1993 Volume 30 Pages 51-60
This paper presents the effect of organic loading rate on the carbon distribution in mixed algal-bacteria fed batch culture. Glucose used as a source of organic carbon was fed daily in granular form to provide input concentration ranging from 25-700 mg/l. Results show that glucose was largely converted to biomass in aerobic reactors. In anaerobic reactors however, glucose was mainly converted to gases and volatile fatty acids (VFAs). The growth of biomass in anaerobic reactors were affected by accumulation of VFAs. The maximum biomass specific growth rate, μmax, and substrate saturation constant, K were 0.44 d-1 and 135 mg/l respectively. The specific dissolved inorganic carbon accumulation increased as glucose loading rate increased. However, because of VFA accumulation in anaerobic reactors, pH dropped resulting in shift of equilibrium between H2CO3∗(H2CO3∗+CO2(aq) ), HCO3 and CO32-in favor of H2CO3∗ production, most of which was released as CO2 (g) to the atmosphere.
