In this study,the suitability of live/dead staining and cofactor F430 measurement as fast and informative complements to specific methanogenic activity (SMA) tests,is investigated.All methanogenic pathways converge to a final step which is catalysed by methyl coenzyme M reductase (MCR).Cofactor F430 is an essential prosthetic group of the MCR enzyme and is hypothesized to be closely related to methanogenic activity.The samples are taken from two lab-scale anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs) fed with a synthetic dairy wastewater.Preliminary results indicate that F430 measurement is superior to live fraction determination as an indicator of (potential) methanogenic activity.Moreover,its determination as a real-time process related activity biomarker may provide information complementing ex-situ SMA tests.
Department of Chemical Engineering-Bio-& Chemical Systems Technology, Reactor Engineering and Safety Department of Environmental Engineering and Water Technology, UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Educati BIOTHANE-Veolia Water Technologies, Tanthofdreef 21-2623 EW Delft, The Netherlands Department of Watermanagement, Section Sanitary Engineering, Delft University of Technology, PO Box