Experimental study of gas generation by microorganism

Mine, Tatsuya*; Mihara, Morihiro  ; not registered 

In the geological disposal system of the radioactive wastes, gas generation by microorganism could be significant for the assessment of this system, because organic material included in groundwater, buffer material and wastes might serve as carbon sources for microorganisms. In this study, gas generation tests using microorganisms were carried out under anaerobic condition. The amount of methane and carbon dioxide that were generated by activity of Methane Producing Bacteria (MPB) were measured with humic acid, acetic acid and cellulose as carbon sources. The results showed that methane was not generated from humic acid by activity of MPB. However, in the case of using acetic acid and cellulose, methane was generated, but at high pH condition (pH=10), the amount of generated methane was lower than at low pH (pH=7). It was not clear whether the pH would affect the amount of generated carbon dioxide.