Process and apparatus for the continuous anaerobic degradation of organic compounds

摘要

The continuous anaerobic degradation of lower carboxylic acids and/or furfural and/or methanol in aqueous liquid, in particular of acetic acid, is carried out according to the invention in a column reactor having a fixed bed composed of a support, in particular anthracite, colonising microorganisms with admixture of recycled reactor effluent in an amount such that virtually uniform conditions are present in the reactor and the pH measured at the top and bottom of the reactor does not differ by more than 0.3 pH units. The space-time yield in this case can, surprisingly, be considerably increased if, after culture of sufficiently adhering microorganisms at a residence time >/= 50% of the generation time, an iterative shortening of the residence time (preferably by about 30% of the preceding value) is carried out with establishment of equilibrium in each case, until the space-time yield can no longer be increased.