Behavior of carbon monoxide as a trace component of anaerobic digester gases and methanogenesis from acetate

Findings demonstrating production of trace levels of carbon monoxide by methanogenic systems catabolizing acetate are presented. The possibility that concentrations of carbon monoxide in anaerobic systems could be described in terms of a thermodynamic relationship was investigated. Concentrations of trace levels of carbon monoxide in the headspace of an anaerobic digester treating waste activated sludge was redox regulated, with levels increasing with either increasing acetate concentrations or decreasing methane concentrations. A thermodynamic relationship was developed to predict the acetate concentration in a digester system subject to organic overloading. There are 45 references.