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Chicago
03/30/2014, 11:47 AM
just took it apart.. I can say that some of this crude is very soft.. but in other places it is very hard like calcium deposits.. I am soaking the elbows and other pieces in vinegar now. bio pellets in bucket. lots of film in the bucket with the bio pellets. Do others have an opinion on whether reactors tend to get caked faster with calcium deposits ?

or once the bio pellet reactor goes to slow the bio film becomes hard and crust like. ?

to sum it up.. the crude on the intake strainer was soft and could be washed off with strong water.. the other cake like material in the elbows and inside near pump intake are hard like scale. similar to calcium deposits.

Posting here in chemistry forum.. as vinegar is not breaking it up as I am use to. is there some type of reaction with the bio film and calcium deposts.

thanks

Randy Holmes-Farley
03/30/2014, 01:29 PM
Are the soaking deposits bubbling at all? Vinegar is slow to dissolve CaCO3. Muriatic acid (diluted 1 part acid into 10 parts tap water) is a lot faster.

I've not heard anyone claim there was calcium carbonate on their pellets.

What is just upstream from it? Any alk additions or GFO?

Chicago
03/30/2014, 04:45 PM
no bubbling. the bio pellets do not have any caking.. the pipes do.. took all day of a soak on the reactor and parts.. and almost there clean wise. but there was a lot of build up. softened up.. the stuff on the strainer was not like the stuff that was in the pvc pipes.. it was soft.. bio film build up I guess..

Thinking of taking the bio pellets cut in half.

HighlandReefer
03/30/2014, 05:25 PM
It's not uncommon to hear about calcium carbonate cementing sand beds together perhaps by bacteria. I don't see why it can't occur on biopellets. This is the first I've heard of it like Randy stated.


Bacillus subtilis Gene Cluster Involved in Calcium Carbonate Biomineralization[down-pointing small open triangle]
Published online Nov 3, 2006

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1797216/

From it:

"Calcium carbonate biomineralization is a widespread process among organisms from bacteria to Chordata, but it is generally accepted that the mineralization capacities of prokaryotes and eukaryotes are different (59). Like other biomineralization processes, calcium carbonate biomineralization can occur by two different mechanisms: biologically controlled mineralization and biologically induced mineralization (32, 34).

In biologically controlled mineralization, the organism controls the process (nucleation and growth of the mineral particles) to a high degree. The mineral particles formed are synthesized or deposited on or within organic matrices or vesicles in a specific location with regard to the cell, and usually intracellularly (9). Biologically controlled calcium mineralization is predominantly carried out by tissue-forming multicellular eukaryotes and leads to the production of complex and specialized structures such as shells, teeth, and skeletons. Every organism synthesizes biogenic minerals in a form that is unique to that species, independently of environmental conditions. Because of these features, both the synthesis and the form of every specific biogenic mineral are thought to be under specific metabolic and genetic control ( 7, 8, 9). The best known examples of molecular and genetic control of mineralization processes by microorganisms are magnetite mineralization in magnetotactic bacteria and CaCO3 mineralization and silica deposition in the unicellular algae coccolithophores and diatoms, respectively. They all represent situations of biologically controlled mineralization and are reviewed by Bäuerlein (7, 8).

In contrast, biologically induced mineralization is usually carried out in an open environment, and no specialized cell structure or specific molecular mechanism is thought to be involved. Calcium carbonate deposition by bacteria is generally regarded as induced, and the type of mineral produced is largely dependent on environmental conditions (10, 15, 42). It is a very diffuse phenomenon (13) and represents a fundamental part of the calcium biogeochemical cycle (59), contributing to the formation of calcium carbonate sediments, deposits, and rocks (19, 22, 25, 37, 53, 59).

Different mechanisms of bacterial involvement in calcification have been proposed (23, 24), and they have been a matter of controversy throughout the last century (54). It is generally accepted that this microbial activity can be influenced by environmental physical-chemical parameters, and it is correlated to both metabolic activities and cell surface structures (11, 21, 26). Metabolic activities of heterotrophic bacteria are considered, by some authors, to be the most relevant mechanisms in calcium carbonate precipitation (18). In general, metabolic pathways able to increase the environmental pH toward alkalinity can, in the presence of calcium ions, foster calcium carbonate precipitation (26). Bacterial surfaces also play an important role in calcium precipitation (26). Due to the presence of several negatively charged groups, at a neutral pH, positively charged metal ions could be bound on bacterial surfaces, favoring heterogeneous nucleation (7, 21). Commonly, carbonate precipitates develop on the external surface of bacterial cells by successive stratification (17, 38), and bacteria can be embedded in growing carbonate crystals (17, 43). However, the actual role played by bacteria in calcium mineralization is still debated (18, 54, 59)."

bertoni
03/30/2014, 06:19 PM
You could try a bit of chlorine on a small piece of the hard buildup, to see whether it's an organic.

Chicago
03/30/2014, 08:32 PM
Thanks for response.

Chicago
03/31/2014, 05:28 AM
ok. cut the bio pellets in use in half. so here is the question how do we store used bio pellets.. in tank water. or let dry or in ro water.

thanks

bertoni
03/31/2014, 01:41 PM
I would store them dry. They will rot and produce some nasty odors in water without circulation.

Chicago
03/31/2014, 07:56 PM
thanks

bertoni
03/31/2014, 08:09 PM
You're welcome.