Investigation of Biologically Stable Biofilter Medium for Methane Mitigation by Methanotrophic Bacteria
Publication: Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste
Volume 22, Issue 3
Abstract
This study investigates the use of biologically stable materials including lava rock and biochar as alternative biofilter materials to common biodegradable materials such as compost. The results from batch studies indicate that lava rock and biochar can support the growth of methanotrophs for the oxidation of to with peak oxidation rates of more than matrix. A statistical analysis of water content, media composition, and nitrogen determines that the level of nitrogen supplementation is the most important factor for oxidation. Nitrogen additions of up to matrix maximize oxidation activity but concentrations above this value inhibit activity. The dominant methanotrophs belong to the genera Methylobacter and Methylomicrobium and maintain a steady relative abundance even as oxidation rates decrease. This indicates that the methanotrophs likely enter into a starvation phase (or a stationary phase of growth in which the population may cease to divide but remains metabolically active) in response to unfavorable nitrogen conditions, and their oxidation activities eventually recover as toxic intermediates are further oxidized during nitrogen metabolism.
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Acknowledgments
Funding for this research was provided by the Climate Change and Emissions Management Corporation (CCEMC) and Mitacs. The authors thank Daniel Larson, Donald Anson, and Mirsad Berbic for their technical assistance in this work. A special thank you goes out to Hasna Nazir.
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Published In
Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste
Volume 22 • Issue 3 • July 2018
Copyright
©2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 12, 2017
Accepted: Jan 30, 2018
Published online: May 3, 2018
Published in print: Jul 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Oct 3, 2018
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