Microbial characteristics in anaerobic membrane bioreactor treating domestic sewage: Effects of HRT and process performance

Two anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs) equipped with different membrane pore size (0.4 or 0.05μm) were operated at 25℃ and fed with domestic wastewater.The hydraulic retention time (HRT) of the reactors was shortened.The microbial communities of the two AnMBRs were investigated by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to see the effects of HRT.The predominant Archaea was an aceticlastic methanogen Methanosaeta.The composition of hydrogenotrophic methanogens changed with the HRTs:the population ...     

Potassium ferrate pretreatment promotes short chain fatty acids yield and antibiotics reduction in acidogenic fermentation of sewage sludge

During the acidogenic fermentation converting waste activated sludge (WAS) into short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), hydrolysis of complex organic polymers is a limiting step and the transformation of harmful substances (such as antibiotics) during acidogenic fermentation is unknown. In this study, potassium ferrate (K₂FeO₄) oxidation was used as a pretreatment strategy for WAS acidogenic fermentation to increase the hydrolysis of sludge and destruct the harmful antibiotics. Pretreatment with K₂FeO₄ can effectively increase the SCFA production during acidogenic fermentation and change the distribution of SCFA components. With the dosage of 0.2 g/g TS, the maximum SCFA yield was 4823 mg COD/L, which is 28.3 times that of the control group; acetic acid accounts for more than 90% of the total SCFA. The higher dosage (0.5 g/g TS) can further increase the proportion of acetic acid, but inhibit the overall performance of SCFA production. Apart from the promotion of hydrolysis and acidogenesis, K₂FeO₄ pretreatment can also simultaneously oxidizes and degrades part of the antibiotics in the sludge. When the dosage is 0.5 g/g TS, the degradation efficacy of antibiotics is the most significant, and the contents of ofloxacin, azithromycin, and tetracycline in the sludge are reduced by 69%, 42%, and 50%, respectively. In addition, K₂FeO₄ pretreatment can also promote the release of antibiotics from sludge flocs, which is conducive to the simultaneous degradation of antibiotics in the subsequent biological treatment process.     

Developing “precise-acting” strategies for improving anaerobic methanogenesis of organic waste: Insights from the electron transfer system of syntrophic partners

Methanogenesis is the last step in anaerobic digestion, which is usually a rate-limiting step in the biological treatment of organic waste. The low methanogenesis efficiency (low methane production rate, low methane yield, low methane content) substantially limits the development of anaerobic digestion technology. Traditional pretreatment methods and bio-stimulation strategies have impacts on the entire anaerobic system and cannot directly enhance methanogenesis in a targeted manner, which was defined as “broad-acting” strategies in this perspective. Further, we discussed our opinion of methanogenesis process with insights from the electron transfer system of syntrophic partners and provided potential targeted enhancing strategy for high-efficiency electron transfer system. These “precise-acting” strategies are expected to achieve an efficient methanogenesis process and enhance the bio-energy recovery of organic waste.     

Influence of Technological Process on Biodegradation of PVA/Waxy Starch Blends in an Aerobic and Anaerobic Environment

Improving biodegradability of PVA/starch blends is a reality already documented by a number of works. Admittedly, mechanical properties of products (for example, tensile strength) are somewhat worse, but suitable composition optimizing or chemical modifying of starch may eliminate the problem to a large degree. This work is an attempt to find another potential effect influencing biodegradability, that of technological procedure for producing films from these blends on an extruder. The procedure with a so-called pre-extrusion step (two-stage) and dry-blend (single-stage) produced blends of slightest differences in achieved biodegradability (virtually within limits of experimental error) in aerobic (76 vs. 79%) as well as anaerobic breakdown (48 vs. 52%). Conversely, morphological analysis exhibited superior homogeneity of films prepared by the two-stage process; their tensile strength was also higher.     

Internal eutrophication: How it works and what to do about it—a review

In the 1980s and 1990s, it became increasingly clear that changes in external nutrient loads alone could not entirely explain the severe eutrophication of surface waters in the Netherlands. Nowadays, 'internal eutrophication' has become a widely accepted term in Dutch water management practice to describe the eutrophication of an ecosystem without additional external input of nutrients (N, P, K). This review surveys the principal mechanisms involved in this process. It also discusses possible remedies to combat internal eutrophication.     

进料浓度对鸡粪长期高温甲烷发酵的影响

通过固定水力停留时间（HRT）为20d,逐步提高进料总固体（TS）浓度为5.0%,7.5%和10.0%的方式提高有机负荷（OLR）,在高温（55±1）℃条件下开展鸡粪长期甲烷发酵实验并测定了各阶段污泥的比产甲烷活性（SMA）,探究氨氮浓度对鸡粪高温甲烷发酵的影响.结果显示,当进料TS由5.0%增至10.0%,出料氨氮浓度由（2.5±0.3）g/L增至（6.1±0.2）g/L,挥发性脂肪酸（VFAs）由（0.4±0.1）g/L增至（26.1±1.5）g/L,pH值由（8.3±0.2）降至（6.9±0.1）,产气率由（267.2±12.5）mL/g TS_in降至49.8±8.2mL/g TS_in,甲烷浓度由（67.2±1.3）%降至（36.0±1.7）%.长时间采用TS 10.0%的进料浓度,发酵系统中氨氮浓度最高达到7.5g/L,VFAs浓度达到27.0g/L,产气下降明显.氨氮抑制鸡粪高温甲烷发酵产气的初始浓度为2.5~3.0g/L.进料TS大于7.5%,鸡粪高温甲烷发酵会受到氨氮抑制.氨氮浓度的升高导致高温发酵体系利用乙酸产甲烷的能力降低,氨氮浓度达到5.5g/L,SMA降低60.0%;氨氮浓度达到7.0g/L,污泥利用乙酸产甲烷的活动几乎停止.     

Reversibility of the structure and dewaterability of anaerobic digested sludge

The reversibility of the structure and dewaterability of broken anaerobic digested sludge(ADS)is important to ensure the efficiency of sludge treatment or management processes.This study investigated the effect of continuous strong shear(CSS)and multipulse shear(MPS)on the zeta potential,size(median size,d_(50)),mass fractal dimension(D_F),and capillary suction time(CST)of ADS aggregates.Moreover,the self-regrowth(SR)of broken ADS aggregates during slow mixing was also analyzed.The results show that raw ADS with d_(50) of 56.5μm was insensitive to CSS–SR or MPS–SR,though the size slightly decreased after the breakage phase.For conditioned ADS with d_(50) larger than 600μm,the breakage in small-scale surface erosion changed to large-scale fragmentation as the CSS strength increased.In most cases,after CSS or MPS,the broken ADS had a relatively more compact structure than before and d_(50) is at least 200μm.The CST of the broken fragments from optimally dosed ADS increased,whereas that corresponding to overdosed ADS decreased.MPS treatment resulted in larger and more compact broken ADS fragments with a lower CST value than CSS.During the subsequent slow mixing,the broken ADS aggregates did not recover their charge,size,and dewaterability to the initial values before breakage.In addition,less than 15%self-regrowth in terms of percentage of the regrowth factor was observed in broken ADS after CSS at average velocity gradient no less than 1905.6 sec~(-1).     

餐厨垃圾厌氧干发酵处理产甲烷潜力及动力学研究

研究采用中温厌氧干发酵反应器,针对餐厨垃圾厌氧干发酵过程中p H,VFA,COD和产气量的变化,结合修正Gompertz方程分析厌氧干发酵产甲烷的动力学过程。在中温厌氧干发酵系统负荷和初始条件下,分析厌氧干发酵产甲烷过程变化,建立厌氧干发酵产甲烷模型,对其预测和试验验证及误差进行分析。结果表明,在中温厌氧干发酵过程中p H先下降后上升,VFA浓度先增加后减少,COD去除率保持在76.02%~90.28%之间;修正Gompertz动力学模型,可以较好地分析餐厨垃圾厌氧干发酵产甲烷过程(决定系数R~20.99),经拟合,具有较高的产甲烷能力,且与试验结果显著相关;在检验水平a=0.05条件下,其方差分析的P值为0.938,大于0.05的显著性,表明模型能较好地预测厌氧干发酵累积产甲烷量。     

Anaerobic Biodegradation of Blends Based on Polyvinyl Alcohol

The presented work deals with blends composed of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and biopolymers (protein hydrolysate, starch, lignin). PVA does not belong to biologically inert plastics but its degradation rate (particularly under anaerobic conditions) is low. A potential solution to the issue problem lies in preparation of blends with readily degradable substrates. We studied degradation of blow-molded films made of commercial PVA and mentioned biopolymers in an aqueous anaerobic environment employing inoculation with digested activated sludge from the municipal wastewater treatment plant. Films prepared in the first experimental series were to be used for comparing biodegradation of blends modified with native or plasticized starch; in this case effect of plasticization was not proved. The degree of PVA degradation after modification with native or plasticized starch increases in a striking and practically same manner already at a starch level as low as approximately 5 wt.%. Films of the second experimental series were prepared as additionally modified with protein hydrolysate and lignin. Only lignin-modified samples exhibited a somewhat lower degree of biodegradation but regarding the measure of lignin present in blend this circumstance is not essential. Level of biodegradation with all discussed films differed only slightly—within range of experimental error.     

Methane fermentation of dung from litter-free reared domestic animals — an optimisation study

Data on the quantity (27 453 tons from litter-free reared animals in Bulgaria, only) and the chemical and energy characteristics of dung produced in intensive management farms for domestic animals suggests that technologies combining biogenic elements recycling with energy utilistation and dung decontamination are expedient to be applied on these types of farms. To this effect a fermenter was designed and a mathematical model (a Chen-Hashimoto model based computer programme) was applied, as a result of which the optimum methane fermentation parameters were determined. The technological methane output (Y_v) — indicator of biogas production efficiency (output/dm³ fermentor volume) showed an optimum at temperature 55°C and period of exchange 6 days. The methane output per unit mineralised organic matter in the substrate (B) — assumed as an indicator of ecological efficiency (maximum organic matter degradation) exhibited an optimum at 33°C for 15 days period of exchange.