A systematic comparison of two empirical gas-liquid mass transfer determination methodologies to characterize methane biodegradation in stirred tank bioreactors

Abstract

This study aimed at systematically comparing the potential of two empirical methods for the estimation of the volumetric CH4 mass transfer coefficient (klaCH4), namely gassing-out and oxygen transfer rate (OTR), to describe CH4 biodegradation in a fermenter operated with a methanotrophic consortium at 400, 600 and 800 rpm. The klaCH4 estimated from the OTR methodology accurately predicted the CH4 elimination capacity (EC) under CH4 mass transfer limiting conditions regardless of the stirring rate (∼9% of average error between empirical and estimated ECs). Thus, empirical CH4-ECs of 37.8 ± 5.8, 42.5 ± 5.4 and 62.3 ± 5.2 g CH4 m−3 h−1 vs predicted CH4-ECs of 35.6 ± 2.2, 50.1 ± 2.3 and 59.6 ± 3.4 g CH4 m−3 h−1 were recorded at 400, 600 and 800 rpm, respectively. The rapid Co2+-catalyzed reaction of O2 with SO3−2 in the vicinity of the gas-liquid interphase during OTR determinations, mimicking microbial CH4 uptake in the biotic experiments, was central to accurately describe the klaCH4.