Open AccessThe effect of incubation temperature on steady‐state concentrations of hydrogen and volatile fatty acids during anaerobic degradation in slurries from wetland sediments
Author(s) -
Westermann Peter
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
fems microbiology ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.377
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1574-6941
pISSN - 0168-6496
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6941.1994.tb00076.x
Subject(s) - methanogenesis , exergonic reaction , biology , incubation , propionate , butyrate , methanogen , environmental chemistry , methane , slurry , volatile fatty acids , ecology , food science , biochemistry , chemistry , environmental engineering , rumen , fermentation , catalysis , engineering
Increasing the incubation temperature of two swamp slurries from 2°C to37°C resulted in a 8‐ to 18‐fold increase in the H 2 partial pressure. The concentration of volatile fatty acids remained fairly constant except for butyrate, which decreased with increasing temperature. Calculation of Gibbs free energies of syntrophic degradation of butyrate and propionate, and of methanogenesis from acetate and H 2 revealed that these reactions were exergonic after the slurries had stabilized at the incubation temperatures. The changes in H 2 partial pressure and butyrate concentration with temperature were found important to render the processes exergonic within the tested temperature range.