Anaerobic oxidation of methane coupled to sulfate reduction: Consortium characteristics and application in co-removal of HS and methane.

Anaerobic sludge from a sewage treatment plant was used to acclimatize microbial colonies capable of anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) coupled to sulfate reduction. Clone libraries and fluorescence in situ hybridization were used to investigate the microbial population. Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) (e.g., Desulfotomaculum arcticum and Desulfobulbus propionicus) and anaerobic methanotrophic archaea (ANME) (e.g., Methanosaeta sp. and Methanolinea sp.) coexisted in the enrichment. The archaeal and bacterial cells were randomly or evenly distributed throughout the consortia. Accompanied by sulfate reduction, methane was oxidized anaerobically by the consortia of methane-oxidizing archaea and SRB. Moreover, CH and SO were consumed by methanotrophs and sulfate reducers with CO and HS as products. The HCSH produced by methanotrophy was an intermediate product during the process. The methanotrophic enrichment was inoculated in a down-flow biofilter for the treatment of methane and HS from a landfill site. On average, 93.33% of HS and 10.71% of methane was successfully reduced in the biofilter. This study tries to provide effective method for the synergistic treatment of waste gas containing sulfur compounds and CH.