Effect of initial substrate and biomass concentrations on anaerobic fermentative hydrogen production in batch reactors

The effects of initial substrate (5-60 g /L) and biomass concentration (0.5-3 g /L) on fermentative hydrogen production by mixed cultures were investigated in batch tests using glucose as substrate.The experimental results showed that the hydrogen production increases as the initial substrate concentration increases from 0 to 25 g /L.It indicated that the shift in the metabolic pathway or in the composition of the bacterial flora occurs.The maximum hydrogen yield of 1.78 mol /mol-glucose is obtained at the substrate concentration of 15 g /L.This study also shows that initial biomass concentration affects the hydrogen yield as the cumulative hydrogen production has been increased with the increase of initial cell concentration up to 1.5 g /L and reached the highest level.The maximum hydrogen yield is obtained at the cell concentration of 1.5 g /L.It indicated that the optimum biomass /substrate ratio,maximizing the hydrogen yield and the hydrogen production rate,is determined to be 0.1 g biomass /g glucose.

Effects of sludge retention time,carbon and initial biomass concentrations on selection process:From activated sludge to polyhydroxyalkanoate accumulating cultures

Four sequence batch reactors（SBRs） fed by fermented sugar cane wastewater were continuously operated under the aerobic dynamic feeding（ADF） mode with different configurations of sludge retention time（SRT）, carbon and initial biomass concentrations to enrich polyhydroxyalkanoate（PHA） accumulating mixed microbial cultures（MMCs） from municipal activated sludge.The stability of SBRs was investigated besides the enrichment performance. The microbial community structures of the enriched MMCs were analyzed using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism（T-RFLP）. The optimum operating conditions for the enrichment process were： SRT of 5 days, carbon concentration of 2.52 g COD/L and initial biomass concentration of3.65 g/L. The best enrichment performance in terms of both operating stability and PHA storage ability of enriched cultures（with the maximum PHA content and PHA storage yield（YPHA/S） of61.26% and 0.68 mg COD/mg COD, respectively） was achieved under this condition. Effects of the SRT, carbon concentration and initial biomass concentration on the PHA accumulating MMCs selection process were discussed respectively. A new model including the segmentation of the enrichment process and the effects of SRT on each phase was proposed.

Seasonal and spatial variation in species diversity, abundance, and element accumulation capacities of macroalgae in mangrove forests of Zhanjiang, China

The objective of this study was to investigate whether there was distinctive seasonal and zonal variation in the species diversity, biomass, and element accumulation capacities of macroalgae in two major intertidal mangrove stand types （Avicennia marina assemblage andSonneratia apetala assemblage） in the Zhanjiang region of southern China. Over a year, 31 species in 15 genera were identified in both mangrove assem-blages, of which the dominant species wereCladophoropsis zollingeriand Enteromorpha clathrat.Macroal-gal species were significantly most abundant in spring （p〈0.05）, followed by summer, winter, and autumn. Variation in the zonal distribution of macroalgal species was conspicuous in both intertidal mangrove as-semblages, with the greatest abundance in the middle zone, and the least in the front zone. Patterns in the seasonal and zonal variation in macroalgal biomass in theS. apetalaassemblage were similar to those of macroalgal species diversity in both mangrove assemblages. The seasonal patterns in tissue concentrations of 15 analyzed elements were not uniform among the macroalgaeC. zollingeri,E. clathrata, andGracilaria salicornia in theA. marina assemblage. All three species exhibited variation in their responses to ambient concentrations of different elements, implying their differential ability to absorb and selectively accumulate certain elements.