Biotechnological aspects of sulfate reduction with methane as electron donor

Abstract

Biological sulfate reduction can be used for the removal and recovery of oxidized sulfur compounds and metals from waste streams. However, the costs of conventional electron donors, like hydrogen and ethanol, limit the application possibilities. Methane from natural gas or biogas would be a more attractive electron donor. Sulfate reduction with methane as electron donor prevails in marine sediments. Recently, several authors succeeded in cultivating the responsible microorganisms in vitro. In addition, the process has been studied in bioreactors. These studies have opened up the possibility to use methane as electron donor for sulfate reduction in wastewater and gas treatment. However, the obtained growth rates of the responsible microorganisms are extremely low, which would be a major limitation for applications. Therefore, further research should focus on novel cultivation techniques.

Reach out and touch someone: potential impact of DIET (direct interspecies energy transfer) on anaerobic biogeochemistry, bioremediation, and bioenergy

“…A series of experimental and modeling studies have suggested that hydrogen, formate, or a diversity of other potential soluble electron shuttles, are unlikely electron carriers between the archaea responsible for the initial attack on methane and their companion sulfate reducers (Orcutt and Meile 2008;Alperin and Hoehler 2010;Meulepas et al 2010). At least one clade of these methane-oxidizing aggregates expresses genes encoding multi-heme c-type cytochromes that are predicted to be excreted from cells (Myerdierks et al 2010), and thus analogous to cytochrome required for direct electron transfer between Geobacter species (Summers et al 2010).…”

Analysis and retrofit design of wastewater treatment facilities using process simulation tools

“…The use of methane as electron donor in sulphate reduction processes saves energy when compared to hydrogen [4] and is 4 times cheaper than hydrogen or ethanol [5]. However, reaction rates must be considerably raised in order to achieve an economically feasible process.…”

Sulfate reduction in groundwater: characterization and applications for remediation

“…Several laboratory studies have been conducted to evaluate the impact of electron-donor addition on sulfate reduction for various applications, including acid mine drainage (e.g., El Bayoumy et al, 1999; Glombitza, 2001; Johnson and Hallberg, 2002; Gibert et al, 2002), recovery of industrial wastewater (e.g., García-Saucedo et al, 2008; Eljamal et al, 2009; Meulepas et al, 2010), remediation of contaminated lakes and sediments (e.g. Smith and Klug, 1981; Lovley et al, 1995), and to investigate isotopic fractionation (e.g.…”