Methane Production Co-Culture for Oxygen Contamination Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Methanogens are sensitive to oxygen contamination, leading to decreased activity or death, and existing methods do not address oxygen removal effectively, which hampers methane production.
Innovation Solution
Co-culturing methanogens with facultative anaerobic bacteria to consume oxygen, and using a control device to monitor and adjust culture conditions such as temperature, pH, and oxidation-reduction potential to maintain low-oxygen conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If liquid or gas is supplied from outside to the reaction vessel for methanogenesis, then the methanogenesis process can be sustained, but oxygen contamination occurs which leads to decreased activity or death of methanogens
Solution Approach 1:
A facultative anaerobic bacterium is introduced as an intermediary organism that consumes oxygen through aerobic respiration, protecting the strictly anaerobic methanogen from oxygen contamination. The facultative anaerobe acts as a buffer, selectively removing oxygen while allowing the methanogen to thrive and produce methane continuously.
Solution Approach 2:
The supplied liquid or gas, which initially introduces harmful oxygen contamination, is transformed into a beneficial process by the facultative anaerobe's oxygen consumption. The same supply stream that causes harm becomes the mechanism for oxygen removal, converting the harmful effect into a protective function that sustains methanogenesis.
2Reliability
If strict anaerobic conditions are maintained to protect methanogens, then oxygen contamination is prevented, but the system becomes highly sensitive and difficult to operate
Solution Approach 1:
The facultative anaerobic bacterium provides self-service oxygen removal within the system. When oxygen is introduced through liquid or gas supply, the facultative anaerobe automatically consumes it through aerobic respiration, maintaining anaerobic conditions without requiring external intervention or complex control mechanisms. This self-regulating system simplifies operation while ensuring methanogen protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the biological composition parameter by introducing a facultative anaerobe, which alters the oxygen dynamics of the system. This parameter change enables the system to tolerate and even utilize oxygen-containing supplies while maintaining conditions suitable for methanogen activity, significantly improving ease of operation.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If oxygen removal measures are implemented, then methanogen protection is improved, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The oxygen removal function is performed by the facultative anaerobic bacterium itself, which naturally consumes oxygen as part of its metabolism. This biological self-service mechanism eliminates the need for complex mechanical oxygen removal systems, keeping the overall system simple while effectively controlling oxygen contamination.
Solution Approach 2:
The facultative anaerobe serves as a biological intermediary that handles oxygen removal without requiring complex external systems. This intermediary approach simplifies the overall system architecture compared to mechanical oxygen removal methods, as the biological process is inherently simpler to implement and maintain.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Ensures continuous methane production with high efficiency even under oxygen contamination conditions by maintaining methanogenic activity.
Implementation Method 1
co-culturing a methanogen and a facultative anaerobic bacterium to produce methane... facultative anaerobic bacterium, to produce methane. This achieves continuous production of methane with an excellent methane production capability even under oxygen contamination conditions
Implementation Method 2
Methanogens that produce methane gas are strictly anaerobic microorganisms... co-culturing a methanogen and a facultative anaerobic bacterium to produce methane
Implementation Method 3
monitoring a culture condition of a culture system; determining whether the monitored culture condition is outside a set threshold range; and adjusting a culture condition... the monitored culture condition may be the oxygen concentration, and a controlled culture condition may be the culture temperature
Implementation Method 4
the monitored culture condition and a controlled culture condition may be culture temperature, pH of a culture medium, oxidation-reduction potential of the culture medium, or pressure in a reaction vessel
Data Source
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AI summary
A method of producing methane using a methanogen, as well as a control device and a methane production system useable in this method, that achieve an excellent methane production capability continuously even under oxygen (O2) contamination conditions is provided. The method of producing methane includes co-culturing a methanogen and a facultative anaerobic bacterium to produce methane, and the control device and methane production system are useable in this method.