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Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Development of Sulfidogenic Sludge from Marine Sediments and Trichloroethylene Reduction in an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactor
Published on: October 15, 2015
High rate sulfate reduction at pH 6 in a pH-auxostat submerged membrane bioreactor fed with formate
Martijn F M Bijmans1, Tom W T Peeters, Piet N L Lens
1Sub Department of Environmental Technology, Wageningen University and Research Centre, P.O. Box 8129, 6700 EV Wageningen, The Netherlands. Martijn.Bijmans@wur.nl
Abstract:
Many industrial waste and process waters contain high concentrations of sulfate, which can be removed by sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). This paper reports on mesophilic (30 degrees C) sulfate reduction at pH 6 with formate as electron donor in a membrane bioreactor with a pH-auxostat dosing system. A mixed microbial community from full-scale industrial wastewater treatment bioreactors operated at pH 7 was used as inoculum. The pH-auxostat enabled the bacteria to convert sulfate at a volumetric activity of 302 mmol sulfate reduced per liter per day and a specific activity of 110 mmol sulfate reduced per gram volatile suspended solids per day. Biomass grew in 15 days from 0.2 to 4 g volatile suspended solids per liter. This study shows that it is possible to reduce sulfate at pH 6 with formate as electron donor at a high volumetric and specific activity with inocula from full-scale industrial wastewater treatment bioreactors operated at neutral pH. The combination of a membrane bioreactor and a pH-auxostat is a useful research tool to study processes with unknown growth rates at maximum activities.
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