High rate sulfate reduction at pH 6 in a pH-auxostat submerged membrane bioreactor fed with formate

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 °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.