Anaerobic digestion of linear alkyl benzene sulfonates: biodegradation kinetics and metabolite analysis

In the present work the effect of the alkyl chain length and the position of the sulfophenyl substituent of the linear alkylbenzene sulfonates (LAS) on their anaerobic biodegradability have been investigated. Degradation kinetics of the linear alkyl benzene sulfonates homologues, 2C₁₀LAS, 2C₁₂LAS and 2C₁₄LAS, have been studied. It has been also investigated the effect of the isomer type on the degradation rate of the LAS molecule through the comparative study of the 2C₁₀LAS and 5C₁₀LAS isomers. Batch anaerobic biodegradation tests were performed using sludge from the anaerobic digester of a wastewater treatment plant as microorganisms source. Ultimate biodegradation was evaluated from the biogas production whereas primary biodegradation was determined by specific analysis of the surfactant. LAS homologues and isomers showed a negligible primary biodegradation under anaerobic conditions. Furthermore, analysis of sulfophenyl carboxilates (SPC) by LC–MS indicated a low and constant level of these LAS degradation metabolites over the test period. These data are consistent with a minimal transformation of the LAS parent molecule in the anaerobic digesters. On the other hand, the addition of the shortest alkyl chain length homologues, decyl and dodecylbenzene sulfonates, reduces the biogas production whereas the most hydrophobic homologue, the tetradecylbenzene sulfonate, enhances the biogas production. This LAS homologue seems to increase the availability of organic compounds sorbed on the anaerobic sludge promoting their biodegradation.     

Effect of the alkyl chain length on the anaerobic biodegradability and toxicity of quaternary ammonium based surfactants

The anaerobic biodegradability and toxicity to methanogenic gas production of different alkyl chain length homologs of quaternary ammonium based surfactants were examinated. Two series of these cationic surfactants were selected: alkyl trimethyl ammonium and alkyl benzyl dimethyl ammonium compounds. A simple anaerobic gas production test containing municipal digester solids as a source of anaerobic bacteria was used. Under the applied methanogenic conditions, the cationic surfactants tested showed a very poor primary biodegradation and no evidence of any extent of ultimate biodegradation was observed. The toxicity of quaternary ammonium based surfactants to methanogenic gas production decreased with increasing the alkyl chain length.     

Effects of sludge recirculation rate and mixing time on performance of a prototype single-stage anaerobic digester for conversion of food wastes to biogas and energy recovery

Food wastes have been recognized as the largest waste stream and accounts for 39.25 % of total municipal solid waste in Thailand. Chulalongkorn University has participated in the program of in situ energy recovery from food wastes under the Ministry of Energy (MOE), Thailand. This research aims to develop a prototype single-stage anaerobic digestion system for biogas production and energy recovery from food wastes inside Chulalongkorn University. Here, the effects of sludge recirculation rate and mixing time were investigated as the main key parameters for the system design and operation. From the results obtained in this study, it was found that the sludge recirculation rate of 100 % and the mixing time of 60 min per day were the most suitable design parameters to achieve high efficiencies in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total solids (TS), and total volatile solid (TVS) removal and also biogas production by this prototype anaerobic digester. The obtained biogas production was found to be 0.71 m³/kg COD and the composition of methane was 61.6 %. Moreover, the efficiencies of COD removal were as high as 82.9 % and TVS removal could reach 83.9 % at the optimal condition. Therefore, the developed prototype single-stage anaerobic digester can be highly promising for university canteen application to recover energy from food wastes via biogas production.     

Reduction of Greenhouse Gases from Anaerobic Piggery Wastewater Treatment by Bromochloromethane in Taiwan

Abstract

This work establishes methods of reducing the amount of methane produced from the anaerobic treatment of piggery wastewater by either reducing the storage time before solid/liquid separation or inhibiting the activity of methanogens in anaerobic wastewater treatment system. Experimental results showed these two methods can be adopted effectively to reduce methane production resulting from anaerobic piggery wastewater treatment. First, the wastewater must be processed using solid/liquid separation immediately after washing pig houses. This process can reduce by 62% the biogas production and indirectly decrease the methane production from the anaerobic wastewater treatment reactor. Second, adding 10 mg L^?1 bromochloromethane (BCM) daily into the anaerobic wastewater treatment reactor can significantly reduce the amount of biogas and methane produced during the anaerobic fermentation process. Furthermore, biogas production can be completely inhibited after 4 days. Adding BCM (≤10 mg L^?1) to wastewater only slightly affected the efficiency of the anaerobic wastewater treatment process. Results in this study can provide the basis for further research on reduction of the amount of methane produced from anaerobic wastewater treatments.     

Anaerobic degradation and toxicity of commercial cationic surfactants in anaerobic screening tests

Anaerobic biodegradability and toxicity on anaerobic bacteria of di(hydrogenated tallow) dimethyl ammonium chloride (DHTDMAC) and two esterquats have been investigated. A batch test system containing municipal digester solids as a source of anaerobic bacteria, based on the method proposed by the ECETOC, has been applied. To evaluate the potential toxicity of such surfactants on anaerobic sludge, a co-substrate, an easily biodegradable compound in anaerobic conditions, has been added to the samples to test and the effects on biogas production have been determined. For the esterquats studied high biodegradation levels were obtained and no toxic effects on anaerobic bacteria were observed even at the highest concentrations tested, 100 and 200 mg C/l, respectively. On the contrary, DHTDMAC was not degradated at the same test conditions. However, no inhibitory effects on the biogas production were detected for this surfactant at concentrations <100 mg C/l.     

Xenobiotic benzotriazoles—biodegradation under meso- and oligotrophic conditions as well as denitrifying,sulfate-reducing,and anaerobic conditions

The intensive use of benzotriazoles as corrosion inhibitors for various applications and their application in dishwasher detergents result in an almost omnipresence of benzotriazole (BTri), 4-methyl- and 5-methyl-benzotriazole (4-TTri and 5-TTri, respectively) in aquatic systems. This study aims on the evaluation of the biodegradation potential of activated sludge communities (ASCs) toward the three benzotriazoles regarding aerobic, anoxic, and anaerobic conditions and different nutrients. ASCs were taken from three wastewater treatment plants with different technologies, namely, a membrane bioreactor (MBR-MH), a conventional activated sludge plant CAS-E (intermittent nitrification/denitrification), and CAS-M (two-stage activated sludge treatment) and used for inoculation of biodegradation setups. All ASCs eliminated up to 30 mg L^?1 5-TTri and BTri under aerobic conditions within 2–7 and 21–49 days, respectively, but not under anoxic or anaerobic conditions. 4-TTri was refractory at all conditions tested. Significant differences were observed for BTri biodegradation with non-acclimated ASCs from MBR-MH with 21 days, CAS-E with 41 days, and CAS-M with 49 days. Acclimated ASCs removed BTri within 7 days. Furthermore, different carbon and nitrogen concentrations revealed that nitrogen was implicitly required for biodegradation while carbon showed no such effect. The fastest biodegradation occurred for 5-TTri with no need for acclimatization, followed by BTri. BTri showed sludge-specific biodegradation patterns, but, after sludge acclimation, was removed with the same pattern, regardless of the sludge used. Under anaerobic conditions in the presence of different electron acceptors, none of the three compounds showed biological removal. Thus, presumably, aerobic biodegradation is the major removal mechanism in aquatic systems.     

Acclimation of anaerobic sludge degrading chlorophenols and the biodegradation kinetics during acclimation period

The acclimation of sludge from Hangzhou citrate factory and Hangzhou municipal wastewater treatment plant for degradation dechlorination of chlorophenols (CPs) compounds, and its biodegradation kinetics were studied in batch process with or without addition of sucrose. Three monochlorophenols (2-CP; 3-CP; 4-CP) and pentachlorophenol (PCP) were concurrently fed to different bioreactors. The parameters that were monitored included biogas production, biogas composition and chemical oxygen demand (COD). The results showed that acclimation with chlorophenol can increase the degradation activity of anaerobic sludge and degradation rate of chlorophenolic compounds, and reduce the lag time. Degradation dechlorination activity of the acclimated sludge strongly depended on sludge source, microorganism population and chlorophenol congener. 2-CP was more easily acclimated than 3-CP and 4-CP. Among the four tested compounds, 4-CP was the most difficult to be acclimated. The observed degradation rate with presence of sucrose was higher than that with absence of sucrose, suggesting that addition of the external carbon source can stimulate the formation of acclimated sludge which could effectively degrade chlorophenols. Kinetic equations of biodegradation of chlorophenols were also presented in this paper.     

碳氮比对鸭粪中温厌氧消化的影响

在中温(35±1)℃、6%的料液浓度、pH为中性条件下,采用10 L玻璃瓶作为反应器对碳氮比(C/N)分别为15、20、25和35的4组鸭粪溶液进行厌氧消化实验,系统运行30 d,分析了厌氧消化过程中的COD(化学需氧量)、pH、VFA(挥发性脂肪酸)和产气量的变化。结果表明,碳氮比是影响鸭粪厌氧消化过程的重要因素,调节鸭粪碳氮比至25,可以使其厌氧消化获得最佳的产气效果,COD去除率为24.06%,原料干物质产气率为0.178 m3/kg,产气中甲烷含量为71.5%,产甲烷率为0.127 m3/kg。     

微波预处理对秸秆厌氧消化影响的研究

以秸秆为研究对象,比较不同的微波强度预处理作用下对秸秆厌氧消化产气特性的影响,研究日产气量、pH值、甲烷气体浓度及生物降解率4个参数的变化趋势,结果表明:微波预处理对秸秆厌氧消化有明显效果,平均日产气量由未被预处理的6.21 mL/g VS上升到 8.16 mL/g VS,上升了31.33%,达到最大日产气量时间由原来的第12 d,提前至第2～第7 d不等,最大日产气量由原来的23.43 mL/g VS上升到43.49 mL/g VS;在360～900 W范围内,微波强度越大,反应的pH值下降越快,秸秆厌氧消化最大日产气量越提前;经过微波预处理的甲烷浓度平均浓度由原来的50%提高至62%左右,其生物能范围也由未处理前的17.58 MJ/m³提高至23.46 MJ/m³,物降解率由未预处理的44.12%,提高至71.55%。     

Application of dynamic models to estimate greenhouse gas emission by wastewater treatment plants of the pulp and paper industry

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission in wastewater treatment plants of the pulp-and-paper industry was estimated by using a dynamic mathematical model. Significant variations were shown in the magnitude of GHG generation in response to variations in operating parameters, demonstrating the limited capacity of steady-state models in predicting the time-dependent emissions of these harmful gases. The examined treatment systems used aerobic, anaerobic, and hybrid—anaerobic/aerobic—biological processes along with chemical coagulation/flocculation, anaerobic digester, nitrification and denitrification processes, and biogas recovery. The pertinent operating parameters included the influent substrate concentration, influent flow rate, and temperature. Although the average predictions by the dynamic model were only 10 % different from those of steady-state model during 140 days of operation of the examined systems, the daily variations of GHG emissions were different up to ±30, ±19, and ±17 % in the aerobic, anaerobic, and hybrid systems, respectively. The variations of process variables caused fluctuations in energy generation from biogas recovery by ±16, ±17, and ±14 % in the three examined systems, respectively. The lowest variations were observed in the hybrid system, showing the stability of this particular process design.     

Co-digestion of sewage sludge and dewatered residues from enzymatic hydrolysis of sugar beet pulp

Sugar beet pulp residues (SBPR) from hydrolysis and dewatering of beet pulp were co-digested with municipal sewage sludge (MSS). The highest biogas yields of nearly 512 dm³/kg VS_fed (volatile solids fed) were achieved for SBPR, treated both as the monosubstrate and as a mixture with MSS (1 : 1 by weight). Simultaneously, the highest methane production of 348 dm³ CH₄/kg VS_fed was determined when the sewage sludge was co-digested with 35% SBPR. The analysis of digestate showed that neither ammonia nor volatile fatty acids destabilized the biogas production.

Implications:?Processing of sugar beet pulp into bioethanol via enzymatic hydrolysis and microbial fermentation has become increasingly attractive. However, in this process, only the liquid fraction derived from hydrolysis is subjected into alcoholic fermentation, whereas the remaining solid fraction needs to be utilized. This study demonstrated that sugar beet pulp residues after bioethanol production can successfully be co-digested with sewage sludge to increase biogas productivity of anaerobic digesters located at wastewater treatment plants.     

Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) anaerobic degradation in marine sediments: microcosm study and role of autochthonous microbial communities

Polychlorobiphenyl (PCB) biodegradation was followed for 1 year in microcosms containing marine sediments collected from Mar Piccolo (Taranto, Italy) chronically contaminated by this class of hazardous compounds. The microcosms were performed under strictly anaerobic conditions with or without the addition of Dehalococcoides mccartyi, the main microorganism known to degrade PCBs through the anaerobic reductive dechlorination process. Thirty PCB congeners were monitored during the experiments revealing that the biodegradation occurred in all microcosms with a decrease in hepta-, hexa-, and penta-chlorobiphenyls (CBs) and a parallel increase in low chlorinated PCBs (tri-CBs and tetra-CBs). The concentrations of the most representative congeners detected in the original sediment, such as 245-245-CB and 2345-245-CB, and of the mixture 2356-34-CB+234-245-CB, decreased by 32.5, 23.8, and 46.7 %, respectively, after only 70 days of anaerobic incubation without any bioaugmentation treatment. Additionally, the structure and population dynamics of the microbial key players involved in the biodegradative process and of the entire mixed microbial community were accurately defined by Catalyzed Reporter Deposition Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (CARD-FISH) in both the original sediment and during the operation of the microcosm. The reductive dehalogenase genes of D. mccartyi, specifically involved in PCB dechlorination, were also quantified using real-time PCR (qPCR). Our results demonstrated that the autochthonous microbial community living in the marine sediment, including D. mccartyi (6.32E+06 16S rRNA gene copy numbers g^?1 sediment), was able to efficiently sustain the biodegradation of PCBs when controlled anaerobic conditions were imposed.     

不同氮源对常中温条件下麦秆厌氧发酵的影响

通过自行设计的厌氧发酵装置,研究不同氮源对常温（20℃）和中温（35℃）条件下麦秆厌氧发酵的影响。结果表明,在常温和中温条件下进行麦秆沼气厌氧发酵时,适量添加外部氮源可加快产气速率,增加产气量,缩短产气停滞时间,其中添加牛粪效果最好,分别在182 d和84 d时发酵完全,总累积产气3 486.80 mL和4 210.70 mL,干物质累积产气量为217.93 mL/g和263.17 mL/g,且在实验期间未出现产气停滞。添加尿素处理次之,分别在累积产气215.70 mL和238.00 mL时进入61 d和20 d的产气停滞期,在196 d和143 d时发酵完全,在实验结束时,累积产气2 784.20 mL和3 454.00 mL,干物质累积产气量为174.01 mL/g和215.88 mL/g。可见,在以秸秆为原料的沼气发酵过程中,可通过添加适量的外部氮源和提高发酵温度来提高沼气产量,而且在条件允许的情况下,应尽量添加畜禽粪便等有机氮源。     

耐酸厌氧消化污泥处理餐厨垃圾简

采用耐酸驯化的厌氧消化污泥处理餐厨垃圾,在酸性条件下（pH=4.5）,对实验装置容积负荷从1.0 kg VS/（m³·d）分9次逐级增加到5.0 kg VS/（m³·d）的过程进行了跟踪监测,并较深入地研究了驯化污泥代谢活性和处理效果。实验结果表明,pH 4.5的耐酸厌氧消化污泥,最佳投加负荷约为4.5 kg VS/（m³·d）,此负荷下容积产气率,CH₄含量平均值均达最大,分别为1.68 m³/（m³·d）,75.0%。耐酸厌氧消化装置持续增料运行46 d,产甲烷菌仍能保持较高的活性,其COD去除率范围为40.4%~75.0%,仍能保持pH 7.2时处理效果的65.0%~91.8%,表明在低pH、低碱度下实现稳定的产甲烷过程是可行的。     

多级厌氧法处理螺旋霉素工业发酵菌渣效果的研究简

通过自主设计的多级厌氧反应器系统来考察半连续处理螺旋霉素工业发酵菌渣的效果。该系统总反应体积为44 L,由4个11 L的升流式厌氧反应罐组成,罐体间采用串联方式连接。121 d的连续运行周期分为3个阶段,各阶段的有机负荷率分别为1.27、1.82和2.73 kg COD/（m³·d）。全过程中主要监测了各级罐体的产气量和螺旋霉素的降解。结果表明,多级厌氧反应器系统启动初期会出现产气不稳定现象,经过2个月的运行之后系统达到稳定状态。在有机负荷达到2.73 kg COD/（m³·d）时,各级罐体仍能稳定运行,总产气的45%集中在1号罐。在系统启动初期,螺旋霉素不能被明显降解。运行约80 d后,整个体系达到了快速降解螺旋霉素的状态,在2.73 kg COD/（m³·d）的有机负荷率下,螺旋霉素降解率达到97%,同时可溶性COD降解率也达到了90%。     

城市生物质废物中温单级厌氧消化中试研究

建立了城市生物质废物中温单级厌氧消化中试反应器,对城市生物质废物厌氧消化过程系统稳定性、产甲烷性能及有机物的去除效果进行解析.反应器稳定运行410 d,共经历2.4、3.6、4.8、6.0 kg VS/(m3·d)4个负荷,反应器pH稳定在7.2 ～7.6之间,有机酸浓度＜500 mg/L.在负荷6.0 kg VS/(m3·d)时反应器平均容积产气率4.25m3/(m3·d),有机物去除率为63.2％;另外,实验结果表明,厌氧消化过程对蛋白质、脂肪、纤维素及多糖类物质的去除效果有明显差异,其中脂肪类物质去除率为98.2％,产沼气贡献率为38.8％.实现了针对我国城市生物质废物的高负荷高效厌氧消化,为我国城市生物质废物厌氧消化规模化处理提供了基础数据.     

Biodegradation of phthalate esters during the mesophilic anaerobic digestion of sludge

Phthalic acid esters (PAE) are commonly found in the sludge generated in the wastewater treatment plants. Anaerobic digestion followed by land application is a common treatment and disposal practice of sludge. To date, many studies exist on the anaerobic biodegradation rates of PAE, especially of the easily biodegradable ones, whereas the higher molecular weight PAE have reported to be non-biodegradable under methanogenic conditions. Furthermore, there is no information on the effect of the PAE on the performance of the anaerobic digesters treating sludge. In this study, the anaerobic biodegradation of di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), di-ethyl phthalate (DEP) and di-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) was investigated and their relative rates of anaerobic degradation were calculated. Also, the biological removal of PAE during the anaerobic digestion of sludge in bench-scale digesters was investigated using DBP and DEHP as model compounds of one biodegradable and one recalcitrant PAE respectively. The degradation of all the PAE tested in this study (DEP, DBP and DEHP) is adequately described by first-order kinetics. Batch and continuous experiments showed that DEP and DBP present in sludge are rapidly degraded under mesophilic anaerobic conditions (a first-order kinetic constant of 8.04 x 10(-2) and 13.69 x 10(-2)-4.35 day(-1) respectively) while DEHP is degraded at a rate between one to two orders of magnitude lower (0.35 x 10(-2)-3.59 x 10(-2) day(-1)). It is of high significance that experiments with anaerobic sludge of different origin (US and Europe) showed that degradation of DEHP occurs under methanogenic conditions. Accumulation of high levels of DEHP (more than 60 mg/l) in the anaerobic digester has a negative effect on DBP and DEHP removal rates as well as on the biogas production.     

料液浓度对鸭粪中温厌氧消化的影响

在中温35±1 ℃、pH为中性条件下,采用10 L玻璃瓶作为反应器对料液浓度分别为2%、6%、10%和15%的4组鸭粪溶液进行厌氧消化实验,系统运行30 d,分析了厌氧消化过程中的COD、pH、挥发性脂肪酸(VFA)和产气量的变化.结果表明,调节料液浓度至合适的水平对鸭粪厌氧消化过程非常重要,调节鸭粪进料浓度至6%,可...     

Characterization and application of the enzyme peroxidase to the degradation of the mycotoxin DON

Deoxynivalenol (DON), one of the main mycotoxins found in food matrices, has high level of toxicity. This study aimed to characterize the peroxidase enzyme extracted from rice bran to be applied to the biodegradation of DON in order to evaluate the potential peroxidase (PO) from rice bran (RB) has to degrade DON in optimal conditions. Purification and recovery factors of PO extracted from RB and purified by three-phase partitioning were 5.7% and 50%, respectively. PO had the highest level of activity in the phosphate buffer 5 mM pH 5.5 in both crude and purified forms, whose reaction temperatures were 25°C and 10°C. At the end of production, purification and characterization steps, specific activities of the bran were 115.79 U mg^?1 and 4363 U g^?1. Reduction in the mycotoxin DON in optimal conditions determined for PO from RB was 20.3%, a promising result when the aim is to adequate mycotoxicological levels to foods.     

Reduction of greenhouse gases from anaerobic piggery wastewater treatment by bromochloromethane in Taiwan

This work establishes methods of reducing the amount of methane produced from the anaerobic treatment of piggery wastewater by either reducing the storage time before solid/liquid separation or inhibiting the activity of methanogens in anaerobic wastewater treatment system. Experimental results showed these two methods can be adopted effectively to reduce methane production resulting from anaerobic piggery wastewater treatment. First, the wastewater must be processed using solid/liquid separation immediately after washing pig houses. This process can reduce by 62% the biogas production and indirectly decrease the methane production from the anaerobic wastewater treatment reactor. Second, adding 10 mg L(-1) bromochloromethane (BCM) daily into the anaerobic wastewater treatment reactor can significantly reduce the amount of biogas and methane produced during the anaerobic fermentation process. Furthermore, biogas production can be completely inhibited after 4 days. Adding BCM (< or =10 mg L(-1)) to wastewater only slightly affected the efficiency of the anaerobic wastewater treatment process. Results in this study can provide the basis for further research on reduction of the amount of methane produced from anaerobic wastewater treatments.