Evaluating the impact of sulfamethoxazole on hydrogen production during dark anaerobic sludge fermentation

● SMX promotes hydrogen production from dark anaerobic sludge fermentation. ● SMX significantly enhances the hydrolysis and acidification processes. ● SMX suppresses the methanogenesis process in order to reduce hydrogen consumption. ● SMX enhances the relative abundance of hydrogen-VFAs producers. ● SMX brings possible environmental risks due to the enrichment of ARGs. The impact of antibiotics on the environmental protection and sludge treatment fields has been widely studied. The recovery of hydrogen from waste activated sludge (WAS) has become an issue of great interest. Nevertheless, few studies have focused on the impact of antibiotics present in WAS on hydrogen production during dark anaerobic fermentation. To explore the mechanisms, sulfamethoxazole (SMX) was chosen as a representative antibiotic to evaluate how SMX influenced hydrogen production during dark anaerobic fermentation of WAS. The results demonstrated SMX promoted hydrogen production. With increasing additions of SMX from 0 to 500 mg/kg TSS, the cumulative hydrogen production elevated from 8.07 ± 0.37 to 11.89 ± 0.19 mL/g VSS. A modified Gompertz model further verified that both the maximum potential of hydrogen production (P_m) and the maximum rate of hydrogen production (R_m) were promoted. SMX did not affected sludge solubilization, but promoted hydrolysis and acidification processes to produce more hydrogen. Moreover, the methanogenesis process was inhibited so that hydrogen consumption was reduced. Microbial community analysis further demonstrated that the introduction of SMX improved the abundance of hydrolysis bacteria and hydrogen-volatile fatty acids (VFAs) producers. SMX synergistically influenced hydrolysis, acidification and acetogenesis to facilitate the hydrogen production.     

Research progress and prospects of complete ammonia oxidizing bacteria in wastewater treatment

• Comammox bacteria have unique physiological characteristics. • Comammox bacteria are widely distributed in natural and artificial systems. • Comammox bacteria have the potential to reduce N₂O emissions. • Coupling comammox bacteria with DEAMOX can be promoted in wastewater treatment. • Comammox bacteria have significant potential for enhancing total nitrogen removal. Complete ammonia oxidizing bacteria, or comammox bacteria (CAOB), can oxidize ammonium to nitrate on its own. Its discovery revolutionized our understanding of biological nitrification, and its distribution in both natural and artificial systems has enabled a reevaluation of the relative contribution of microorganisms to the nitrogen cycle. Its wide distribution, adaptation to oligotrophic medium, and diverse metabolic pathways, means extensive research on CAOB and its application in water treatment can be promoted. Furthermore, the energy-saving characteristics of high oxygen affinity and low sludge production may also become frontier directions for wastewater treatment. This paper provides an overview of the discovery and environmental distribution of CAOB, as well as the physiological characteristics of the microorganisms, such as nutrient medium, environmental factors, enzymes, and metabolism, focusing on future research and the application of CAOB in wastewater treatment. Further research should be carried out on the physiological characteristics of CAOB, to analyze its ecological niche and impact factors, and explore its application potential in wastewater treatment nitrogen cycle improvement.     

Effect of different gas releasing methods on anaerobic fermentative hydrogen production in batch cultures

Decreasing hydrogen partial pressure can not only increase the activity of the hydrogen enzyme but also decrease the products inhibition, so it is an appropriate method to enhance the fermentative hydrogen production from anaerobic mixed culture. The effect of biogas release method on anaerobic fermentative hydrogen production in batch culture system was compared, i.e., Owen method with intermediately release, continuous releasing method, and continuous releasing+ CO₂ absorbing. The experimental results showed that, at 35°C, initial pH 7.0 and glucose concentration of 10 g·L^-1, the hydrogen production was only 28 mL when releasing gas by Owen method, while it increased two times when releasing the biogas continuously. The cumulative hydrogen production could reach 155 mL when carbon dioxide in the gas stream was continuously absorbed by 1 mol·L^-1 NaOH. The results showed that acetate was dominated, accounting for 43% in the dissolved fermentation products in Owen method, whereas the butyrate predominated and reached 47%–53% of the total liquid end products when releasing gas continuously. It is concluded that the homoacetogenesis could be suppressed when absorbing CO₂ in the gas phase in fermentative hydrogen production system.     

Fermentative hydrogen production from beet sugar factory wastewater treatment in a continuous stirred tank reactor using anaerobic mixed consortia

A low pH, ethanol-type fermentation process was evaluated for wastewater treatment and bio-hydrogen production from acidic beet sugar factory wastewater in a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) with an effective volume of 9.6 L by anaerobic mixed cultures in this present study. After inoculating with aerobic activated sludge and operating at organic loading rate (OLR) of 12 kgCOD?m^-3·d^-1, HRT of 8h, and temperature of 35°C for 28 days, the CSTR achieved stable ethanol-type fermentation. When OLR was further increased to 18 kgCOD?m^-3·d^-1 on the 53rd day, ethanol-type fermentation dominant microflora was enhanced. The liquid fermentation products, including volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and ethanol, stabilized at 1493 mg·L^-1 in the bioreactor. Effluent pH, oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), and alkalinity ranged at 4.1–4.5, -250–(-290) mV, and 230–260 mgCaCO₃?L^-1. The specific hydrogen production rate of anaerobic activated sludge was 0.1 L?gMLVSS^-1·d^-1 and the COD removal efficiency was 45%. The experimental results showed that the CSTR system had good operation stability and microbial activity, which led to high substrate conversion rate and hydrogen production ability.     

A syntrophic propionate-oxidizing microflora and its bioaugmentation on anaerobic wastewater treatment for enhancing methane production and COD removal

Methane fermentation process can be restricted and even destroyed by the accumulation of propionate because it is the most difficult to be anaerobically oxidized among the volatile fatty acids produced by acetogenesis. To enhance anaerobic wastewater treatment process for methane production and COD removal, a syntrophic propionate-oxidizing microflora B83 was obtained from an anaerobic activated sludge by enrichment with propionate. The inoculation of microflora B83, with a 1:9 ratio of bacteria number to that of the activated sludge, could enhance the methane production from glucose by 2.5 times. With the same inoculation dosage of the microflora B83, COD removal in organic wastewater treatment process was improved from 75.6% to 86.6%, while the specific methane production by COD removal was increased by 2.7 times. Hydrogen-producing acetogenesis appeared to be a rate-limiting step in methane fermentation, and the enhancement of hydrogen-producing acetogens in the anaerobic wastewater treatment process had improved not only the hydrogen-producing acetogenesis but also the acidogenesis and methanogenesis.

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Biological hydrogen production from organic wastewater by dark fermentation in China: Overview and prospects

Biological hydrogen production by dark fermentation is an important part of biological hydrogen production technologies. China is a typical developing country that heavily relies on fossil fuels; thus, new, clean, and sustainable energy development turns quite urgent. It is delightful that Chinese government has already drawn up several H₂ development policies since 1990s and provided financial aid to launch some H₂ development projects. In this paper, the research status on dark fermentative hydrogen production in China was summarized and analyzed. Subsequently, several new findings and achievements, with some of which transformed into scale-up tests, were highlighted. Moreover, some prospecting coupling processes with dark fermentation of hydrogen production were also proposed to attract more research interests in the future.     

Clostridium papyrosolvens厌氧发酵产氢研究

采用分批培养研究了从高浓度厌氧产氢活性污泥中筛选的优势菌种Clostridium papyrosolvens的发酵产氢能力.结果表明:该菌有较强的高糖耐受性和耐酸性,当葡萄糖浓度为30 g/L、pH阶段性控制在4.5时,发酵44 h葡萄糖消耗率为83.7%,总产气量达到3 081.3 mL/L,最高产气率为187.5 mL L-1 h-1,氢气含量为67.5%,比产氢率达1.06 mol(H2)/mol(葡萄糖).研究中选用了廉价的发酵产氢培养基,以玉米浆为氮源,以还原铁粉作氧化还原电位控制剂,省去了牛肉膏、蛋白胨等昂贵氮源以及L-半胱氨酸、维生素、无机离子等高成本组分,显著降低了纯菌发酵的培养基成本,获得了较好的产氢效果.图5表2参23     

CO厌氧发酵制氢过程中的微生物特性及其影响因素

以发酵液中溶解的一氧化碳(CO)为底物,研究高温嗜热菌(Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans)厌氧发酵制氢的工艺过程.通过C.hydrogenoformans菌的生长规律、絮凝能力和反应特性等实验研究,建立菌株的生长规律模型,得出微生物衰减系数和最大比生长速率.结果表明,C.hydrogenoformans菌产氢率高,絮凝效果好,用于连续CO生物发酵制氢工艺是可行的.对发酵制氢过程的影响因素进行考察,得出最佳食微比及CO对发酵制氢过程的抑制浓度等过程参数,为有效开发CO厌氧生物发酵制氢的工艺路线提供了参考依据.图4表2参17     

麦秸与奶牛场废水高固体混合厌氧发酵产甲烷研究

在实验室条件下,以麦秸和奶牛场废水为原料,设计麦秸与奶牛场废水质量比1∶4(T1)、1∶3(T2)和1∶2(T3)以及对照(麦秸与水质量比1∶4(T4))4个处理,研究发酵过程中日产气量、甲烷含量、发酵前后麦秸理化特性和结构的变化.结果表明,奶牛场废水与麦秸在中温、高固体条件下,厌氧发酵可以正常进行,且产气期延长2周以上,对甲烷含量的影响不大;厌氧发酵初始TS浓度对系统产气的影响较大,麦秸产气量随TS浓度的增加而降低,以T1的产气效果最好,麦秸TS产气量为0.41 L.g-1,较T4提高了17.14%,平均甲烷含量为48.78%;厌氧发酵后,麦秸半纤维素含量大幅降低,纤维素含量少许降低,降低幅度均为T1>T2>T4>T3,木质素含量稍有增加,各处理间无显著差异(P>0.05);FTIR和XRD的结果表明,厌氧发酵后,麦秸纤维素结晶区的相对含量增加,混合发酵可以促进厌氧微生物对麦秸纤维素结晶区的破坏.将麦秸与奶牛场废水(质量比)1∶4混合发酵产沼气是可行的,且促进了厌氧微生物对麦秸有机物的分解破坏,提高了麦秸产气量.     

Effect of illumination on the hydrogen-production capability of anaerobic activated sludge

To investigate the influence of illumination on the fermentative hydrogen production system, the hydrogen production efficiencies of two kinds of anaerobic activated sludge (floc and granule) from an anaerobic baffled reactor were detected under visible light, dark and light-dark, respectively. The 10 mL floc sludge or granular sludge was respectively inoculated to 100 mL diluted molasses (chemical oxygen demand of 8000 mg·L^-1) in a 250 mL serum bottle, and cultured for 24 h at 37°C under different illumination conditions. The results showed that the floc was more sensitive to illumination than the granule. A hydrogen yield of 19.8 mL was obtained in the dark with a specific hydrogen production rate of 3.52 mol·kg^-1MLVSS·d^-1 (floc), which was the highest among the three illumination conditions. Under dark condition, the hydrogen yield of floc sludge reached the highest with the specific hydrogen production rate of 3.52 mol·kg^-1MLVSS·d^-1, and under light-dark, light, the specific hydrogen production rate was 3.11 and 2.21 mol·kg^-1MLVSS·d^-1, respectively. The results demonstrated that the illumination may affect the dehydrogenase activity of sludge as well as the activity of hydrogen-producing acetogens and then impact hydrogen production capacity.     

皇竹草厌氧发酵产沼气特性

在中温(35℃)条件下,采用批量厌氧发酵对生长期为35 d和68 d的皇竹草的发酵特性进行研究.实验结果表明,两组不同生产期的皇竹草C/N均较低,分别为14.75和17.52.经过45 d的厌氧发酵处理,生长期为35 d的皇竹草产气率为243.77ml.g-1VS,在第1天和第15天出现两个产气高峰,第45天的产气结束;生长期为68 d的皇竹草产气率为247.06 ml.g-1VS,出现4次产气高峰,第45天日产气量为512ml.生长期为35 d和68 d的皇竹草发酵液中乙酸、丙酸、丁酸含量分别为48.48%—72.71%、5.64%—22.99%、6.84%—26.71%和42.51%—64.17%、5.83%—34.20%、10.98%—34.41%,丙酸型发酵和丁酸型发酵交替进行.发酵液的pH值均先降低后升高最后保持相对稳定.皇竹草适合作为沼气发酵的原料加以利用.     

三种工业废水颗粒污泥的化学及微生物学组成

对ＵＡＳＢ反应器中处理酒精废醪、木材纤维板热压废水及石灰法造纸黑液颗粒污泥的化学及微生物组成进行了比较研究，结果表明：无机元素在颗粒污泥中的沉积与废水组成及运行条件密切相关；接种污泥中加入少量的颗粒污泥可作为新生颗粒污泥的生长核心；胞外多聚物有利于颗粒污泥的形成与稳定，其产量与颗粒污泥的生物量有关，其分布有一定的区域性；颗粒污泥的微生物组成与废水水质、运行温度及颗粒污泥所处的生理阶段等因素密切相关；丝状细菌，特别是索氏甲烷丝菌类似菌在颗粒污泥中起着重要作用；污泥颗粒化过程中各类生理菌群的增殖次序与其在厌氧消化过程中的功能次序一致。当发酵细菌、产氢产乙酸菌、同型产乙酸菌和产甲烷菌在每ｍＬ颗粒污泥中分别达到１０７－１０、１０５－７、１０６－８和１０５－６个时，可构成一个较稳定的厌氧微生态系统。     

Recent advances in activity inhibition,recovery and enhancement,and application of the anaerobic ammonium oxidation process北大核心CSCD

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Anammox) is a biological process that has the advantages of saving energy and being highly efficient. However, there are some problems with it such as slow proliferation and activity inhibition of Anammox bacteria in practical applications. First, we introduce the inhibitory effects of Anammox by substrate and non-substrate materials, including nitrite, organic and inorganic substances, and others, and elaborated on activity recovery approaches such as controlling the operation parameters and adding sludge. The effects of the addition of inorganic carbon, Anammox intermediates, Fe, and conductive materials on Anammox are then reviewed in detail, and three Anammox metabolic pathways are summarized. Finally, we discuss the problems (including NOB inhibition and low temperature) and countermeasures when Anammox is applied for wastewater treatment as a mainstream technology, and we summarized the measures of NOB washout by free ammonia and free nitrite solutions and methods to cope with low temperatures, including selecting suitable reactor types and culture methods. Meanwhile, we analyzed the interactions among the intermediates and the synergy between Anammox and denitrification and suggest the potential of applying Anammox for flue gas denitrification and anaerobic aromatic hydrocarbon biodegradation. Further studies are suggested regarding multifactor composite inhibition, Anammox physiological characteristics, and intermediate metabolic mechanisms as well as regarding methods for avoiding adverse factors in mainstream wastewater treatment. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

生物制氢最新研究进展与发展趋势

氢能具有清洁、高效、可再生的特点,是一种最具发展潜力的化石燃料替代能源.与传统的热化学和电化学制氢技术相比,生物制氢具有低能耗、少污染等优势.近年来,生物制氢技术在发酵菌株筛选、产氢机制、制氢工艺等方面取得了较大进展.暗发酵和光发酵结合制氢技术是一种新技术,具有较高的氢气产量.以厌氧细菌和光合细菌为发酵菌种,以富含碳水化合物的工农业废弃物为原料,进行暗发酵和光发酵结合制氢,具有广阔发展前途前景.本文综述了国内外生物制氢技术研究进展,展望了未来发展趋势.     

Enhanced 4-chlorophenol biodegradation by integrating Fe2O3 nanoparticles into an anaerobic reactor: Long-term performance and underlying mechanism

• 4-chlorophenol biodegradation could be enhanced in Fe₂O₃ coupled anaerobic system. • Metabolic activity and electron transport could be improved by Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles. • Functional microbial communities could be enriched in coupled anaerobic system. • Possible synergistic mechanism involved in enhanced dechlorination was proposed. Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles have been reported to enhance the dechlorination performance of anaerobic systems, but the underlying mechanism has not been clarified. This study evaluated the technical feasibility, system stability, microbial biodiversity and the underlying mechanism involved in a Fe₂O₃ nanoparticle-coupled anaerobic system treating 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) wastewater. The results demonstrated that the 4-CP and total organic carbon (TOC) removal efficiencies in the Fe₂O₃-coupled up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) were always higher than 97% and 90% during long-term operation, verifying the long-term stability of the Fe₂O₃-coupled UASB. The 4-CP and TOC removal efficiencies in the coupled UASB increased by 42.9±0.4% and 27.5±0.7% compared to the control UASB system. Adding Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles promoted the enrichment of species involved in dechlorination, fermentation, electron transfer and acetoclastic methanogenesis, and significantly enhanced the extracellular electron transfer ability, electron transport activity and conductivity of anaerobic sludge, leading to enhanced 4-CP biodegradation performance. A possible synergistic mechanism involved in enhanced anaerobic 4-CP biodegradation by Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles was proposed.     

味精工业高浓度有机废水培养苏云金芽孢杆菌的研究

利用味精工业发酵废水进行了培养苏云金芽孢杆菌（Bacillus thuringiensis,Bt）以生产生物农药的实验研究.经过对废水成分分析和预处理、Bt菌种驯化、摇瓶机发酵配方正交优化实验和生物毒性测定,探讨了一条经济可行的工艺路线.该工艺在利用发酵废水生产生物农药时不会产生二次污染问题,具有较高的工业应用价值,对于其他发酵工业废水的资源化处理也有一定参考价值.     

废水生物脱氮中N_2O和NO_x的产生和作用

废水生物脱氮中N2O和NOx来源于硝化、反硝化、厌氧氨氧化和化学反硝化等过程.电子受体和供体浓度、pH、缓冲剂类型、有机负荷、微生物种类及其相互作用等都会影响这些气态中间产物的产生.NO2能够氧化氨和强化好氧和厌氧氨氧化,NO能够阻止C2H2对好氧氨氧化活性的抑制,两者对好氧氨氧化活性的恢复至关重要.所有这些表明,废水生物脱氮的气态中间产物N2O和NOx在氮的生物转化中具有重要的正面作用,甚至必不可少.基于NO2曝气技术和Brocadiaanammoxidans与Nitrosomonas协同作用的废水生物脱氮新技术开发是今后一段时间的重要研究方向.图4参35     

Continuous biohydrogen production from diluted molasses in an anaerobic contact reactor

An anaerobic contact reactor (ACR) system comprising a continuous flow stirred tank reactor (CSTR) with settler to decouple the hydraulic retention time (HRT) from solids retention time (SRT) was developed for fermentative hydrogen production from diluted molasses by mixed microbial cultures. The ACR was operated at various volumetric loading rates (VLRs) of 20–44 kgCOD·m^-3·d^-1 with constant HRT of 6 h under mesophilic conditions of 35°C. The SRT was maintained at about 46–50 h in the system. At the initial VLR of 20 kgCOD·m^-3·d^-1, the hydrogen production rate dropped from 22.6 to 1.58 L·d^-1 as the hydrogen was consumed by the hydrogentrophic methanogen. After increasing the VLR to 28 kgCOD·m^-3·d^-1 and discharging the sludge for 6 consecutive times, the hydrogentrophic methanogens were eliminated, and the hydrogen content reached 36.4%. As the VLR was increased to 44 kgCOD·m^-3·d^-1, the hydrogen production rate and hydrogen yield increased to 42.1 L·d^-1 and 1.40 mol H₂·molglucose-consumed^-1, respectively. The results showed that a stable ethanol-type fermentation that favored hydrogen production in the reactor was thus established with the sludge loading rate (SLR) of 2.0–2.5 kgCOD·kgMLVSS^-1·d^-1. It was found that the ethanol increased more than other liquid fermentation products, and the ethanol/acetic acid (mol/mol) ratio increased from 1.27 to 2.45 when the VLR increased from 28 to 44 kgCOD·m^-3·d^-1, whereas the hydrogen composition decreased from 40.4% to 36.4%. The results suggested that the anaerobic contact reactor was a promising bioprocess for fermentative hydrogen production.     

Mechanism on minimization of excess sludge in oxic-settling-anaerobic (OSA) process

The oxic-settling-anaerobic (OSA) process is a promising wastewater treatment technique for efficiently reducing sludge production and improving the stability of process operation. In this paper, the possible factors of sludge reduction such as sludge decay, uncoupled metabolism, and anaerobic oxidation with low sludge production were discussed in the OSA process. It has been confirmed that sludge decay is the decisive cause in the OSA process, accounting for 66.7% of sludge production reduction. Sludge decay includes hydrolysis and acidogenesis of dead microorganisms and particle organic carbon adsorbed in sludge floc and endogenous metabolism. By batch experiments, it has been proven that there is energetic uncoupling in the OSA system since microorganisms were exposed to alternative anaerobic and aerobic environment. It accounts for about 7.5% of sludge production reduction. Soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) released from the anaerobic sludge tank in the OSA process was used as the substrate for cryptic growth. The substrate was used for anoxic denitrifying, anaerobic phosphorus release, sulfate reduction, and methane production. These anaerobic reactions in the sludge anaerobic tank have lower sludge production than in the aerobic oxidation when equivalent SCOD is consumed, which may lead to approximately 23% of sludge reduction in the OSA process. It has been concluded that multiple causes resulted in the minimization of excess sludge in the OSA system. The microbial community structure and diversity of sludge samples from the CAS (conventional activated sludge) and OSA systems were investigated by 16 SrDNA PCR-DG-DGGE (polymerase chain reaction-double gradient-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis). DGGE profile and cluster analysis showed more abundant species in the OSA system contrasting to microbial communities in the CAS system.     

Sulfide and thiosulfate-oxidizing bacteria in anoxic marine basins

The occurrence of sulfide and thiosulfate-oxidizing bacteria was examined in waters and sediments of the Black Sea and the Caraco Trench. Isolates obtained by enrichment-culture techniques exhibited facultative autotrophic-growth characteristics and oxidized thiosulfate or sulfide. Acid was not formed during growth in mineral medium. Most of the isolates were facultatively anaerobic, using nitrate as the terminal hydrogen acceptor. Strictly aerobic bacteria were found only in oxygenated waters. Comparison of the metabolic capabilities of the isolates during growth in sulfide and thiosulfate media with chemical parameters measured in the Black Sea and Cariaco Trench waters suggests that the biological oxidation of thiosulfate is the rate-limiting step in the oxidative turnover of sulfur compounds in the basins. Evidence for the oxidation of sulfide in the anoxic waters is presented, and possible explanations for the occurrence of this process in the absence of suitable electron acceptors (O₂. NO₃) are discussed. A maximum dark assimilation of carbon dioxide was located just below the oxygen-sulfide interface in the Cariaco Trench. Problems of interpreting these data are considered.Contribution No. 2958 of the Woods Hole Occanographic Institution. Supported by the National Science Foundation Grants GA 29665 and GA 33405.