Development of methanogenic consortia in fluidized-bed batches using sepiolite of different particle size.

The addition of support materials, such as sepiolite, to fluidized-bed anaerobic digesters enhances the methane production by increasing the colonization by syntrophic microbiota. However, the efficiency in the methanogenesis depends on the particle size of the support material, the highest level of methane production being obtained by the smaller particle size sepiolite. Because of the porosity and physico-chemical characteristics of these support materials, the anaerobic microbial consortia formed quickly (after one week of incubation). The predominant methanogenic bacteria present in the active granules, detected both by immunofluorescence using specific antibodies and by scanning electron microscopy, were acetoclastic methanogens, mainly Methanosarcina and Methanosaeta.