Effects of nonionic surfactant on hydrolysis and fermentation of protein rich tannery solid waste

Metabolic routes involved in the removal of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) employing linear alcohol ethoxylated and ethanol as co-substrates in enlarged scale fluidized bed reactor

In this study, the microbial community characterization and metabolic pathway identification involved in the linear alkylbenzene sulfonated (LAS) degradation from commercial laundry wastewater in a fluidized bed reactor (FBR) on an increased scale were performed using the Illumina MiSeq platform. Ethanol and non-ionic surfactant (LAE, Genapol C-100) were used as co-substrates. The FBR was operated in five operational phases: (I) synthetic substrate for inoculation; (II) 7.9 ± 4.7 mg/L LAS and 11.7 ± 6.9 mg/L LAE; (III) 19.4 ± 12.9 mg/L LAS, 19.6 ± 9.2 mg/L LAE and 205 mg/L ethanol; (IV) 25.9 ± 11 mg/L LAS, 19.5 ± 9.1 mg/L LAE and 205 mg/L ethanol and (V) 43.9 ± 18 mg/L LAS, 25 ± 9.8 mg/L LAE and 205 mg/L ethanol. At all operation phases, organic matter was removed from 40.4 to 85.1% and LAS removal was from 24.7 to 56%. Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) were identified in the biofilm of FBR in all operational phases. Although the LAS promoted a toxic effect on the microbiota, this effect can be reduced when using biodegradable co-substrates, such as ethanol and LAE, which was observed in Phase IV. In this phase, there was a greater microbial diversity (Shannon index) and higher microorganism richness (Chao 1 index), both for the Domain Bacteria, and for the Domain Archaea.

Study on the Interaction Between Cellulase and Surfactants

The conformations of secondary and tertiary structures of cellulase in the presence of eleven commonly used surfactants were determined by Raman spectroscopy and the results were discussed. The results indicated that anionic surfactants had a stronger influence on the cellulase conformations than nonionic surfactants. Thus anionic surfactants showed a stronger inactivation on the cellulase activity. Furthermore, Zeta potential distributions of cellulase in solutions of surfactants were tested by Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS). The DLS results indicated that the interaction between anionic surfactants and cellulase was attributed to electrostatic attraction. By adding cellulase to a liquid, non-cellulase-containing detergent, the detergency of the liquid detergent could be increased. Further studies on the sample swatches by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were undertaken in this paper.

The effect of salinity on waste activated sludge alkaline fermentation and kinetic analysis

The effect of salinity on sludge alkaline fermentation at low temperature (20°C) was investigated, and a kinetic analysis was performed. Different doses of sodium chloride (NaCl, 0-25g/L) were added into the fermentation system. The batch-mode results showed that the soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) increased with salinity. The hydrolysate (soluble protein, polysaccharide) and the acidification products (short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), NH4(+)-N, and PO4(3-)-P) increased with salinity initially, but slightly declined respectively at higher level salinity (20g/L or 20-25g/L). However, the hydrolytic acidification performance increased in the presence of salt compared to that without salt. Furthermore, the results of Haldane inhibition kinetics analysis showed that the salt enhanced the hydrolysis rate of particulate organic matter from sludge particulate and the specific utilization of hydrolysate, and decreased the specific utilization of SCFAs. Pearson correlation coefficient analysis indicated that the importance of polysaccharide on the accumulation of SCFAs was reduced with salt addition, but the importance of protein and NH4(+)-N on SCFA accumulation was increased.