papers report research are referred principally to biological activity tests in the mesophilic range of temperature, and no information is available for. measuring acidogenic and methanogenic activity in the thermophilic range. The aim of this paper is to present the best conditions (methodology and Procedures) for carrying out batch bioassays tests to determine acidogenic and methanogenic activity in thermophilic anaerobic reactors treating vinasses.
