Temporal variation of microbial population in acclimation and start-up period of a thermophilic desulfurization biofilter

摘要

Microorganisms in a biofilter play important roles in the gas contaminants treatment process. In this study, thermophilic desulfurization bacteria were inoculated in a thermophilic biofilter for SO2 treatment after acclimation and enrichment. Molecular biology techniques were applied to detect temporal variation of microbial population during acclimation and biofilter start-up period. The acclimation temperatures were 50, 55, and 60 degrees C. Desulfurization bacteria dominated the enrichments. During acclimation, desulfurization bacteria and thermophilic bacteria increased from 36.84% to 78.95%-52.94% and 88.24%, respectively. In addition, the microbial diversity indices of these enrichments decreased with time. Substrate species and acclimation temperature influenced the microbial structure of the enrichments. The thermophilic biofilter inoculated with enrichments could achieve a rapid start-up, and over 80% of removal efficiency could be obtained within two weeks. The maximum elimination capacity was 38.71 g m(-3) h(-1) at 152 mg m(-3) inlet concentration. The total sulfur bacteria proportion increased obviously during the start-up period. Moreover, desulfurization bacteria that originally existed in inocula, e.g., Pseudomonas putida, Bacillus thioparans, Microbacterium sp., and Thermoanaerobacteriaceae, were abundant in the thermophilic biofilter for SO2 removal. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.