Isolation and identification of methanethiol-utilizing bacterium CZ05 and its application in bio-trickling filter of biogas

A bacterium capable of methanethiol (MT) degradation was enriched and isolated by employing activated sewage sludge as the inoculum in a mineral medium containing MT. The isolate was identified as Paenibacillus polymyxa CZ05 through a Biolog test and 16S rDNA sequencing. This strain can utilize both organic and inorganic media and thrives at pH 4 to 9. The batch culture showed that the strain can degrade MT better in the No. 4 medium than in the No. 1 medium. A series-operating biotrickling filter with lava stone as the carrier was employed to test the application of P. polymyxa CZ05 in the removal of MT in simulated biogas. Long-term experiments showed that a high concentration of MT (60 ppm) was efficiently removed (99.5%) by the biotrickling filters at EBRT 30 s. The addition of hydrogen sulfide decreased the MT removal rate because the dissolved oxygen competed with MT.