Bioconversion of leachate to acetic and butyric acid by Clostridium butyricum NCIMB 7423 in membrane fermentor

Landfill leachate imposes a huge problem to the environment and human beings. this work focused on bioconversion of leachate to acetic and butyric acids by clostridium butyricum ncimb 7423. a continuous stirred tank reactor (cstr) was applied and connected to fabricate membrane module. the leachate was collected from pulau burung landfill site (pbls),nibong tebal,penang. prior to fermentation,leachate was treated to remove volatile fatty acid and adjusted to meet the minimum requirement of nutrients for anaerobic fermentation. synthetic medium fermentation acts as a benchmark to the leachate fermentation. the outcomes indicated that the yield of acetic acid and butyric acid in synthetic medium fermentation was 0.70 g/l and 0.71 g/l,respectively. meanwhile,leachate fermentation showed that the yield of acetic and butyric acid was 0.93 g/l and 1.86 g/l,respectively. high production of acetic and butyric acid showed that leachate fermentation is a green alternative to produce a cleaner product. © 2017 universiti putra malaysia press.