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Ni Z, Zhou L, Lin Z, Kuang B, Zhu G, Jia J, Wang T. Iron-modified biochar boosts anaerobic digestion of sulfamethoxazole pharmaceutical wastewater: Performance and microbial mechanism. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2023; 452:131314. [PMID: 37030222 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2022] [Revised: 02/26/2023] [Accepted: 03/26/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
The accumulation of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) caused by antibiotic inhibition significantly reduces the treatment efficiency of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) wastewater. Few studies have been conducted to study the VFAs gradient metabolism of extracellular respiratory bacteria (ERB) and hydrogenotrophic methanogen (HM) under high-concentration sulfonamide antibiotics (SAs). And the effects of iron-modified biochar on antibiotics are unknown. Here, the iron-modified biochar was added to an anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) to intensify the anaerobic digestion of SMX pharmaceutical wastewater. The results demonstrated that ERB and HM were developed after adding iron-modified biochar, promoting the degradation of butyric, propionic and acetic acids. The content of VFAs reduced from 1166.0 mg L-1 to 291.5 mg L-1. Therefore, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and SMX removal efficiency were improved by 22.76% and 36.51%, and methane production was enhanced by 6.19 times. Furthermore, the antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) such as sul1, sul2, intl1 in effluent were decreased by 39.31%, 43.33%, 44.11%. AUTHM297 (18.07%), Methanobacterium (16.05%), Geobacter (6.05%) were enriched after enhancement. The net energy after enhancement was 0.7122 kWh m-3. These results confirmed that ERB and HM were enriched via iron-modified biochar to achieve high efficiency of SMX wastewater treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhili Ni
- School of Biotechnology and Health Sciences, Wuyi University, Jiangmen 529020, PR China
| | - Lilin Zhou
- School of Biotechnology and Health Sciences, Wuyi University, Jiangmen 529020, PR China
| | - Ziyang Lin
- School of Biotechnology and Health Sciences, Wuyi University, Jiangmen 529020, PR China
| | - Bin Kuang
- Jiangmen Polytechnic, Jiangmen 529020, PR China; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Surrey, Surrey GU2 7XH, United Kingdom
| | - Gefu Zhu
- School of Environment and Nature Resources, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, PR China
| | - Jianbo Jia
- School of Biotechnology and Health Sciences, Wuyi University, Jiangmen 529020, PR China.
| | - Tao Wang
- School of Biotechnology and Health Sciences, Wuyi University, Jiangmen 529020, PR China.
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Krohn C, Khudur L, Dias DA, van den Akker B, Rees CA, Crosbie ND, Surapaneni A, O'Carroll DM, Stuetz RM, Batstone DJ, Ball AS. The role of microbial ecology in improving the performance of anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:1079136. [PMID: 36590430 PMCID: PMC9801413 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.1079136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2022] [Accepted: 11/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The use of next-generation diagnostic tools to optimise the anaerobic digestion of municipal sewage sludge has the potential to increase renewable natural gas recovery, improve the reuse of biosolid fertilisers and help operators expand circular economies globally. This review aims to provide perspectives on the role of microbial ecology in improving digester performance in wastewater treatment plants, highlighting that a systems biology approach is fundamental for monitoring mesophilic anaerobic sewage sludge in continuously stirred reactor tanks. We further highlight the potential applications arising from investigations into sludge ecology. The principal limitation for improvements in methane recoveries or in process stability of anaerobic digestion, especially after pre-treatment or during co-digestion, are ecological knowledge gaps related to the front-end metabolism (hydrolysis and fermentation). Operational problems such as stable biological foaming are a key problem, for which ecological markers are a suitable approach. However, no biomarkers exist yet to assist in monitoring and management of clade-specific foaming potentials along with other risks, such as pollutants and pathogens. Fundamental ecological principles apply to anaerobic digestion, which presents opportunities to predict and manipulate reactor functions. The path ahead for mapping ecological markers on process endpoints and risk factors of anaerobic digestion will involve numerical ecology, an expanding field that employs metrics derived from alpha, beta, phylogenetic, taxonomic, and functional diversity, as well as from phenotypes or life strategies derived from genetic potentials. In contrast to addressing operational issues (as noted above), which are effectively addressed by whole population or individual biomarkers, broad improvement and optimisation of function will require enhancement of hydrolysis and acidogenic processes. This will require a discovery-based approach, which will involve integrative research involving the proteome and metabolome. This will utilise, but overcome current limitations of DNA-centric approaches, and likely have broad application outside the specific field of anaerobic digestion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Krohn
- ARC Training Centre for the Transformation of Australia's Biosolids Resource, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia,*Correspondence: Christian Krohn,
| | - Leadin Khudur
- ARC Training Centre for the Transformation of Australia's Biosolids Resource, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia
| | - Daniel Anthony Dias
- School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, Discipline of Laboratory Medicine, STEM College, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia
| | | | | | | | - Aravind Surapaneni
- ARC Training Centre for the Transformation of Australia's Biosolids Resource, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia
| | - Denis M. O'Carroll
- Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Richard M. Stuetz
- Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Damien J. Batstone
- ARC Training Centre for the Transformation of Australia's Biosolids Resource, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia,Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, Gehrmann Building, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Andrew S. Ball
- ARC Training Centre for the Transformation of Australia's Biosolids Resource, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia
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Synthetic Musk Fragrances in Water Systems and Their Impact on Microbial Communities. WATER 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/w14050692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The presence of emerging contaminants in aquatic systems and their potential effects on ecosystems have sparked the interest of the scientific community with a consequent increase in their report. Moreover, the presence of emerging contaminants in the environment should be assessed through the “One-Health” approach since all the living organisms are exposed to those contaminants at some point and several works already reported their impact on ecological interactions. There are a wide variety of concerning emerging contaminants in water sources, such as pharmaceuticals, personal care products, house-care products, nanomaterials, fire-retardants, and all the vast number of different compounds of indispensable use in routine tasks. Synthetic musks are examples of fragrances used in the formulation of personal and/or house-care products, which may potentially cause significant ecotoxicological concerns. However, there is little-to-no information regarding the effect of synthetic musks on microbial communities. This study reviews the presence of musk fragrances in drinking water and their impact on aquatic microbial communities, with a focus on the role of biofilms in aquatic systems. Moreover, this review highlights the research needed for a better understating of the impact of non-pharmaceutical contaminants in microbial populations and public health.
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Hu J, Guo B, Li Z, Wu Z, Tao W. Freezing pretreatment assists potassium ferrate to promote hydrogen production from anaerobic fermentation of waste activated sludge. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 781:146685. [PMID: 33798880 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146685] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2021] [Revised: 03/16/2021] [Accepted: 03/19/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Anaerobic fermentation is an eco-friendly technology for waste activated sludge (WAS) treatment, during which resource recycle can be achieved. However, traditional sludge anaerobic fermentation is limited by the poor efficiency. We herein reported a novel high-efficiency technology by combining freezing with potassium ferrate (PF) for sludge pretreatment to promote hydrogen production from anaerobic fermentation. Experimental results demonstrated that freezing coupled with PF pretreatment exerted positively synergetic effect on hydrogen production. The maximal hydrogen production of 12.50 mL/g VSS (volatile suspended solids) was detected in the fermenter pretreated by freezing (-12 °C for 24 h) coupled with PF at 0.15 g/g TSS (total suspended solids), which was 1.34, 2.33, and 7.91 times of that from the individual PF, individual freezing, and control fermenters, respectively. The simulation results based on the modified Gompertz model indicated that both the hydrogen production potential and rate were promoted by freezing coupled with 0.15 g/g TSS PF pretreatment, from 2.14 to 13.52 mL/g VSS and 0.012 to 0.163 mL/g VSS/h, respectively. Thorough mechanism investigations revealed that the sludge EPS (extracellular polymeric substances) and microbial cells were both effectively damaged by combined freezing and PF pretreatment, resulting in the acceleration of sludge disintegration. Further investigations demonstrated that except for the acidogenesis, the other biochemical processes were all inhibited by freezing coupled with PF pretreatment, but the inhibitory extent for hydrogen consuming processes was more serious than that responsible for its generation. Gene sequencing analysis illuminated that both of the hydrolytic and hydrogen generating bacteria were largely enriched in the combined pretreatment fermenter. Moreover, the dewatering performances of fermented sludge were found to be notably enhanced by freezing coupled with PF pretreatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiawei Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, International Joint Research Center for Sustainable Urban Water System, College of Environmental Science & Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China; UN Environment-Tongji Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development, Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China.
| | - Bing Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, International Joint Research Center for Sustainable Urban Water System, College of Environmental Science & Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
| | - Zhuo Li
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, International Joint Research Center for Sustainable Urban Water System, College of Environmental Science & Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China.
| | - Zhigen Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, International Joint Research Center for Sustainable Urban Water System, College of Environmental Science & Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
| | - Wenquan Tao
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, International Joint Research Center for Sustainable Urban Water System, College of Environmental Science & Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
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Life Cycle Assessment of the Mesophilic, Thermophilic, and Temperature-Phased Anaerobic Digestion of Sewage Sludge. WATER 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/w12113140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
In this study the environmental impact of the anaerobic digestion (AD) of sewage sludge within an activated sludge wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) was investigated. Three alternative AD systems (mesophilic, thermophilic, and temperature-phased anaerobic digestion (TPAD)) were compared to determine which system may have the best environmental performance. Two life cycle assessments (LCA) were performed considering: (i) the whole WWTP (for a functional unit (FU) of 1 m3 of treated wastewater), and (ii) the sludge line (SL) alone (for FU of 1 m3 of produced methane). The data for the LCA were obtained from previous laboratory experimental work in combination with full-scale WWTP and literature. According to the results, the WWTP with TPAD outperforms those with mesophilic and thermophilic AD in most analyzed impact categories (i.e., Human toxicity, Ionizing radiation, Metal and Fossil depletion, Agricultural land occupation, Terrestrial acidification, Freshwater eutrophication, and Ozone depletion), except for Climate change where the WWTP with mesophilic AD performed better than with TPAD by 7%. In the case of the SL alone, the production of heat and electricity (here accounted for as avoided environmental impacts) led to credits in most of the analyzed impact categories except for Human toxicity where credits did not balance out the impacts caused by the wastewater treatment system. The best AD alternative was thermophilic concerning all environmental impact categories, besides Climate change and Human toxicity. Differences between both LCA results may be attributed to the FU.
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Wang Y, Tian F, Guo P, Fu D, Heeres HJ, Tang T, Yuan H, Wang B, Li J. Catalytic liquefaction of sewage sludge to small molecular weight chemicals. Sci Rep 2020; 10:18929. [PMID: 33144686 PMCID: PMC7609695 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-75980-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2020] [Accepted: 10/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The catalytic hydrotreatment of sewage sludge, the wet solid byproducts from wastewater treatment plants, using supported Ir, Pt, Pd, Ru catalysts had been investigated with different solvent conditions. Reactions were carried out in a batch set-up at elevated temperatures (400 °C) using a hydrogen donor (formic acid (FA) in isopropanol (IPA) or hydrogen gas), with sewage sludge obtained from different sampling places. Sewage sludge conversions of up to 83.72% were achieved using Pt/C, whereas the performance for the others catalysts is different and solvent had a strong effect on the conversion rate and product constitution. The sewage sludge oils were characterised using a range of analytical techniques (GC, GC-MS, GCxGC, GPC) and were shown to consist of monomers, mainly alkanes and higher oligomers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuehu Wang
- College of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang, 550025, China. .,Observation and Research Station for Guizhou Karst Environmental Ecosystems, Guiyang, 550025, China.
| | - Feihong Tian
- College of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang, 550025, China.,Observation and Research Station for Guizhou Karst Environmental Ecosystems, Guiyang, 550025, China
| | - Peimei Guo
- College of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang, 550025, China.,Observation and Research Station for Guizhou Karst Environmental Ecosystems, Guiyang, 550025, China
| | - Dazhen Fu
- College of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang, 550025, China.,Observation and Research Station for Guizhou Karst Environmental Ecosystems, Guiyang, 550025, China
| | - Hero Jan Heeres
- Chemical Engineering Department, ENTEG, University of Groningen, Nijenborg 4, 9747 AG, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Taotao Tang
- College of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang, 550025, China.,Observation and Research Station for Guizhou Karst Environmental Ecosystems, Guiyang, 550025, China
| | - Huayu Yuan
- College of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang, 550025, China.,Observation and Research Station for Guizhou Karst Environmental Ecosystems, Guiyang, 550025, China
| | - Bing Wang
- College of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang, 550025, China.,Observation and Research Station for Guizhou Karst Environmental Ecosystems, Guiyang, 550025, China
| | - Jiang Li
- College of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang, 550025, China.,Observation and Research Station for Guizhou Karst Environmental Ecosystems, Guiyang, 550025, China
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