Effects of operational factors on soluble microbial products in a carrier anaerobic ba ed reactor treating dilute wastewater

The effects of feed strength, hydraulic residence time （HRT）, and operational temperatures on soluble microbial product （SMP） production were investigated, to gain insights into the production mechanism. A carrier anaerobic baffled reactor （CABR） treating dilute wastewater was operated under a wide range of operational conditions, namely, feed strengths of 300-600 mg/L, HRTs of 9- 18 h, and temperatures of 10-28℃. Generally, SMP production increased with increasing feed strength and decreasing temperature. At high temperature （28℃）, SMP production increased with decreasing HRT. As the temperature was decreased to 18 and 10℃, the SMP production was at its peak for 12 h HRT. Therefore, temperature could be an important determinant of SMP production along with HRT. A higher SMP to soluble chemical oxygen demand （SCOD） ratio was found at high temperature and long HRT because of complete volatile fatty acid degradation. SMP accounted for 50%-75% of the SCOD in the last chamber of the CABR. As a secondary metabolite, some SMP could be consumed at lower feed strength.     

Concentrations of additive arsenic in Beijing pig feeds and the residues in pig manure

The swine industry in China has grown rapidly over last two decades. Great amount of pig manure is generated in China, which can be used as organic fertilizers on agricultural lands. Meanwhile, the organic arsenic compounds have been used as feed additives for swine disease control and weight improvement. Once the excessive additives are released in the environment, arsenic may compromise food safety and environmental quality. There is a growing public concern about the arsenic residues accumulation in pig manure, however, little work has been done to investigate the exact arsenic content in pig feed and the residues in manure in China This study investigates the concentrations of arsenic in 29 pig feed samples and 29 manure samples collected from eight pig farms in the Chaoyang district, Beijing city. The detected rate of arsenic in 29 couples of samples was 100%. The concentrations of arsenic in pig feeds and manures ranged from 0.15 to 37.8 mg/kg and 0.42 to 119.0 mg/kg, respectively. The result showed that arsenic concentration in pig manure will be greatly elevated when the arsenic in pig feed was largely increased. The loading rates of pig manure in fourteen Beijing counties and districts were in the range of 2.7–57.2 t/ha yr. Accordingly, the potential soil arsenic increase rates resulting from land application of pig manure might range between 11.8 and 78.9 μg/kg yr. Despite these findings, it is too early to draw the conclusion that arsenic pollution from pig manure is serious in Beijing farmland; therefore, longitudinal studies about the chemical form transformation and the environmental behaviors of pig manure arsenic are required in order to come up with more definitive conclusions.     

Macroscale and microscale analysis of Anammox in anaerobic rotating biological contactor

Inoculated with conventional anaerobic activated sludge, the Anammox process was successfully developed in an anaerobic rotating biological contactor (AnRBC) fed with a low ratio of C/N synthetic wastewater. Operated in a single point feed mode, the AnRBC removed 92.1% (n = 126) of the influent N at the highest surface load of 12 g/(m².day). The biomass increased by 25% and 17.1 g/(m².day) of maximum N removal surface load was achieved by elevating flow rate with another feed point. Fluorescence in situ hybridization and polymerase chain reaction analysis indicated that the Anammox genus Candidatus Kuenenia stuttgartiensis dominated the community. Both Anammox and denitrifying activity were detected in biofilm by the application of microelectrodes. In the outer layer of the biofilm (0-2500 μupm), nitrite and ammonium consumed simultaneously in a ratio of 1.12/1, revealing the occurrence of Anammox. In the inner layer (> 2500 μupm), a decrease of nitrate was caused by denitrification in the absence of nitrite and ammonium.