SUMMARY: Sterilized raw sewage sludge enriched with sulphate and inoculated with pure strains of Desulphovibrio desulphuricans produced negligible sulphide. Unsterilized sludge supplemented with 7% (w/v) CaSO4.2H2O and inoculated with crude cultures of sulphate‐reducing bacteria obtained from sewage yielded 1·0% S2‐ (wt S2‐ produced as H2S/vol. of raw sludge) in 6 months at 30°. By repeated subculture more active cultures developed which produced 1% S2‐ in 7 days and 1·2–1·9% in 28 days. Digested sludge yielded only 0·1% S2‐. In semicontinuous fermentations at 30°, raw sludge without added sulphate produced 20 times its own volume of gas containing 70% CH4 and 30% CO2. When 5% CaSO4.2H2O and an active crude culture of sulphate reducers were added, gas production decreased steadily to zero. There were no differences in pH, temperature and redox potential in sludges producing methane or sulphide. The chief cause of inhibition appeared to be the action of sulphide: 0·02% soluble sulphide (S2‐) totally inhibited methane formation; 0·01% S2‐ initially decreased gas production by one‐quarter but there was a slow recovery to normal, suggesting acclimatization of the methane‐producing organisms to sulphide.
Linked fermentations, in which gas from a methane fermentation swept H2S from a sulphide fermentation, gave a final gas mixture of about 60% CH4, 30% CO2 and 5–10% H2S. The yield of sulphide depended on the rate of sweeping.
SUMMARYDesulfovibrio gigas and several strains of D. desulfwicans grew by fumarate dismutation in a sulphate-free medium. Two strains of D. desulfuricans grown in a chemically defined medium formed succinate, malate and acetate during fumarate dismutation. Sulphate reduction by these strains, though not by D. gigas, was almost completely inhibited in presence of fumarate as alternative electron acceptor. The anomalous behaviour of D. gigas was reflected to some extent by the hydrogen absorption coefficients for fumarate and sulphate reduction. Effects of fumarate media on the morphology of one strain are recorded.
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