Low Temperature Effects on Anaerobic Microbial Kinetic Parameters

Abstract
Anaerobic sequencing batch reactors (ASBRs) were operated in the temperature range of 5 to 25°C and 24, 16, 12, 8, 6 hour hydraulic retention times (HRTs) over a period of two years to evaluate the effects of different temperatures on the microbial kinetic parameters K, Ks, Kd, Yg and μm. The values of K, Kd and μm were found to decrease, and the half saturation constant, Ks was found to increase with a decrease in temperature in accordance with the Arrhenius equation. Temperature coefficient, θ values for substrate utilization rate, maximum specific growth rate, decay rate and half saturation constant were 1.083, 1.062, 1.076 and 1.05 respectively. Through the determination of kinetic parameters, a design engineer may be able to predict the performance of ASBR treatment systems over a wide range of low temperatures.