Nitrifiers activity and community characteristics under stress conditions in partial nitrification systems treating ammonium-rich wastewater

Long-term exposure of nitrifiers to high concentrations of free ammonia(FA) and free nitrous acid(FNA) may affect nitrifiers activity and nitrous oxide(N_2O) emission.Two sequencing batch reactors(SBRs) were operated at influent ammonium nitrogen(NH_4-N) concentrations of 800 mg/L(SBRH) and 335 mg/L(SBRL),respectively.The NH_4-N removal rates in SBRHand SBRLwere around 2.4 and 1.0 g/L/day with the nitritation efficiencies of 99.3% and 95.7%,respectively.In the simulated SBR cycle,the N_2O emission factors were 1.61% in SBRH and 2.30% in SBRL.N_2O emission was affected slightly by FA with the emission factor of0.22%–0.65%,while N_2O emission increased with increasing FNA concentrations with the emission factor of 0.22%–0.96%.The dominant ammonia oxidizing bacteria(AOB) were Nitrosomonas spp.in both reactors,and their relative proportions were 38.89% in SBRHand13.36% in SBRL.Within the AOB genus,a species(i.e.,operational taxonomic unit [OTU] 76) that was phylogenetically identical to Nitrosomonas europaea accounted for 99.07% and 82.04% in SBRHand SBRL,respectively.Additionally,OTU 215,which was related to Nitrosomonas stercoris,accounted for 16.77% of the AOB in SBRL.     

Enzymatic Degradation and Aminolysis of Microbial Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate) Single Crystals

Solution-grown single crystals of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate) [P(3HB-co-4HB)] were hydrolyzed by polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) depolymerase from Ralstonia pickettii T1. Enzymatic degradation proceeded from the edges of lamellar crystals, yielding serrated contour and small crystal fragments. Gel permeation chromatography analysis revealed that the molecular weights of the crystals decreased during enzymatic degradation, suggesting that the enzymatic hydrolysis of chain-folding regions at the crystal surfaces occurred in addition to the enzymatic degradation at crystal laterals or edges. After P(3HB-co-4HB) single crystals were aminolysed in 20% aqueous methylamine solution to remove the folded-chain regions and enzymatic degradation by lipase from Rhizopus oryzae to remove 4HB components at crystal surfaces of single crystal aminolyzed, it was found that a small amount (up to ca. 2 mol%) of 4HB component can be incorporated into the P(3HB) mother crystal lattice irrespective of the 4HB content.     

Screening of agonistic activities against four nuclear receptors in wastewater treatment plants in Japan using a yeast two-hybrid assay

To assess the potential endocrine disruptive effects through multiple nuclear receptors(NRs),especially non-steroidal NRs,in municipal wastewater,we examined the agonistic activities on four NRs(estrogen receptor α,thyroid hormone receptor α,retinoic acid receptor α and retinoid X receptor α) of untreated and treated wastewater from municipal wastewater treatment plants(WWTPs) in Japan using a yeast two-hybrid assay.Investigation of the influent and effluent of seven WWTPs revealed that agonistic activities...     

Bioelectrochemical conversion of urea to nitrogen using aminated carbon electrode

Urea decomposes to ammonia and carbon dioxide via carbamic acid, and amine groups can be introduced to the glassy carbon electrode surface during the electrode oxidation of carbamic acid. This modified carbon electrode has excellent catalytic activity of the oxidation of carbamic acid, and can be used to electrooxidize urea by combining urease reaction and electrode oxidation. We found that nitrogen gas is finally produced by the carbamic acid produced from urea. The production of nitrogen was confirmed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and fragment pattern of hydrazine was also detected in the electrolyzed solution of urea. We intend to describe new electrochemical conversion system of urea to harmless nitrogen gas. The electrode oxidation current of urea was decreased by addition of radical trapping agent such as DMPO (5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline N-oxide), and this fact suggests that carbamic acid radical couples to form nitrogen-nitrogen bond, and this dimer is oxidized to nitrogen. The electrode oxidation current of urea became larger when oxygen was removed. This fact indicates that the intermediate species (probably hydrazine) produced by the electrolysis is oxidized by not only electrode reaction but also oxygen.     

Metabolism and excretion of orally and intraperitoneally administered trimethylarsine oxide in the hamster

When trimethylarsine oxide (TMAO) was administered orally to hamsters once only, 86.9±11.1% of the administered dose of the compound was exreted in the urine during the following 24 hours: TMAO proved to be an arsenic compound eliminated extremely rapidly. The unchanged form of TMAO was the one and only trimethylarsenic compound (TMA) detected in the urine: in othe words, TMAO proved neither to be demethylated nor to be converted to arsenobetaine. It was shown, on the other hand, that TMAO is partly reduced in vivo and that only trimethylarsine was detected in expired air.     

Effects of buoyancy, transparency and zooplankton feeding on surface maxima and deep maxima: Comprehensive mathematical model for vertical distribution in cyanobacterial biomass

Inhomogeneous vertical distributions of the cyanobacterial biomass are widely observed during the summer season in stratified lake ecosystems. Among these are surface maxima characterized by surface scum formation and deep or subsurface maxima also known as deep chlorophyll maxima (DCM). The former occurs at the epilimnion in eutrophic lakes, and are usually caused by colonial cyanobacteria such as Microcystis. On the other hand, the latter occurs at the metalimnion and the upper part of the hypolimnion near the thermocline in oligotrophic lakes, and are referred to filamentous cyanobacteria such as Oscillatoria. The aim of this paper is to present a simple mathematical model that can simultaneously describe these phenomena including the annual and diurnal variations, emphasizing the roles of buoyancy regulation, transparency of the lake and zooplankton feeding on cyanobacteria. According to our computer analyses, the increased buoyancy, the low clarity of the lake and the low rate of zooplankton feeding take significant roles in formation of surface maxima, while the reversal of these factors makes deep maxima predominant. Our two-component model with nutrients and cyanobacteria can distinguish between two phenomena by changing the parameters for these factors, without altering the model itself.     

Development of waste gasification and gas reforming system for municipal solid waste (MSW)

To achieve both high-efficiency power generation and high detoxification performance, advanced-type waste power generation plants such as pyrolysis and gas reforming plants are suggested. Further surveys on actual operational data of these plants are required in terms of reliability of the system when it is introduced to waste disposal sites. To verify the technical effectiveness of advanced-type waste power generation using the pyrolysis and gas reforming method, we evaluated 10?tons/day of municipal solid wastes (MSW) treated in a demonstration plant. A demonstration test was conducted over 100?days including 35?consecutive days of operation treating MSWs. The test results show high recycling performance and harmless nature of the plant which proves it to be an excellent waste recycling system. Major test results are as follows: (1) stabilization of waste treatment is possible with the wastes of various qualities, (2) clean gas is produced from the waste whose energy recovery ratio is approximately 40?%. (3) 99.3?% weight % of dried waste are recovered as valuable materials such as clean gas, char and metal, (4) total amount of dioxin emission to the outside of the plant is very small, down to 0.0051–0.018?μg?TEQ per ton waste.     

Decomposing detonation and deflagration properties of ozone/oxygen mixtures

In this study, the decomposing detonation and deflagration properties of ozone/oxygen mixtures of up to 20 vol.% of ozone in oxygen under high pressure of up to 1.0 MPa in a tube were experimentally investigated. The mixtures were ignited by an electric spark at the end of the tube. Flame propagation properties such as flame velocity and pressure were measured with thermocouples and piezo electric transducers mounted along the tube. Slow and constant flame propagation profiles were obtained. We also investigated the quenching ability of a wire gauze as well as the concentration limit for flame propagation. However, in spite of slow flame propagation velocity and easy flame quenching properties under these experimental conditions, direct initiation of detonation by the driver detonation of the stoichiometric oxy-hydrogen mixture was easily achieved at much lower concentrations than the limit of deflagration. The observed detonation properties, such as wave velocity and pressure, agreed fairly well with C–J calculated values. The detonation velocity (900–1200 m/s) and the pressure ratio to initial pressures (5–9.5) were not affected by the initial pressure of the mixtures. Near the detonation limit, typical spinning detonations with oscillatory pressure waves were observed.     

Oxidation catalyst of iron oxide suppressing dioxin formation in polyethylene combustion

A new iron oxide catalyst, which has a superior oxidation activity in carbon monoxide and polyethylene (PE) combustion, was synthesized by an aqueous solution reaction. Catalytic oxidation of carbon monoxide over six kinds of hematite obtained from the goethite was done using a microcatalytic pulse reactor, and the composition of the hematite with the highest oxidation activity was determined. With the aim of suppressing dioxin formation on combustion, incineration tests of solid wastes in PE refuse bags with and without the goethite were carried out using a commercial semibatch-type incinerator with a combustion chamber of 6.2 m³. The result confirmed that the concentration of dioxins in the flue gas decreased considerably when the refuse was incinerated in PE bags manufactured with goethite. Received: July 24, 2000 / Accepted: October 18, 2000