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Niu C, Ying Y, Zhao J, Zheng M, Guo J, Yuan Z, Hu S, Liu T. Superior mainstream partial nitritation in an acidic membrane-aerated biofilm reactor. WATER RESEARCH 2024; 257:121692. [PMID: 38713935 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.121692] [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: 02/03/2024] [Revised: 04/22/2024] [Accepted: 04/28/2024] [Indexed: 05/09/2024]
Abstract
Shortcut nitrogen removal holds significant economic appeal for mainstream wastewater treatment. Nevertheless, it is too difficult to achieve the stable suppression of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB), and simultaneously maintain the activity of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB). This study proposes to overcome this challenge by employing the novel acid-tolerant AOB, namely "Candidatus Nitrosoglobus", in a membrane-aerated biofilm reactor (MABR). Superior partial nitritation was demonstrated in low-strength wastewater from two aspects. First, the long-term operation (256 days) under the acidic pH range of 5.0 to 5.2 showed the successful NOB washout by the in situ free nitrous acid (FNA) of approximately 1 mg N/L. This was evidenced by the stable nitrite accumulation ratio (NAR) close to 100 % and the disappearance of NOB shown by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and fluorescence in situ hybridization. Second, oxygen was sufficiently supplied in the MABR, leading to an unprecedentedly high ammonia oxidation rate (AOR) at 2.4 ± 0.1 kg N/(m3 d) at a short hydraulic retention time (HRT) of a mere 30 min. Due to the counter diffusion of substrates, the present acidic MABR displayed a significantly higher apparent oxygen affinity (0.36 ± 0.03 mg O2/L), a marginally lower apparent ammonia affinity (14.9 ± 1.9 mg N/L), and a heightened sensitivity to FNA and pH variations, compared with counterparts determined by flocculant acid-tolerant AOB. Beyond supporting the potential application of shortcut nitrogen removal in mainstream wastewater, this study also offers the attractive prospect of intensifying wastewater treatment by markedly reducing the HRT of the aerobic unit.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenkai Niu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Yifeng Ying
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Jing Zhao
- Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI), The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Min Zheng
- Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Zhiguo Yuan
- School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Shihu Hu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Tao Liu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong 999077, China.
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2
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Liang L, Zhao Z, Zhou H, Zhang Y. Insights into feasibility and microbial characterizations on simultaneous elimination of dissolved methane from anaerobic effluents and nitrate/nitrite reduction in a conventional anoxic reactor with magnetite. WATER RESEARCH 2024; 256:121567. [PMID: 38581983 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.121567] [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: 09/03/2023] [Revised: 03/25/2024] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 04/08/2024]
Abstract
Discovery of nitrate/nitrite-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation (DAMO) challenges the conventional biological treatment processes, since it provides a possibility of simultaneously mitigating dissolved methane emissions from anaerobic effluents and reducing additional carbon sources for denitrification. Due to the slow growth of specialized DAMO microbes, this possibility has been just practiced with biofilms in membrane biofilm reactors or granular sludge in membrane bioreactors. In this study, simultaneous elimination of dissolved methane from anaerobic effluents and nitrate/nitrite reduction was achieved in a conventional anoxic reactor with magnetite. Calculations of electron flow balance showed that, with magnetite the eliminated dissolved methane was almost entirely used for nitrate/nitrite reduction, while without magnetite approximately 52 % of eliminated dissolved methane was converted to unknown organics. Metagenomic sequencing showed that, when dissolved methane served as an electron donor, the abundance of genes for reverse methanogenesis and denitrification dramatically increased, indicating that anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) coupled to nitrate/nitrite reduction occurred. Magnetite increased the abundance of genes encoding the key enzymes involved in whole reverse methanogenesis and Nir and Nor involved in denitrification, compared to that without magnetite. Analysis of microbial communities showed that, AOM coupled to nitrate/nitrite reduction was proceeded by syntrophic consortia comprised of methane oxidizers, Methanolinea and Methanobacterium, and nitrate/nitrite reducers, Armatimonadetes_gp5 and Thauera. With magnetite syntrophic consortia exchanged electrons more effectively than that without magnetite, further supporting the microbial growth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lianfu Liang
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering (Dalian University of Technology), Ministry of Education, School of Environmental Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
| | - Zhiqiang Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering (Dalian University of Technology), Ministry of Education, School of Environmental Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
| | - Hao Zhou
- School of Chemical Engineering, Ocean and Life Sciences, Dalian University of Technology, Panjin 124221, China.
| | - Yaobin Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering (Dalian University of Technology), Ministry of Education, School of Environmental Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
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3
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Park J, Song M, Cho M, Shin YU, Jeong S, Hwang K, Bae H. Iron particle-integrated anammox granules in baffled reactor: Enhanced settling property and nitrogen removal performance. BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY 2024; 402:130792. [PMID: 38703962 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2024.130792] [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: 03/12/2024] [Revised: 04/30/2024] [Accepted: 05/01/2024] [Indexed: 05/06/2024]
Abstract
This study evaluates iron particle-integrated anammox granules (IP-IAGs) to enhance wastewater treatment efficiency. The IP-IAGs resulted in notable improvements in settleability and nitrogen removal. The settling velocity of IP-IAGs increased by 17.91 % to 2.92 ± 0.20 cm/s, and the total nitrogen removal efficiency in batch mode improved by 6.82 %. These changes indicate enhanced biological activity for effective treatment. In continuous operation, the IP-IAGs reactor showed no accumulation of nitrite until 40 d, reaching a peak nitrogen removal rate (NRR) of 1.54 kg-N/m3·d and a nitrogen removal efficiency of 82.61 %. Furthermore, a partial nitritation-anammox reactor that treated anaerobic digestion effluent achieved a NRR of 1.41 ± 0.09 kg-N/m3·d, proving the applicability of IP-IAGs in real wastewater conditions. These results underscore the potential of IP-IAGs to enhance the efficiency and stability of anammox-based processes, marking a significant advancement in environmental engineering for wastewater treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jihye Park
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pusan National University, Busandeahak-ro 63 beon-gil, Geumjeong-gu, Busan 46241, Republic of Korea
| | - Minsu Song
- Department of Civil, Urban, Earth and Environmental Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, 50 UNIST-gil, Eonyang-eup, Ulju-gun, Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea
| | - Minkee Cho
- Department of Civil, Urban, Earth and Environmental Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, 50 UNIST-gil, Eonyang-eup, Ulju-gun, Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea
| | - Yong-Uk Shin
- Department of Civil, Urban, Earth and Environmental Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, 50 UNIST-gil, Eonyang-eup, Ulju-gun, Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea
| | - Sanghyun Jeong
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pusan National University, Busandeahak-ro 63 beon-gil, Geumjeong-gu, Busan 46241, Republic of Korea
| | - Kwanghyun Hwang
- Environment Business Division, Environment Solution Research Team, GS E&C, GRAN SEOUL, 33 Jong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03159, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyokwan Bae
- Department of Civil, Urban, Earth and Environmental Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, 50 UNIST-gil, Eonyang-eup, Ulju-gun, Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea; Graduate School of Carbon Neutrality, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, 50 UNIST-gil, Eonyang-eup, Ulju-gun, Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea.
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4
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Lu Y, Liu T, Hu S, Yuan Z, Dwyer J, Akker BVD, Lloyd J, Guo J. Coupling Partial Nitritation, Anammox and n-DAMO in a membrane aerated biofilm reactor for simultaneous dissolved methane and nitrogen removal. WATER RESEARCH 2024; 255:121511. [PMID: 38552483 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.121511] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2024] [Revised: 03/18/2024] [Accepted: 03/23/2024] [Indexed: 04/24/2024]
Abstract
Anaerobic technologies with downstream autotrophic nitrogen removal have been proposed to enhance bioenergy recovery and transform a wastewater treatment plant from an energy consumer to an energy exporter. However, approximately 20-50 % of the produced methane is dissolved in the anaerobically treated effluent and is easily stripped into the atmosphere in the downstream aerobic process, contributing to the release of greenhouse gas emissions. This study aims to develop a solution to beneficially utilize dissolved methane to support high-level nitrogen removal from anaerobically treated mainstream wastewater. A novel technology, integrating Partial Nitritation, Anammox and Methane-dependent nitrite/nitrate reduction (i.e. PNAM) was demonstrated in a membrane-aerated biofilm reactor (MABR). With the feeding of ∼50 mg NH4+-N/L and ∼20 mg/L dissolved methane at a hydraulic retention time of 15 h, around 90 % of nitrogen and ∼100 % of dissolved methane can be removed together in the MABR. Microbial community characterization revealed that ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB), anammox bacteria, nitrite/nitrate-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation microorganisms (n-DAMO bacteria and archaea) and aerobic methanotrophs co-existed in the established biofilm. Batch tests confirmed the active microbial pathways and showed that AOB, anammox bacteria and n-DAMO microbes were jointly responsible for the nitrogen removal, and dissolved methane was mainly removed by the n-DAMO process, with aerobic methane oxidation making a minor contribution. In addition, the established system was robust against dynamic changes in influent composition. The study provides a promising technology for the simultaneous removal of dissolved methane and nitrogen from domestic wastewater, which can support the transformation of wastewater treatment from an energy- and carbon-intensive process, to one that is energy- and carbon-neutral.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Lu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), the University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Tao Liu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), the University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia.
| | - Shihu Hu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), the University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Zhiguo Yuan
- School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Jason Dwyer
- Urban Utilities, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia
| | - Ben Van Den Akker
- South Australian Water Corporation, 250 Victoria Square, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia; STEM, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, South Australia 5095, Australia
| | - James Lloyd
- Melbourne Water, 990 La Trobe St, Docklands, VIC 3000, Australia
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), the University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia.
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5
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Wang Y, Gao W, Lv L, Ma X, Ren Z, Sun L, Liu X, Wang P, Sun Z, Tian Y, Zhang G. Comprehensive carbon footprint analysis of wastewater treatment: A case study of modified cyclic activated sludge technology for low carbon source urban wastewater treatment. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 923:171550. [PMID: 38461981 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171550] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 03/04/2024] [Indexed: 03/12/2024]
Abstract
To reduce pollution and carbon emissions, a quantitative evaluation of the carbon footprint of the wastewater treatment processes is crucial. However, micro carbon element flow analysis is rarely focused considering treatment efficiency of different technology. In this research, a comprehensive carbon footprint analysis is established under the micro carbon element flow analysis and macro carbon footprint analysis based on life cycle assessment (LCA). Three wastewater treatment processes (i.e., anaerobic anoxic oxic, A2O; cyclic activated sludge technology, CAST; modified cyclic activated sludge technology, M-CAST) for low carbon source urban wastewater are selected. The micro key element flow analysis illustrated that carbon source mainly flows to the assimilation function to promote microorganism growth. The carbon footprint analysis illustrated that M-CAST as the optimal wastewater treatment process had the lowest global warming potential (GWP). The key to reduce carbon emissions is to limit electricity consumption in wastewater treatment processes. Under the comprehensive carbon footprint analysis, M-CAST has the lowest environmental impact with low carbon emissions. The sensitivity analysis results revealed that biotreatment section variables considerably reduced the environmental impact on the LCA and the GWP, followed by the sludge disposal section. With this research, the optimization scheme can guide wastewater treatment plants to optimize relevant treatment sections and reduce pollution and carbon emissions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuting Wang
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Clean Energy and Pollution Control, School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin, 300401, China
| | - Wenfang Gao
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Clean Energy and Pollution Control, School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin, 300401, China.
| | - Longyi Lv
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Clean Energy and Pollution Control, School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin, 300401, China.
| | - Xiaotian Ma
- Institute of Blue and Green Development, Weihai Institute of Interdisciplinary Research, Shandong University, Weihai 264209, China
| | - Zhijun Ren
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Clean Energy and Pollution Control, School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin, 300401, China
| | - Li Sun
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Clean Energy and Pollution Control, School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin, 300401, China
| | - Xiaoyang Liu
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Clean Energy and Pollution Control, School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin, 300401, China
| | - Pengfei Wang
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Clean Energy and Pollution Control, School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin, 300401, China
| | - Zhi Sun
- National Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering, Beijing Engineering Research Centre of Process Pollution Control, Institute of Process Engineering, Innovation Academy for Green Manufacture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Yu Tian
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China
| | - Guangming Zhang
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Clean Energy and Pollution Control, School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin, 300401, China; State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China
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6
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Wang K, Li J, Gu X, Wang H, Li X, Peng Y, Wang Y. How to Provide Nitrite Robustly for Anaerobic Ammonium Oxidation in Mainstream Nitrogen Removal. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2023; 57:21503-21526. [PMID: 38096379 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c05600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2023]
Abstract
Innovation in decarbonizing wastewater treatment is urgent in response to global climate change. The practical implementation of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) treating domestic wastewater is the key to reconciling carbon-neutral management of wastewater treatment with sustainable development. Nitrite availability is the prerequisite of the anammox reaction, but how to achieve robust nitrite supply and accumulation for mainstream systems remains elusive. This work presents a state-of-the-art review on the recent advances in nitrite supply for mainstream anammox, paying special attention to available pathways (forward-going (from ammonium to nitrite) and backward-going (from nitrate to nitrite)), key controlling strategies, and physiological and ecological characteristics of functional microorganisms involved in nitrite supply. First, we comprehensively assessed the mainstream nitrite-oxidizing bacteria control methods, outlining that these technologies are transitioning to technologies possessing multiple selective pressures (such as intermittent aeration and membrane-aerated biological reactor), integrating side stream treatment (such as free ammonia/free nitrous acid suppression in recirculated sludge treatment), and maintaining high activity of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and anammox bacteria for competing oxygen and nitrite with nitrite-oxidizing bacteria. We then highlight emerging strategies of nitrite supply, including the nitrite production driven by novel ammonia-oxidizing microbes (ammonia-oxidizing archaea and complete ammonia oxidation bacteria) and nitrate reduction pathways (partial denitrification and nitrate-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation). The resources requirement of different mainstream nitrite supply pathways is analyzed, and a hybrid nitrite supply pathway by combining partial nitrification and nitrate reduction is encouraged. Moreover, data-driven modeling of a mainstream nitrite supply process as well as proactive microbiome management is proposed in the hope of achieving mainstream nitrite supply in practical application. Finally, the existing challenges and further perspectives are highlighted, i.e., investigation of nitrite-supplying bacteria, the scaling-up of hybrid nitrite supply technologies from laboratory to practical implementation under real conditions, and the data-driven management for the stable performance of mainstream nitrite supply. The fundamental insights in this review aim to inspire and advance our understanding about how to provide nitrite robustly for mainstream anammox and shed light on important obstacles warranting further settlement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaichong Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, P. R. China
- Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, P. R. China
| | - Jia Li
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, P. R. China
- Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, P. R. China
| | - Xin Gu
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, P. R. China
- Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, P. R. China
| | - Han Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, P. R. China
- Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, P. R. China
| | - Xiang Li
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou 215009, P. R. China
| | - Yongzhen Peng
- National Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Technology, Engineering Research Center of Beijing, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, P. R. China
| | - Yayi Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, P. R. China
- Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, P. R. China
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7
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Wang W, Zhang Y, Yin TM, Zhao L, Xu XJ, Xing DF, Zhang RC, Lee DJ, Ren NQ, Chen C. Prospect of denitrifying anaerobic methane oxidation (DAMO) application on wastewater treatment and biogas recycling utilization. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 905:167142. [PMID: 37722432 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167142] [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: 06/30/2023] [Revised: 09/14/2023] [Accepted: 09/14/2023] [Indexed: 09/20/2023]
Abstract
Old-fashioned wastewater treatments for nitrogen depend on heterotrophic denitrification process. It would utilize extra organic carbon source as electron donors when the C/N of domestic wastewater was too low to ensure heterotrophic denitrification process. It would lead to non-compliance with carbon reduction targets and impose an economic burden on wastewater treatment. Denitrifying anaerobic methane oxidation (DAMO), which could utilize methane serving as electron donors to replace traditional organic carbon (methanol or sodium acetate), supplies a novel approach for wastewater treatment. As the primary component of biogas, methane is an inexpensive carbon source. With anaerobic digestion becoming increasingly popular for sludge reduction in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), efficient biogas utilization through DAMO can offer an environmentally friendly option for in-situ biogas recycling. Here, we reviewed the metabolic principle and relevant research for DAMO and biogas recycling utilization, outlining the prospect of employing DAMO for wastewater treatment and biogas recycling utilization in WWTPs. The application of DAMO provides a new focal point for enhancing efficiency and sustainability in WWTPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province 150090, China
| | - Yu Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province 150090, China
| | - Tian-Ming Yin
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province 150090, China
| | - Lei Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province 150090, China
| | - Xi-Jun Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province 150090, China
| | - De-Feng Xing
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province 150090, China
| | - Ruo-Chen Zhang
- School of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300401, China
| | - Duu-Jong Lee
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Nan-Qi Ren
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province 150090, China; Shenzhen Graduate School, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Chuan Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province 150090, China.
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8
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Lu Y, Liu T, Niu C, Duan H, Zheng M, Hu S, Yuan Z, Wang H, Guo J. Challenges of suppressing nitrite-oxidizing bacteria in membrane aerated biofilm reactors by low dissolved oxygen control. WATER RESEARCH 2023; 247:120754. [PMID: 37897992 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.120754] [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: 06/06/2023] [Revised: 10/15/2023] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 10/30/2023]
Abstract
Membrane aerated biofilm reactor (MABR) and shortcut nitrogen removal are two types of solutions to reduce energy consumption in wastewater treatment, with the former improving the aeration efficiency and the latter reducing the oxygen demand. However, integrating these two solutions, i.e., achieving shortcut nitrogen removal in MABR, is challenging due to the difficulty in suppressing nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB). In this study, four MABRs were established to demonstrate the feasibility of initiating, maintaining, and restoring NOB suppression using low dissolved oxygen (DO) control, in the presence and absence of anammox bacteria, respectively. Long-term results revealed that the strict low DO (< 0.1 mg/L) in MABR could initiate and maintain stable NOB suppression for more than five months with nitrite accumulation ratio above 90 %, but it was unable to re-suppress NOB once they prevailed. Moreover, the presence of anammox bacteria increased the threshold of DO level to maintain NOB suppression in MABRs, but it was still incapable to restore the deteriorated NOB suppression in conjunction with low DO control. Mathematical modelling confirmed the experimental results and further explored the differences of NOB suppression in conventional biofilms and MABR biofilms. Simulation results showed that it is more challenging to maintain stable NOB suppression in MABRs compared to conventional biofilms, regardless of biofilm thickness or influent nitrogen concentration. Kinetic mechanisms for NOB suppression in different types of biofilms were proposed, suggesting that it is difficult to wash out NOB developed in the innermost layer of MABR biofilms because of the high oxygen level and low sludge wasting rate. In summary, this study systematically demonstrated the challenges of NOB suppression in MABRs through both experiments and mathematical modelling. These findings provide valuable insights into the applications of MABRs and call for more studies in developing effective strategies to achieve stable shortcut nitrogen removal in this energy-efficient configuration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Lu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, Formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Tao Liu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, Formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
| | - Chenkai Niu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, Formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Haoran Duan
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, Formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Min Zheng
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, Formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Shihu Hu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, Formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Zhiguo Yuan
- School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Hui Wang
- SINOPEC Research Institute of Petroleum Processing Co., Ltd, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, Formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
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9
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Zhao T, Zhou J, Zhang D, Wang Y, Zhou S, Chen J, Hu G. Self-supported P-doped NiFe 2O 4 micro-sheet arrays for the efficient conversion of nitrite to ammonia. J Colloid Interface Sci 2023; 650:143-150. [PMID: 37399750 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.06.194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2023] [Revised: 06/15/2023] [Accepted: 06/27/2023] [Indexed: 07/05/2023]
Abstract
The nitrite reduction reaction (NO2-RR) is an important process for eliminating toxic nitrites from water while simultaneously producing high-value ammonia under ambient conditions. For the aim to improve the NO2-RR efficiency, we designed a new synthetic strategy to prepare a phosphorus-doped three-dimensional NiFe2O4 catalyst loaded onto a nickel foam in-situ and evaluated its performance for the reduction of NO2- to NH3. The catalyst achieved a high Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 95.39%, and an ammonia (NH3) yield rate of 34788.51 µg h-1 cm-2 at - 0.45 V vs. RHE. A high NH3 yield rate and FE were maintained after 16 cycles at - 0.35 V vs. RHE in an alkaline electrolyte. This study provides a new direction for the rational design of highly stable electrocatalysts for the conversion of NO2- to NH3.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiantian Zhao
- Institute for Ecological Research and Pollution Control of Plateau Lakes, School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming 650504, China
| | - Jun Zhou
- Institute for Ecological Research and Pollution Control of Plateau Lakes, School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming 650504, China
| | - Dafeng Zhang
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng 252000, China
| | - Yin Wang
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Low Dimensional Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Hubei University of Arts and Science, Xiangyang 441053, China
| | - Shuxing Zhou
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Low Dimensional Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Hubei University of Arts and Science, Xiangyang 441053, China.
| | - Jianbing Chen
- Research Academy of Non-metallic Mining Industry Development, Materials and Environmental Engineering College, Chizhou University, Chizhou 247000, China
| | - Guangzhi Hu
- Institute for Ecological Research and Pollution Control of Plateau Lakes, School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming 650504, China.
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10
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Hu Z, Liu T, Su Z, Zhao J, Guo J, Hu S, Yuan Z, Zheng M. Adaptation of anammox process for nitrogen removal from acidic nitritation effluent in a low pH moving bed biofilm reactor. WATER RESEARCH 2023; 243:120370. [PMID: 37482002 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.120370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2023] [Revised: 06/19/2023] [Accepted: 07/15/2023] [Indexed: 07/25/2023]
Abstract
Acidic partial nitritation (PN) has emerged to be a promisingly stable process in wastewater treatment, which can simultaneously achieve nitrite accumulation and about half of ammonium reduction. However, directly applying anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) process to treat the acidic PN effluent (pH 4-5) is susceptible to the inhibition of anammox bacteria. Here, this study demonstrated the adaptation of anammox process to acidic pH in a moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR). By feeding the laboratory-scale MBBR with acidic PN effluent (pH = 4.6 ± 0.2), the pH of an anammox reactor was self-sustained in the range of pH 5 - 6. Yet, a high total nitrogen removal efficiency of over 80% at a practical loading rate of up to 149.7 ± 3.9 mg N/L/d was achieved. Comprehensive microbial assessment, including amplicon sequencing, metagenomics, cryosection-FISH, and qPCR, identified that Candidatus Brocadia, close to known neutrophilic members, was the dominant anammox bacteria. Anammox bacteria were found present in the inner layer of thick biofilms but barely present in the surface layer of thick biofilms and in thin biofilms. Results from batch tests also showed that the activity of anammox biofilms could be maintained when subjected to pH 5 at a nitrite concentration of 10 mg N/L, whereas the activity was completely inhibited after disturbing the biofilm structure. These results collectively indicate that the anammox bacteria enriched in the present acidic MBBR could not be inherently acid-tolerant. Instead, the achieved stable anammox performance under the acidic condition is likely due to biofilm stratification and protection. This result highlights the biofilm configuration as a useful solution to address nitrogen removal from acidic PN effluent, and also suggests that biofilm may play a critical role in protecting anammox bacteria found in many acidic nature environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhetai Hu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Tao Liu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Zicheng Su
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Jing Zhao
- Ecological Engineering of Mine Wastes, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Shihu Hu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Zhiguo Yuan
- School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong China.
| | - Min Zheng
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
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11
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Frank J, Zhang X, Marcellin E, Yuan Z, Hu S. Salinity effect on an anaerobic methane- and ammonium-oxidising consortium: Shifts in activity, morphology, osmoregulation and syntrophic relationship. WATER RESEARCH 2023; 242:120090. [PMID: 37331229 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.120090] [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: 03/02/2023] [Revised: 05/04/2023] [Accepted: 05/16/2023] [Indexed: 06/20/2023]
Abstract
Nitrate-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation (AOM) is a microbial process of both ecological significance for global methane mitigation and application potential for wastewater treatment. It is mediated by organisms belonging to the archaeal family 'Candidatus Methanoperedenaceae', which have so far mainly been found in freshwater environments. Their potential distribution in saline environments and their physiological responses to salinity variation were still poorly understood. In this study, the responses of the freshwater 'Candidatus Methanoperedens nitroreducens'-dominated consortium to different salinities were investigated using short- and long-term setups. Short-term exposure to salt stress significantly affected nitrate reduction and methane oxidation activities over the tested concentration range of 15-200‰ NaCl, and 'Ca. M. nitroreducens' showed the higher tolerance to high salinity stress than its partner of anammox bacteria. At high salinity concentration, near marine conditions of 37‰, the target organism 'Ca. M. nitroreducens' showed stabilized nitrate reduction activity of 208.5 µmol day-1 gCDW-1 in long-term bioreactors over 300 days, in comparison to 362.9 and 334.3 µmol day-1 gCDW-1 under low-salinity conditions (1.7‰ NaCl) and control conditions (∼15‰ NaCl). Different partners of 'Ca. M. nitroreducens' evolved in the consortia with three different salinity conditions, suggesting the different syntrophic mechanisms shaped by changes in salinity. A new syntrophic relationship between 'Ca. M. nitroreducens' and Fimicutes and/or Chloroflexi denitrifying populations was identified under the marine salinity condition. Metaproteomic analysis shows that the salinity changes lead to higher expression of response regulators and selective ion (Na+/H+) channeling proteins that can regulate the osmotic pressure between the cell and its environment. The reverse methanogenesis pathway was, however, not impacted. The finding of this study has important implications for the ecological distribution of the nitrate-dependent AOM process in marine environments and the potential of this biotechnological process for the treatment of high-salinity industrial wastewater.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua Frank
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB), Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Xueqin Zhang
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB), Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia.
| | - Esteban Marcellin
- Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Zhiguo Yuan
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB), Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Shihu Hu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB), Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia.
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12
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Nie WB, Xie GJ, Tan X, Ding J, Lu Y, Chen Y, Yang C, He Q, Liu BF, Xing D, Ren N. Microbial Niche Differentiation during Nitrite-Dependent Anaerobic Methane Oxidation. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2023; 57:7029-7040. [PMID: 37041123 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c08094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Nitrite-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation (n-DAMO) has been demonstrated to play important roles in the global methane and nitrogen cycle. However, despite diverse n-DAMO bacteria widely detected in environments, little is known about their physiology for microbial niche differentiation. Here, we show the microbial niche differentiation of n-DAMO bacteria through long-term reactor operations combining genome-centered omics and kinetic analysis. With the same inoculum dominated by both species "Candidatus Methylomirabilis oxyfera" and "Candidatus Methylomirabilis sinica", n-DAMO bacterial population was shifted to "Ca. M. oxyfera" in a reactor fed with low-strength nitrite, but shifted to "Ca. M. sinica" with high-strength nitrite. Metatranscriptomic analysis showed that "Ca. M. oxyfera" harbored more complete function in cell chemotaxis, flagellar assembly, and two-component system for better uptake of nitrite, while "Ca. M. sinica" had a more active ion transport and stress response system, and more redundant function in nitrite reduction to mitigate nitrite inhibition. Importantly, the half-saturation constant of nitrite (0.057 mM vs 0.334 mM NO2-) and inhibition thresholds (0.932 mM vs 2.450 mM NO2-) for "Ca. M. oxyfera" vs "Ca. M. sinica", respectively, were highly consistent with genomic results. Integrating these findings demonstrated biochemical characteristics, especially the kinetics of nitrite affinity and inhibition determine niche differentiation of n-DAMO bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wen-Bo Nie
- College of Environment and Ecology, Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region's Eco-Environment, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China
| | - Guo-Jun Xie
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, No. 73, Huanghe Road, Nangang District, Harbin 150090, China
| | - Xin Tan
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, No. 73, Huanghe Road, Nangang District, Harbin 150090, China
| | - Jie Ding
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, No. 73, Huanghe Road, Nangang District, Harbin 150090, China
| | - Yang Lu
- The Australian Centre for Ecogenomics, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Yi Chen
- College of Environment and Ecology, Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region's Eco-Environment, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China
| | - Chun Yang
- College of Environment and Ecology, Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region's Eco-Environment, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China
| | - Qiang He
- College of Environment and Ecology, Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region's Eco-Environment, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China
| | - Bing-Feng Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, No. 73, Huanghe Road, Nangang District, Harbin 150090, China
| | - Defeng Xing
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, No. 73, Huanghe Road, Nangang District, Harbin 150090, China
| | - Nanqi Ren
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, No. 73, Huanghe Road, Nangang District, Harbin 150090, China
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13
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Li J, Liu T, McIlroy SJ, Tyson GW, Guo J. Phylogenetic and metabolic diversity of microbial communities performing anaerobic ammonium and methane oxidations under different nitrogen loadings. ISME COMMUNICATIONS 2023; 3:39. [PMID: 37185621 PMCID: PMC10130057 DOI: 10.1038/s43705-023-00246-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2023] [Revised: 04/05/2023] [Accepted: 04/14/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
The microbial guild coupling anammox and nitrite/nitrate-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation (n-DAMO) is an innovative process to achieve energy-efficient nitrogen removal with the beneficial use of methane in biogas or in anaerobically treated wastewater. Here, metagenomics and metatranscriptomics were used to reveal the microbial ecology of two biofilm systems, which incorporate anammox and n-DAMO for high-level nitrogen removal in low-strength domestic sewage and high-strength sidestream wastewater, respectively. We find that different nitrogen loadings (i.e., 0.1 vs. 1.0 kg N/m3/d) lead to different combinations of anammox bacteria and anaerobic methanotrophs ("Candidatus Methanoperedens" and "Candidatus Methylomirabilis"), which play primary roles for carbon and nitrogen transformations therein. Despite methane being the only exogenous organic carbon supplied, heterotrophic populations (e.g., Verrucomicrobiota and Bacteroidota) co-exist and actively perform partial denitrification or dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA), likely using organic intermediates from the breakdown of methane and biomass as carbon sources. More importantly, two novel genomes belonging to "Ca. Methylomirabilis" are recovered, while one surprisingly expresses nitrate reductases, which we designate as "Ca. Methylomirabilis nitratireducens" representing its inferred capability in performing nitrate-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation. This finding not only suggests a previously neglected possibility of "Ca. Methylomirabilis" bacteria in performing methane-dependent nitrate reduction, and also challenges the previous understanding that the methane-dependent complete denitrification from nitrate to dinitrogen gas is carried out by the consortium of bacteria and archaea.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie Li
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - Tao Liu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia.
| | - Simon J McIlroy
- Centre for Microbiome Research, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Translational Research Institute, Woolloongabba, QLD, Australia
| | - Gene W Tyson
- Centre for Microbiome Research, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Translational Research Institute, Woolloongabba, QLD, Australia
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia.
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14
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Al-Hazmi HE, Lu X, Grubba D, Majtacz J, Badawi M, Mąkinia J. Sustainable nitrogen removal in anammox-mediated systems: Microbial metabolic pathways, operational conditions and mathematical modelling. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 868:161633. [PMID: 36669661 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161633] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2022] [Revised: 01/11/2023] [Accepted: 01/12/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Anammox-mediated systems have attracted considerable attention as alternative cost-effective technologies for sustainable nitrogen (N) removal from wastewater. This review comprehensively highlights the importance of understanding microbial metabolism in anammox-mediated systems under crucial operation parameters, indicating the potentially wide applications for the sustainable treatment of N-containing wastewater. The partial nitrification-anammox (PN-A), simultaneous PN-A and denitrification (SNAD) processes have demonstrated sustainable N removal from sidestream wastewater. The partial denitrification-anammox (PD-A) and denitrifying anaerobic methane oxidation-anammox (DAMO-A) processes have advanced sustainable N removal efficiency in mainstream wastewater treatment. Moreover, N2O production/emission hotspots are extensively discussed in anammox-based processes and are related to the dominant ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and denitrifying heterotrophs. In contrast, N2O is not produced in the metabolism pathways of AnAOB and DAMO-archaea; Moreover, the actual contribution of N2O production by dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) and DAMO-bacteria in their species remains uncertain. Thus, PD-A and DAMO-A processes would achieve reduction in greenhouse gas production, as well as energy consumption for the reliability of N removal efficiencies. In addition to reaction mechanisms, this review covers the mathematical models for simultaneous anammox, partial nitrification and/or denitrification (i.e., PN-A, PD-A, and SNAD). Promising NO3- reduction technologies by endogenous PD, sulfur-driven autotrophic denitrification, and DNRA by anammox are also discussed. In summary, this review provides a better understanding of sustainable N removal in anammox-mediated systems, thereby encouraging future investigation and exploration of the sustainable N bio-treatment from wastewater.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hussein E Al-Hazmi
- Department of Sanitary Engineering, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Gdańsk University of Technology, ul. Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233 Gdańsk, Poland.
| | - Xi Lu
- Three Gorges Smart Water Technology Co., Ltd., 65 LinXin Road, ChangNing District, 200335 Shanghai, China
| | - Dominika Grubba
- Department of Sanitary Engineering, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Gdańsk University of Technology, ul. Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233 Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Joanna Majtacz
- Department of Sanitary Engineering, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Gdańsk University of Technology, ul. Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233 Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Michael Badawi
- Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie Théoriques UMR CNRS 7019, Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France
| | - Jacek Mąkinia
- Department of Sanitary Engineering, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Gdańsk University of Technology, ul. Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233 Gdańsk, Poland
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15
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Chen X, Chen X, Zeng RJ, Nie WB, Yang L, Wei W, Ni BJ. Instrumental role of bioreactors in nitrate/nitrite-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation-based biotechnologies for wastewater treatment: A review. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 857:159728. [PMID: 36302422 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159728] [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: 10/13/2022] [Revised: 10/21/2022] [Accepted: 10/21/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Recently, the nitrate/nitrite-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation (n-DAMO) processes have become a research hotspot in the field of wastewater treatment. The n-DAMO processes could not only mitigate direct and indirect carbon emissions from wastewater treatment plants but also strengthen biological nitrogen removal. However, the applications of n-DAMO-based biotechnologies face practical difficulties mainly caused by the distinctive properties of n-DAMO microorganisms and the limited/availability of methane with poor solubility. In this sense, the choice of bioreactors will play important roles that influence the growth and functioning of n-DAMO microorganisms, thus enabling dedicated development of the n-DAMO processes and efficient applications of n-DAMO-based biotechnologies. Therefore, this paper aims to discuss the three commonly-applied types of bioreactors, covering the individual working principle and state-of-the-art removal performance of nitrogen as well as dissolved methane observed when adopted for n-DAMO-based biotechnologies. With noted limitations for each bioreactor type, several key perspectives were proposed which hopefully would inspire future investigation and practical applications of the n-DAMO processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinyan Chen
- Fujian Provincial Engineering Research Center of Rural Waste Recycling Technology, College of Environment and Safety Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350116, China
| | - Xueming Chen
- Fujian Provincial Engineering Research Center of Rural Waste Recycling Technology, College of Environment and Safety Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350116, China.
| | - Raymond Jianxiong Zeng
- Center of Wastewater Resource Recovery, College of Resources and Environment, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
| | - Wen-Bo Nie
- Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region's Eco-Environment, Ministry of Education, College of Environment and Ecology, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China
| | - Linyan Yang
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
| | - Wei Wei
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Bing-Jie Ni
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
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16
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Guo X, Lai CY, Hartmann EM, Zhao HP. Heterotrophic denitrification: An overlooked factor that contributes to nitrogen removal in n-DAMO mixed culture. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2023; 216:114802. [PMID: 36375502 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.114802] [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: 10/10/2022] [Revised: 11/05/2022] [Accepted: 11/10/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Nitrate/nitrite-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation (n-DAMO) has been recognized as a sustainable process for simultaneous removal of nitrogen and methane. The metabolisms of denitrifying anaerobic methanotrophs, including Candidatus Methanoperedens and Candidatus Methylomirabilis, have been well studied. However, potential roles of heterotrophs co-existing with these anaerobic methanotrophs are generally overlooked. In this study, we pulse-fed methane and nitrate into an anaerobic laboratory sequencing batch bioreactor and enriched a mixed culture with stable nitrate removal rate (NRR) of ∼28 mg NO3--N L-1 d-1. Microbial community analysis indicates abundant heterotrophs, e.g., Arenimonas (5.3%-18.9%) and Fimbriimonadales ATM1 (6.4%), were enriched together with denitrifying anaerobic methanotrophs Ca. Methanoperedens (10.8%-13.2%) and Ca. Methylomirabilis (27.4%-34.3%). The results of metagenomics and batch tests suggested that the denitrifying anaerobic methanotrophs were capable of generating methane-derived intermediates (i.e., formate and acetate), which were employed by non-methanotrophic heterotrophs for denitrification and biomass growth. These findings offer new insights into the roles of heterotrophs in n-DAMO mixed culture, which may help to optimize n-DAMO process for nitrogen removal from wastewater.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xu Guo
- MOE Key Lab of Environmental Remediation and Ecosystem Health, College of Environmental and Resource Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Chun-Yu Lai
- MOE Key Lab of Environmental Remediation and Ecosystem Health, College of Environmental and Resource Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Erica M Hartmann
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, IL, 60208, USA
| | - He-Ping Zhao
- MOE Key Lab of Environmental Remediation and Ecosystem Health, College of Environmental and Resource Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
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17
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Zhang Q, Xu X, Zhang R, Shao B, Fan K, Zhao L, Ji X, Ren N, Lee DJ, Chen C. The mixed/mixotrophic nitrogen removal for the effective and sustainable treatment of wastewater: From treatment process to microbial mechanism. WATER RESEARCH 2022; 226:119269. [PMID: 36279615 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.119269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2022] [Revised: 08/25/2022] [Accepted: 10/16/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Biological nitrogen removal (BNR) is one of the most important environmental concerns in the field of wastewater treatment. The conventional BNR process based on heterotrophic nitrogen removal (HeNR) is suffering from several limitations, including external carbon source dependence, excessive sludge production, and greenhouse gas emissions. Through the mediation of autotrophic nitrogen removal (AuNR), mixed/mixotrophic nitrogen removal (MixNR) offers a viable solution to the optimization of the BNR process. Here, the recent advance and characteristics of MixNR process guided by sulfur-driven autotrophic denitrification (SDAD) and anammox are summarized in this review. Additionally, we discuss the functional microorganisms in different MixNR systems, shedding light on metabolic mechanisms and microbial interactions. The significance of MixNR for carbon reduction in the BNR process has also been noted. The knowledge gaps and the future research directions that may facilitate the practical application of the MixNR process are highlighted. Overall, the prospect of the MixNR process is attractive, and this review will provide guidance for the future implementation of MixNR process as well as deciphering the microbially metabolic mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Quan Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Room 1433, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150090, China
| | - Xijun Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Room 1433, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150090, China
| | - Ruochen Zhang
- School of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300401, China
| | - Bo Shao
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Room 1433, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150090, China
| | - Kaili Fan
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Room 1433, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150090, China
| | - Lei Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Room 1433, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150090, China
| | - Xiaoming Ji
- College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
| | - Nanqi Ren
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Room 1433, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150090, China
| | - Duu-Jong Lee
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China; Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Yuan Ze University, Chung-li, 32003, Taiwan
| | - Chuan Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Room 1433, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150090, China.
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18
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Alrashed W, Chandra R, Abbott T, Lee HS. Nitrite reduction using a membrane biofilm reactor (MBfR) in a hypoxic environment with dilute methane under low pressures. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 841:156757. [PMID: 35718173 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2022] [Revised: 06/06/2022] [Accepted: 06/13/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Methane-based membrane biofilm reactors (MBfRs) can be an effective solution for nitrogen control in wastewater, but there is limited information on nitrite reduction for dilute wastewater (e.g., municipal wastewater) in hypoxic MBfRs. This study assessed the impacts of dilute (20 %), low-pressure methane (0.35-2.41 kPa) applied to MBfRs at hydraulic retention times (HRTs) of 2-12 h on nitrite removals, dissolved methane concentrations, and the resulting changes in the microbial community. High nitrite flux along with rapid and virtually complete (>99 %) nitrite removals were observed at methane pressures of 1.03-2.41 kPa at HRTs above 4 h, despite the use of diluted methane gas for the MBfR. The lowest methane pressure (0.35 kPa) was also able to achieve up to 98 % nitrite removals but required HRTs of up to 12 h. All scenarios had low dissolved methane concentrations (<10 mg/L), indicating that dilute methane at low supply pressures can effectively remove nitrite while meeting dissolved methane guidelines in treated effluent. Methylococcus genus was the key bacterium in MBfR biofilm grown at different HRTs and methane pressures, along with Methylocystis and other heterotrophic denitrifiers (Terrimonas and Hyphomicrobium). This study indicates that methane-based denitrification MBfRs can be a valuable tool to meet nitrogen limits for dilute wastewater coupled to partial nitrification, while limiting the release of methane to the environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wael Alrashed
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Rashmi Chandra
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Timothy Abbott
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Hyung-Sool Lee
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada; KENTECH Institute for Environmental and Climate Technology, Korea Institute of Energy Technology, 200 Hyeoksin-ro, Naju, Jeonnam 58330, Republic of Korea.
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19
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Effects of Caffeine and COD from Coffee Wastewater on Anaerobic Ammonium Oxidation (Anammox) Activities. WATER 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/w14142238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
An anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) process was employed to remove nitrogen from wastewater generated from a coffee brewing facility. The effects of caffeine and chemical oxygen demand (COD) in coffee wastewater on anammox activity were investigated. The anammox activity was inhibited in synthetic wastewater with a caffeine concentration greater than 350 mg/L. Daily additions of caffeine at 2.5 mg/L for 28 days to the same substrate did not inhibit anammox activity. However, daily additions of coffee wastewater with COD of ≥387 mg/L and caffeine at 2.5 mg/L significantly inhibited anammox activity. Because the pH was increased in the system, resulting in an increase in free ammonia (FA) concentration, one could postulate that FA is an inhibitor of anammox activity. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysis was employed to determine the populations of anammox and denitrifying bacteria. Coffee wastewater with bacterial COD to total nitrogen (bCOD:TN) ratios of 0.3–0.6:1 did not have any effect on the abundances of anammox and denitrifying bacteria. The results from this work suggest that biodegradable COD (bCOD) rather than total COD (TCOD) should be used for calculating the COD:TN ratio during the study of the effects of nitrogen removal from real wastewaters using the anammox process. A not-competitive model could fit the anammox inhibition with caffeine concentrations at 50–500 mg/L with maximum specific anammox activity (SAAmax) of 0.594 mg-N/mg-volatile suspended solids (VSS)/d and inhibitory constant (Ki) of 480.97 mg/L.
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Wang B, Qiao X, Hou F, Liu T, Pang H, Guo Y, Guo J, Peng Y. Pilot-scale demonstration of a novel process integrating Partial Nitritation with simultaneous Anammox, Denitrification and Sludge Fermentation (PN + ADSF) for nitrogen removal and sludge reduction. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 815:152835. [PMID: 34998749 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152835] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2021] [Revised: 12/18/2021] [Accepted: 12/28/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Anammox process is a cost-effective solution for nitrogen removal, whereas unsatisfactory effluent with nitrate accumulation is usually achieved in treating domestic sewage, owning to the unwanted prevalence of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) and the intrinsic nitrate production by anammox bacteria. Herein, a pilot-scale system integrating Partial Nitritation and simultaneous Anammox, Denitrification and Sludge Fermentation (PN + ADSF) process was developed to treat real municipal wastewater. In this process, PN was accomplished in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) using the strategy of intermittent hydroxylamine addition, while ADSF coupling anammox and heterotrophic denitrification was conducted in an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor (UASB) to further remove nitrogen. The pilot-scale system achieved total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) concentrations of 10.0 mg N/L in effluent and sludge reduction efficiency of 42.3% simultaneously. The characterization on microbial communities revealed that Candidatus Kuenenia and Thauera were the dominant functional bacteria for anammox and denitrification, respectively. Supported by the slow-release carbon sources from sludge fermentation, heterotrophic denitrification contributed to about 28% of nitrogen removed from the UASB, while anammox played a more important role in nitrogen removal. The pilot-scale demonstration confirmed that the PN + ADSF process is technically feasible for enhanced nitrogen removal and sludge reduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo Wang
- National Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Technology, Engineering Research Center of Beijing, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, China
| | - Xin Qiao
- National Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Technology, Engineering Research Center of Beijing, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, China
| | - Feng Hou
- SDIC Xinkai Water Environment Investment Co., Ltd, China Water Environment Group Ltd, Beijing, China
| | - Tao Liu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Hongtao Pang
- SDIC Xinkai Water Environment Investment Co., Ltd, China Water Environment Group Ltd, Beijing, China
| | - Yuanyuan Guo
- SDIC Xinkai Water Environment Investment Co., Ltd, China Water Environment Group Ltd, Beijing, China
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Yongzhen Peng
- National Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Technology, Engineering Research Center of Beijing, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, China.
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21
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Recent Advances in Autotrophic Biological Nitrogen Removal for Low Carbon Wastewater: A Review. WATER 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/w14071101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Due to carbon source dependence, conventional biological nitrogen removal (BNR) processes based on heterotrophic denitrification are suffering from great bottlenecks. The autotrophic BNR process represented by sulfur-driven autotrophic denitrification (SDAD) and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) provides a viable alternative for addressing low carbon wastewater. Whether for low carbon municipal wastewater or industrial wastewater with high nitrogen, the SDAD and anammox process can be suitably positioned accordingly. Herein, the recent advances and challenges to autotrophic BNR process guided by SDAD and anammox are systematically reviewed. Specifically, the present applications and crucial operation factors were discussed in detail. Besides, the microscopic interpretation of the process was deepened in the viewpoint of functional microbial species and their physiological characteristics. Furthermore, the current limitations and some future research priorities over the applications were identified and discussed from multiple perspectives. The obtained knowledge would provide insights into the application and optimization of the autotrophic BNR process, which will contribute to the establishment of a new generation of efficient and energy-saving wastewater nitrogen removal systems.
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Wang Y, Lai CY, Wu M, Lu X, Hu S, Yuan Z, Guo J. Copper stimulation on methane-supported perchlorate reduction in a membrane biofilm reactor. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2022; 425:127917. [PMID: 34915291 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127917] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2021] [Revised: 11/05/2021] [Accepted: 11/24/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
The present study demonstrated that the perchlorate reduction rate in a methane-based membrane biofilm reactor was significantly enhanced from 14.4 to 25.6 mg-Cl/L/d by increasing copper concentration in the feeding medium from 1 to 10 μM, indicating a stimulatory effect of copper on the methane-supported perchlorate reduction process. Batch tests further confirmed that the increased copper concentration enhanced both methane oxidation and perchlorate reduction rates, which was supported by an increasing trend of functional genes (pmoA for methanotrophs and pcrA for specific perchlorate reducers) abundances through quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Both 16S rRNA gene sequencing and functional genes (pmoA and pcrA) sequencing jointly revealed that the biofilm supplied with a higher copper concentration exhibited a more diverse microbial community. The methane-supported perchlorate reduction was accomplished through a synergistic association of methanotrophs (Methylocystis, Methylomonas, and Methylocystaceae) and perchlorate reducers (Dechloromonas, Azospira, Magnetospirillum, and Denitratisoma). Acetate may function as the key syntrophic linkage between methanotrophs and perchlorate reducers. It was proposed that the increased copper concentration improved the activity of particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO) for methane oxidation or promoted the biosynthesis of intracellular carbon storage compounds polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) in methanotrophs for generating more acetate available for perchlorate reduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yulu Wang
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Chun-Yu Lai
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Mengxiong Wu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Xuanyu Lu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Shihu Hu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Zhiguo Yuan
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia.
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Chai F, Li L, Xue S, Xie F, Liu J. Electrochemical system for anaerobic oxidation of methane by DAMO microbes with nitrite as an electron acceptor. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 799:149334. [PMID: 34364269 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149334] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2021] [Revised: 07/10/2021] [Accepted: 07/25/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Denitrifying anaerobic methane oxidation (DAMO) is an important microbial metabolic process that simultaneously converts of methane and nitrite. In this study, electrochemical systems were investigated for DAMO with nitrite as an electron acceptor. The results showed that the auxiliary voltage enhanced anaerobic methane oxidation and nitrite reduction. The greatest methane conversion (26.61 mg L-1 d-1) was obtained at an auxiliary voltage of 1.6 V (EMN-1.6). Isotope tracing indicated that carbon dioxide was the oxidation product of methane, and methanol was the intermediate. The power density reached 0.60 (for EMN-0.5, the bioreactor with a voltage of 0.5 V) and 3.77 mW m-2 (for EMN-1.6). DAMO microbes, Methylocystis sp., and Methylomonas sp. were identified as methanotrophs. Rhodococcus sp., Hyphomicrobium sp., and Thiobacillus sp. were the dominant denitrifying bacteria. The conversion pathway was speculated to be as follows: methane was oxidized to carbon dioxide and nitrite was reduced to nitrogen. The two processes were independently completed by DAMO bacteria and oxygen was simultaneously generated. For the electron transfer pathway, methanotrophs utilized the oxygen released by DAMO bacteria to convert methane into organic matter (e.g. methanol). These organic compounds were utilized by Pseudoxanthomonas sp. and Pseudomonas sp., and the generated electrons were then released to the outside of the cells and transferred to the anode. Denitrifying bacteria received electrons at the cathode, transferred them to the interior of the cell, and then converted nitrite into nitrogen. This research explored an effective consortium and a method for methane and nitrogen removal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fengguang Chai
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 18 Shuangqing Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100085, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19(A) Yuquan Road, Shijingshan District, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Lin Li
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 18 Shuangqing Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100085, China; National Engineering Laboratory for VOCs Pollution Control Material & Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 101408, China.
| | - Song Xue
- Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control State Key Joint Laboratory, State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Microorganism Application and Risk Control (SMARC), School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Fei Xie
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19(A) Yuquan Road, Shijingshan District, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Junxin Liu
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19(A) Yuquan Road, Shijingshan District, Beijing 100049, China
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Chan-Pacheco CR, Valenzuela EI, Cervantes FJ, Quijano G. Novel biotechnologies for nitrogen removal and their coupling with gas emissions abatement in wastewater treatment facilities. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 797:149228. [PMID: 34346385 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2021] [Revised: 07/16/2021] [Accepted: 07/20/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Wastewaters contaminated with nitrogenous pollutants, derived from anthropogenic activities, have exacerbated our ecosystems sparking environmental problems, such as eutrophication and acidification of water reservoirs, emission of greenhouse gases, death of aquatic organisms, among others. Wastewater treatment facilities (WWTF) combining nitrification and denitrification, and lately partial nitrification coupled to anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox), have traditionally been applied for the removal of nitrogen from wastewaters. The present work provides a comprehensive review of the recent biotechnologies developed in which nitrogen-removing processes are relevant for the treatment of both wastewaters and gas emissions. These novel processes include the anammox process with alternative electron acceptors, such as sulfate (sulfammox), ferric iron (feammox), and anodes in microbial electrolysis cells (anodic anammox). New technologies that couple nitrate/nitrite reduction with the oxidation of methane, H2S, volatile methyl siloxanes, and other volatile organic compounds are also described. The potential of these processes for (i) minimizing greenhouse gas emissions from WWTF, (ii) biogas purification, and (iii) air pollution control is critically discussed considering the factors that might trigger N2O release during nitrate/nitrite reduction. Moreover, this review provides a discussion on the main challenges to tackle towards the consolidation of these novel biotechnologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos R Chan-Pacheco
- Laboratory for Research on Advanced Processes for Water Treatment, Engineering Institute, Campus Juriquilla, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Blvd. Juriquilla 3001, 76230 Querétaro, Mexico
| | - Edgardo I Valenzuela
- Laboratory for Research on Advanced Processes for Water Treatment, Engineering Institute, Campus Juriquilla, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Blvd. Juriquilla 3001, 76230 Querétaro, Mexico
| | - Francisco J Cervantes
- Laboratory for Research on Advanced Processes for Water Treatment, Engineering Institute, Campus Juriquilla, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Blvd. Juriquilla 3001, 76230 Querétaro, Mexico.
| | - Guillermo Quijano
- Laboratory for Research on Advanced Processes for Water Treatment, Engineering Institute, Campus Juriquilla, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Blvd. Juriquilla 3001, 76230 Querétaro, Mexico.
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Xu PP, Meng J, Li X, Li J, Sun K, Liu BF, Zheng M. Insights into complete nitrate removal in one-stage nitritation-anammox by coupling heterotrophic denitrification. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2021; 298:113431. [PMID: 34352480 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2021] [Revised: 07/20/2021] [Accepted: 07/27/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Nitritation-anammox has been considered to be the most promising process for nitrogen (N) removal from wastewater. However, the anammox reaction still produces an amount of nitrate, which cannot be removed further. This study hypothesizes that heterotrophic denitrification can be an appealing option to remove the residual nitrate in the one-stage nitritation-anammox process. Through monitoring N-removal performance and microbial community succession of a laboratory microaerobic reactor, the effect of four different levels of oxygen supply on nitrate removal was investigated. The reactor was continuously fed with real manure-free piggery wastewater containing ~240 mg NH4+-N/L and chemical oxygen demand (COD)/total nitrogen (TN) ratio of less than 1 for 180 days. With a high influent loading rate of 0.7 kg N/(m3·d), efficient total nitrogen removal (>80 %) was achieved during stable operation of dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations between 0.3 and 0.6 mg O2/L, indicating N-removal via the nitritation-anammox pathway in the low-carbon wastewater treatment. At the same time, the effluent nitrate reduced with decreased oxygen supply and completely depleted at DO of 0.3 ± 0.1 mg O2/L. In addition to oxygen, preventing ammonia nitrogen from falling to very low levels (<10 mg/L) could be also useful for the complete nitrate removal and stable nitritation-anammox. 16S rRNA gene-based analyses confirmed a complex microbial community including nitrifiers, denitrifiers and anammox bacteria in the biomass of the reactor. Collectively, this study provides new insights into high-level N-removal of a nitritation-anammox process by complete nitrate depletion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pian-Pian Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, 73 Huanghe Road, Harbin, 150090, PR China
| | - Jia Meng
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, 73 Huanghe Road, Harbin, 150090, PR China.
| | - Xianhui Li
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, 73 Huanghe Road, Harbin, 150090, PR China
| | - Jiuling Li
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Kai Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, 73 Huanghe Road, Harbin, 150090, PR China
| | - Bing-Feng Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, 73 Huanghe Road, Harbin, 150090, PR China
| | - Min Zheng
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia
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26
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Harb R, Laçin D, Subaşı I, Erguder TH. Denitrifying anaerobic methane oxidation (DAMO) cultures: Factors affecting their enrichment, performance and integration with anammox bacteria. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2021; 295:113070. [PMID: 34153588 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2021] [Revised: 05/16/2021] [Accepted: 06/09/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The recently discovered process, denitrifying anaerobic methane oxidation (DAMO), links the carbon and nitrogen biogeochemical cycles via coupling the anaerobic oxidation of methane to denitrification. The DAMO process, in this respect, has the potential to mitigate the greenhouse effect through the assimilation of dissolved methane. Denitrification via methane oxidation rather than organic matter, provides a new perspective to performing this once thought to be well established process. The two main species responsible for this process are "Candidatus Methylomirabilis oxyfera (M. oxyfera), and "Candidatus Methanoperedens nitroreducens" (M. nitroreducens). M. oxyfera is responsible of reducing nitrite while M. nitroreducens reduces nitrate to nitrite. These two microorganisms, despite their different pathways, were found to exist together in nature through a syntrophic relationship. Their co-existence with anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Anammox) bacteria was also revealed in the last decade. Anammox bacteria are chemolithoautotrophs, converting ammonium and nitrite to N2 and nitrate. They are responsible for the release of more than 50% of oceanic N2, hence play an important role in the global nitrogen cycle. Factors leading to the enrichment of DAMO cultures and their cultivation with Anammox cultures are of significance for improved nitrogen removal systems with decreased greenhouse effect, and even for further full-scale applications. This study, therefore, aims to present an updated review of the DAMO process, by focusing on the factors that might have a significant role in enrichment of DAMO microorganisms and their co-existence with Anammox bacteria. Factors such as temperature, pH, inoculum and feed type, trace metals and reactor configuration are among the ones discussed in detail. Factors, which have not been investigated, are also elucidated to provide a better understanding of the process and set research goals that will aid in the development of DAMO-centered wastewater treatment alternatives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rayaan Harb
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Dilan Laçin
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Irmak Subaşı
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Tuba H Erguder
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey.
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Chen X, Li J, Zhang Y, Liu W. Unraveling nitrogen removal and microbial response of marine anammox bacteria-dominated consortia to Mo(VI) addition in nitrogen-laden saline wastewater treatment. Sep Purif Technol 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.seppur.2021.118771] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Costa RB, Lens PNL, Foresti E. Methanotrophic denitrification in wastewater treatment: microbial aspects and engineering strategies. Crit Rev Biotechnol 2021; 42:145-161. [PMID: 34157918 DOI: 10.1080/07388551.2021.1931014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Anaerobic technologies are consolidated for sewage treatment and are the core processes for mining marketable products from waste streams. However, anaerobic effluents are supersaturated with methane, which represents a liability regarding greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile, anaerobic technologies are not capable of nitrogen removal, which is required to ensure environmental protection. Methane oxidation and denitrification processes can be combined to address both issues concurrently. Aerobic methane oxidizers can release intermediate organic compounds that can be used by conventional denitrifiers as electron donors. Alternatively, anoxic methanotrophic species combine methane oxidation with either nitrate or nitrite reduction in the same metabolism. Engineered systems need to overcome the long doubling times and low NOx consumption rates of anoxic methanotrophic microorganisms. Another commonly reported bottleneck of methanotrophic denitrification relates to gas-liquid mass transfer limitations. Although anaerobic effluents are supersaturated with methane, experimental setups usually rely on methane supply in a gaseous mode. Hence, possibilities for the application of methane-oxidation coupled to denitrification in full scale might be overlooked. Moreover, syntrophic relationships among methane oxidizers, denitrifiers, nitrifiers, and other microorganisms (such as anammox) are not well understood. Integrating mixed populations with various metabolic abilities could allow for more robust methane-driven wastewater denitrification systems. This review presents an overview of the metabolic capabilities of methane oxidation and denitrification and discusses technological aspects that allow for the application of methanotrophic denitrification at larger scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- R B Costa
- Department of Hydraulics and Sanitation, São Carlos School of Engineering (EESC), University of São Paulo (USP), São Carlos, Brazil.,National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland
| | - P N L Lens
- National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland
| | - E Foresti
- Department of Hydraulics and Sanitation, São Carlos School of Engineering (EESC), University of São Paulo (USP), São Carlos, Brazil
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Wang Y, Lai CY, Wu M, Song Y, Hu S, Yuan Z, Guo J. Roles of Oxygen in Methane-dependent Selenate Reduction in a Membrane Biofilm Reactor: Stimulation or Suppression. WATER RESEARCH 2021; 198:117150. [PMID: 33910142 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.117150] [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: 12/14/2020] [Revised: 04/03/2021] [Accepted: 04/10/2021] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Although methane (CH4) has been proven to be able to serve as an electron donor for bio-reducing various oxidized contaminants (e.g., selenate (SeO42-)), little is known regarding the roles of oxygen in methane-based reduction processes. Here, a methane-based membrane biofilm reactor (MBfR) was established for evaluating the effects of oxygen supply rates on selenate reduction performance and microbial communities. The oxygen supply rate played a dual role (stimulatory or suppressive effect) in selenate reduction rates, depending on the presence or absence of dissolved oxygen (DO). Specifically, selenate reduction rate was substantially enhanced when an appropriate oxygen rate (e.g., 12 to 184 mg/L.d in this study) was supplied but with negligible DO. The highest selenate reduction rate (up to 34 mg-Se/L.d) was obtained under an oxygen supply rate of 184 mg/L.d. In contrast, excessive oxygen supply rate (626 mg/L.d) would significantly suppress selenate reduction rate under DO level of 3 mg/L. Accordingly, though the high oxygen supply rate (626 mg/L.d) would promote the expression of pmoA (5.9 × 109 copies g-1), the expression level of narG (a recognized gene to mediate selenate reduction) would be significantly downregulated (6.1 × 109 copies g-1), thus suppressing selenate reduction. In contrast, the expression of narG gene significantly increased to 2.8 × 1010 copies g-1, and the expression of pmoA gene could still maintain at 1.1 × 109 copies g-1 under an oxygen supply rate of 184 mg/L.d. High-throughput sequencing targeting 16S rRNA gene, pmoA, and narG collectively suggested Methylocystis acts as the major aerobic methanotroph, in synergy with Arthrobacter and Variovorax which likely jointly reduce selenate to selenite (SeO32-), and further to elemental selenium (Se0). Methylocystis was predominant in the biofilm regardless of variations of oxygen supply rates, while Arthrobacter and Variovorax were sensitive to oxygen fluctuation. These findings provide insights into the effects of oxygen on methane-dependent selenate reduction and suggest that it is feasible to achieve a higher selenate removal by regulating oxygen supply rates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yulu Wang
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Chun-Yu Lai
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Mengxiong Wu
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Yarong Song
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Shihu Hu
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Zhiguo Yuan
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia.
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30
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Shi LD, Wang Z, Liu T, Wu M, Lai CY, Rittmann BE, Guo J, Zhao HP. Making good use of methane to remove oxidized contaminants from wastewater. WATER RESEARCH 2021; 197:117082. [PMID: 33819663 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.117082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2020] [Revised: 03/13/2021] [Accepted: 03/20/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Being an energetic fuel, methane is able to support microbial growth and drive the reduction of various electron acceptors. These acceptors include a broad range of oxidized contaminants (e.g., nitrate, nitrite, perchlorate, bromate, selenate, chromate, antimonate and vanadate) that are ubiquitously detected in water environments and pose threats to human and ecological health. Using methane as electron donor to biologically reduce these contaminants into nontoxic forms is a promising solution to remediate polluted water, considering that methane is a widely available and inexpensive electron donor. The understanding of methane-based biological reduction processes and the responsible microorganisms has grown in the past decade. This review summarizes the fundamentals of metabolic pathways and microorganisms mediating microbial methane oxidation. Experimental demonstrations of methane as an electron donor to remove oxidized contaminants are summarized, compared, and evaluated. Finally, the review identifies opportunities and unsolved questions that deserve future explorations for broadening understanding of methane oxidation and promoting its practical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ling-Dong Shi
- College of Environmental and Resource Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; Zhejiang Province Key Lab Water Pollution Control & Environment, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Zhen Wang
- College of Environmental and Resource Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; Zhejiang Province Key Lab Water Pollution Control & Environment, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Tao Liu
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Mengxiong Wu
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Chun-Yu Lai
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Bruce E Rittmann
- Biodesign Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 875701, Tempe, Arizona 85287-5701, U.S.A
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia.
| | - He-Ping Zhao
- College of Environmental and Resource Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; Zhejiang Province Key Lab Water Pollution Control & Environment, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
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Guerrero-Cruz S, Vaksmaa A, Horn MA, Niemann H, Pijuan M, Ho A. Methanotrophs: Discoveries, Environmental Relevance, and a Perspective on Current and Future Applications. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:678057. [PMID: 34054786 PMCID: PMC8163242 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.678057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2021] [Accepted: 04/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Methane is the final product of the anaerobic decomposition of organic matter. The conversion of organic matter to methane (methanogenesis) as a mechanism for energy conservation is exclusively attributed to the archaeal domain. Methane is oxidized by methanotrophic microorganisms using oxygen or alternative terminal electron acceptors. Aerobic methanotrophic bacteria belong to the phyla Proteobacteria and Verrucomicrobia, while anaerobic methane oxidation is also mediated by more recently discovered anaerobic methanotrophs with representatives in both the bacteria and the archaea domains. The anaerobic oxidation of methane is coupled to the reduction of nitrate, nitrite, iron, manganese, sulfate, and organic electron acceptors (e.g., humic substances) as terminal electron acceptors. This review highlights the relevance of methanotrophy in natural and anthropogenically influenced ecosystems, emphasizing the environmental conditions, distribution, function, co-existence, interactions, and the availability of electron acceptors that likely play a key role in regulating their function. A systematic overview of key aspects of ecology, physiology, metabolism, and genomics is crucial to understand the contribution of methanotrophs in the mitigation of methane efflux to the atmosphere. We give significance to the processes under microaerophilic and anaerobic conditions for both aerobic and anaerobic methane oxidizers. In the context of anthropogenically influenced ecosystems, we emphasize the current and potential future applications of methanotrophs from two different angles, namely methane mitigation in wastewater treatment through the application of anaerobic methanotrophs, and the biotechnological applications of aerobic methanotrophs in resource recovery from methane waste streams. Finally, we identify knowledge gaps that may lead to opportunities to harness further the biotechnological benefits of methanotrophs in methane mitigation and for the production of valuable bioproducts enabling a bio-based and circular economy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Guerrero-Cruz
- Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Girona, Spain
- Universitat de Girona, Girona, Spain
| | - Annika Vaksmaa
- Department of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, ’t Horntje, Netherlands
| | - Marcus A. Horn
- Institute of Microbiology, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - Helge Niemann
- Department of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, ’t Horntje, Netherlands
- Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
- Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate, Department of Geosciences, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Maite Pijuan
- Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Girona, Spain
- Universitat de Girona, Girona, Spain
| | - Adrian Ho
- Institute of Microbiology, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Hannover, Germany
- Division of Applied Life Sciences, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, South Korea
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Liu C, Liu T, Zheng X, Meng J, Chen H, Yuan Z, Hu S, Guo J. Rapid formation of granules coupling n-DAMO and anammox microorganisms to remove nitrogen. WATER RESEARCH 2021; 194:116963. [PMID: 33652229 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.116963] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2020] [Revised: 01/30/2021] [Accepted: 02/22/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Granular sludge exhibits unique features, including rapid settling velocity, high loading rate and relative insensitivity against inhibitors, thus being a favorable platform for the cultivation of slow-growing and vulnerable microorganisms, such as anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) bacteria and nitrite/nitrate-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation (n-DAMO) microorganisms. While anammox granules have been widely applied, little is known about how to speed up the granulation process of n-DAMO microorganisms, which grow even slower than anammox bacteria. In this study, we used mature anammox granules as biotic carriers to embed n-DAMO microorganisms, which obtained combined anammox + n-DAMO granules within 6 months. The results of whole-granule 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing showed the coexistence of anammox bacteria, n-DAMO bacteria and n-DAMO archaea. The microbial stratification along granule radius was further elucidated by cryosection-16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, showing the dominance of n-DAMO archaea and anammox bacteria at inner and outer layers, respectively. Moreover, the images of cryosection-fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) verified this stratification and also indicated a shift in microbial stratification. Specifically, n-DAMO bacteria and n-DAMO archaea attached to the anammox granule surface initially, which moved to the inner layer after 4-months operation. On the basis of combined anammox + n-DAMO granules, a practically useful nitrogen removal rate (1.0 kg N/m3/d) was obtained from sidestream wastewater, which provides new avenue to remove nitrogen from wastewater using methane as carbon source.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chunshuang Liu
- The University of Queensland, Advanced Water Management Centre, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia; College of Chemical Engineering, China University of Petroleum, Qingdao 266580, China
| | - Tao Liu
- The University of Queensland, Advanced Water Management Centre, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Xiaoying Zheng
- The University of Queensland, Advanced Water Management Centre, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia; Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lake of Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
| | - Jia Meng
- The University of Queensland, Advanced Water Management Centre, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Hui Chen
- The University of Queensland, Advanced Water Management Centre, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Zhiguo Yuan
- The University of Queensland, Advanced Water Management Centre, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Shihu Hu
- The University of Queensland, Advanced Water Management Centre, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Jianhua Guo
- The University of Queensland, Advanced Water Management Centre, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
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Martínez-Quintela M, Arias A, Alvarino T, Suarez S, Garrido JM, Omil F. Cometabolic removal of organic micropollutants by enriched nitrite-dependent anaerobic methane oxidizing cultures. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2021; 402:123450. [PMID: 32731114 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.123450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2020] [Revised: 06/16/2020] [Accepted: 07/09/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The innovative and recently discovered n-damo process, based on anaerobic methane oxidation with nitrite, was developed in a membrane-based bioreactor and evaluated in terms of organic micropollutants (OMPs) removal. The main singularity of this study consisted in the evaluation of organic micropollutants (OMPs) removal in the biological reactor. A strategy consisting on progressively increasing the nitrogen loading rate in order to increase the specific denitrification activity was followed to check if the selected OMPs were co-metabolically biotransformed. Significant nitrite removal rate (24.1 mg N L-1 d-1) was achieved after only 30 days of operation. A maximum specific removal of 186.3 mg N gVSS-1 d-1 was obtained at the end of the operation, which is one of the highest previously reported. A successfully n-damo bacteria enrichment was achieved, being Candidatus Methylomirabilis the predominant bacteria during the whole operation attaining a maximum relative abundance of about 40 %. The natural hormones (E1 and E2) were completely removed in the bioreactor. The specific removal rates of erythromycin (ERY), fluoxetine (FLX), roxithromycin (ROX) and sulfamethoxazole (SMX) were successfully correlated with the specific nitrite removal rates, suggesting a co-metabolic biotransformation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel Martínez-Quintela
- Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Santiago de Compostela, Campus Vida, E-15782, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
| | - Adrián Arias
- Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Santiago de Compostela, Campus Vida, E-15782, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Teresa Alvarino
- Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Santiago de Compostela, Campus Vida, E-15782, Santiago de Compostela, Spain; Galician Water Research Center Foundation (Cetaqua Galicia). Emprendia Building, University of Santiago de Compostela, Campus Vida, E-15782, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Sonia Suarez
- Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Santiago de Compostela, Campus Vida, E-15782, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Juan Manuel Garrido
- Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Santiago de Compostela, Campus Vida, E-15782, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Francisco Omil
- Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Santiago de Compostela, Campus Vida, E-15782, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
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Garrido-Amador P, Kniaziuk M, Vekeman B, Kartal B. Learning from microorganisms: using new insights in microbial physiology for sustainable nitrogen management. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2021; 67:42-48. [PMID: 33444876 PMCID: PMC8012881 DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2020.12.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2020] [Revised: 11/26/2020] [Accepted: 12/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
To reduce nitrate to N2 distinct nitrogen-oxide-reducing microorganisms function together. Detecting nirS, nirK or narG genes cannot be directly linked to NO and N2O emission. Nitrogen-oxide-reducing specialists can be exploited to reduce NO and N2O emission from wwtp. Aerobic methanotrophs and methane stripping must be considered for the application of N-DAMO. Ammonium recovery could be a more sustainable alternative to nitrogen removal.
Diverse nitrogen-transforming microorganisms with a wide variety of physiological properties are employed for biological nitrogen removal from wastewater. There are many technologies that achieve the required nitrogen discharge standards; however, greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption constitute the bulk of the environmental footprint of wastewater treatment plants. In this review, we highlight current and proposed approaches aiming to achieve more energy-efficient and environment-friendly biological nitrogen removal, discuss whether new discoveries in microbial physiology of nitrogen-transforming microorganisms could be used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and summarize recent advances in ammonium recovery from wastewater.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paloma Garrido-Amador
- Microbial Physiology Group, Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany
| | - Margarita Kniaziuk
- Microbial Physiology Group, Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany
| | - Bram Vekeman
- Microbial Physiology Group, Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany
| | - Boran Kartal
- Microbial Physiology Group, Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany.
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Wang B, Li H, Liu T, Guo J. Enhanced removal of cephalexin and sulfadiazine in nitrifying membrane-aerated biofilm reactors. CHEMOSPHERE 2021; 263:128224. [PMID: 33297180 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.128224] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2020] [Revised: 08/27/2020] [Accepted: 08/30/2020] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Nitrification process has been reported to be capable of degrading various pharmaceuticals due to the cometabolism of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB). The membrane aerated biofilm reactor (MABR) is an emerging configuration in wastewater treatment with advantages of high nitrification rate and low energy consumption. However, there are very few studies investigating the degradation of antibiotics at environmentally relevant levels in nitrifying MABR systems. In this study, the removal of two widely used antibiotics, cephalexin (CFX) and sulfadiazine (SDZ), was evaluated in two independent MABRs with nitrifying biofilms. The impacts of CFX and SDZ exposure on the nitrification performance and microbial community structure within biofilms were also investigated. The results showed that nitrifying biofilms were very efficient in removing CFX (94.6%) and SDZ (75.4%) with an initial concentration of 100 μg/L when hydraulic retention time (HRT) was 4 h in the reactors. When HRT decreased from 4 h to 3 h, the removal rates of CFX and SDZ increased significantly from 23.4 ± 1.0 μg/(L·h) and 18.7 ± 1.1 μg/(L·h), respectively, to 27.7 ± 1.3 μg/(L·h) (p<0.01) and 20.8 ± 2.4 μg/(L·h) (p<0.05), while the removal efficiencies decreased to 86.0% and 61.5%, respectively. Despite the exposure to CFX and SDZ, the nitrification performance was not affected, and microbial community structure within biofilms also remained relatively stable. This study shows that nitrifying MABR process is a promising option for the efficient removal of antibiotics from domestic wastewater.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bingzheng Wang
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Huayu Li
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia; Beijing Key Laboratory of Aqueous Typical Pollutants Control and Water Quality Safeguard, Department of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, 100044, China
| | - Tao Liu
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia.
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Zhang Q, Zhang X, Bai YH, Xia WJ, Ni SK, Wu QY, Fan NS, Huang BC, Jin RC. Exogenous extracellular polymeric substances as protective agents for the preservation of anammox granules. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2020; 747:141464. [PMID: 32795803 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141464] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2020] [Revised: 07/17/2020] [Accepted: 08/01/2020] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
The preservation of anammox granules is of great significance for the rapid start-up of the anammox process and improvement of performance stability. Therefore, it is necessary to explore an economical and stable preservation strategy. Exogenous extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) were used as protective agents for the preservation of anammox granules in this study. In brief, EPS from anammox sludge (A-EPS) and denitrifying sludge (D-EPS) were added to preserve anammox sludge at 4 °C and room temperature (15-20 °C). The results showed that A-EPS addition at 4 °C was the optimal condition for the preservation of anammox granules. After 90 days of preservation, the specific anammox activity (SAA) of the anammox granules remained at 92.7 ± 2.2 mg N g-1 VSS day-1 (remaining ratio of 33.4%), while that of the sludge with D-EPS addition at the same temperature was only 77.1 ± 3.2 mg N g-1 VSS day-1 (remaining ratio of 27.8%). The nitrogen removal efficiency of the experimental group with D-EPS at room temperature was 85.9%, and that of the A-EPS group reached 90.6% under the same temperature conditions. The abundance of the functional genes hzsA, hdh and nirS of the sludge (4 °C; A-EPS addition) after recovery were 138.5%, 317.1%, and 375.9%, respectively, of those of sludge from the D-EPS-added group at the same temperature. RDA revealed the contribution of proteins to the preservation process. Overall, this study provides an economical and robust strategy for the preservation of anammox granules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Quan Zhang
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
| | - Xian Zhang
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
| | - Yu-Hui Bai
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
| | - Wen-Jing Xia
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
| | - Shao-Kai Ni
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
| | - Qing-Yuan Wu
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
| | - Nian-Si Fan
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China.
| | - Bao-Cheng Huang
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
| | - Ren-Cun Jin
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
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Zhang S, Zhang Z, Xia S, Ding N, Long X, Wang J, Chen M, Ye C, Chen S. Combined genome-centric metagenomics and stable isotope probing unveils the microbial pathways of aerobic methane oxidation coupled to denitrification process under hypoxic conditions. BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY 2020; 318:124043. [PMID: 32911364 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.124043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2020] [Revised: 08/14/2020] [Accepted: 08/19/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Obligate aerobic methanotrophs have been proven to oxidize methane and participate in denitrification under hypoxic conditions. However, this phenomenon and its metabolic mechanism have not been investigated in detail in aerobic methane oxidation coupled to denitrification (AME-D) process. In this study, a type of hypoxic AME-D consortium was enriched and operated for a long time in a CH4-cycling bioreactor with strict anaerobic control and the nitrite removal rate reached approximately 50 mg N/L/d. Metagenomics combined with DNA stable-isotope probing demonstrated that the genus Methylomonas, which constitutes type I aerobic methanotrophs, was the dominant member and contributed to methane oxidation and partial denitrification. Metagenomic binning recovered a near-complete (98%) draft genome affiliated with the family Methylococcaceae containing essential genes that encode nitrite reductase (nirK), nitric oxide reductase (norBC) and hydroxylamine dehydrogenase (hao). Metabolic reconstruction of the selected Methylococcaceae genomes also revealed a potential link between methanotrophy and partial denitrification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shici Zhang
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China; Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China
| | - Zhaoji Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China.
| | - Shibin Xia
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Ningning Ding
- Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China
| | - Xien Long
- School of Geographic Sciences, Nantong University, No. 999 Tongjing Road, Nantong 226007, China
| | - Jinsong Wang
- Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China
| | - Minquan Chen
- Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China
| | - Chengsong Ye
- Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China
| | - Shaohua Chen
- Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China
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Liu T, Lim ZK, Chen H, Wang Z, Hu S, Yuan Z, Guo J. Biogas-driven complete nitrogen removal from wastewater generated in side-stream partial nitritation. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2020; 745:141153. [PMID: 32736115 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2020] [Revised: 07/07/2020] [Accepted: 07/19/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Anaerobic digestion is an attractive process in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to achieve simultaneous sludge reduction and energy recovery. While converting the majority of organic carbon to biogas (mainly consisting 60%CH4 + 40%CO2), the high-strength anaerobic digestion liquor consists of a high level of nitrogen concentration. The feasibility of utilizing biogas produced in-situ to achieve satisfactory nitrogen removal performance from partially nitrified anaerobic digestion liquor was examined in this study. To this end, a membrane biofilm reactor (MBfR) was used to couple nitrite- or nitrate-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation (n-DAMO) and anammox microorganisms, which was supplied with synthetic biogas and partially nitrified anaerobic digestion liquor (470 mg NH4+-N/L + 560 mg NO2--N/L). The MBfR achieved not only nearly complete nitrogen removal (~99%), but also a practically useful nitrogen removal rate above 1 kg N/m3/d. Due to the acidification caused by excessive CO2 supply from biogas, pH dropping was observed. Two corresponding strategies, i.e., intermittent alkali dosing and intermittent nitrogen gas flushing, were developed to control the pH at neutral. Mass balance based on batch tests and microbial community analysis by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing both showed the joint contribution of anammox bacteria and anaerobic methane oxidizers to the nitrogen removal. This study proved the potential and capacity of MBfR to access complete nitrogen removal from high-strength wastewater by using biogas produced in-situ, thus leading to a significant reduction of external carbon addition in practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tao Liu
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Zhuan Khai Lim
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Hui Chen
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Zhiyao Wang
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Shihu Hu
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Zhiguo Yuan
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia.
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Chen H, Liu T, Li J, Mao L, Ye J, Han X, Jetten MSM, Guo J. Larger Anammox Granules not only Harbor Higher Species Diversity but also Support More Functional Diversity. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2020; 54:14664-14673. [PMID: 33121242 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c02609] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Granule-based partial nitritation and anammox (PN/A) represents one of the most energy-efficient biotechniques for ammonium removal from wastewater. The PN/A granules appear in a continuum of sizes, yet little is known about the extent to which microbial communities and microbial metabolisms are partitioned between size-fractionated granules. Here, we divided granules harvested from a pilot-scale PN/A reactor into five discrete size fractions (<0.2, 0.2-0.5, 0.5-0.8, 0.8-1.0, and >1.0 mm). The composition and functional attribute of five pools of the size-fractionated granules were characterized by 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene amplicon and metagenomic and metatranscriptomic sequencing to provide a comprehensive insight into the key microbial group in a PN/A system. Larger granules were shown to not only harbor higher microbial diversity but also support more diverse functions than smaller granules. De novo coassembly and binning of metagenomic reads yielded 22 draft genomes of dominant microorganisms, which allowed us to infer an ecological model of the microbial ecosystem in anammox-based granules. This genome-based ecological model indicates that nitrifying organisms in smaller granules feed nitrite to anammox bacteria in larger granules. The results improve our understanding of the PN/A system, especially for the metabolic interactions between small and large granules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hui Chen
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, China
| | - Tao Liu
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Jie Li
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Likai Mao
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Jun Ye
- Australian Centre for Ecogenomics, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Xiaoyu Han
- School of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China
| | - Mike S M Jetten
- Microbiology, IWWR, Faculty of Science, Radboud University Nijmegen, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
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Li Y, Wang J, Hua M, Yao X, Zhao Y, Hu J, Xi C, Hu B. Strategy for denitrifying anaerobic methane-oxidizing bacteria growing under the oxygen-present condition. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2020; 742:140476. [PMID: 32629252 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2020] [Revised: 06/21/2020] [Accepted: 06/22/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Denitrifying anaerobic methane oxidizing (DAMO) bacteria are newly discovered microorganisms that use methane as the electron donor to reduce nitrite into dinitrogen. They have potential value on nitrogen removal from wastewater. However, the oxygen exposure in engineering is considered one of the bottlenecks for DAMO engineering application. In this work, we cultured DAMO bacteria under oxic and anoxic conditions in a gas-lift sequencing batch reactor (GLSBR) to explore DAMO bacterial response to oxygen stress. Under oxic conditions (7.5-8 mg O2/L), the extension of hydraulic retention time (HRT) from 2 days to 4 days increased DAMO bacterial abundance by 3.8 times. Under anoxic conditions (0.2-0.5 mg O2/L), DAMO bacterial abundance increased by 30.1 times and were kept over 2.0 × 1011 copies g-1 wet sludge. During the enrichment, microbial aggregates were formed and DAMO bacteria tended to be distributed inside the aggregates. Notably, aerobic methanotrophs existed in the whole process, capable of consuming oxygen and providing a suitable environment for DAMO bacterial growth. Finally, DAMO bacteria were enriched and the relative abundance was 16.16%. This work provides new insights into DAMO bacterial enrichment and their application in wastewater treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yufen Li
- Department of Environmental Engineering, College of Environmental &Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Jiaqi Wang
- Department of Environmental Engineering, College of Environmental &Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Miaolian Hua
- Department of Environmental Engineering, College of Environmental &Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Xiangwu Yao
- Department of Environmental Engineering, College of Environmental &Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Yuxiang Zhao
- Department of Environmental Engineering, College of Environmental &Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Jiajie Hu
- Department of Environmental Engineering, College of Environmental &Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Chuanwu Xi
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Baolan Hu
- Department of Environmental Engineering, College of Environmental &Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory for Water Pollution Control and Environmental Safety, Hangzhou 310058, China.
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Lai CY, Song Y, Wu M, Lu X, Wang Y, Yuan Z, Guo J. Microbial selenate reduction in membrane biofilm reactors using ethane and propane as electron donors. WATER RESEARCH 2020; 183:116008. [PMID: 32634677 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2020.116008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2020] [Revised: 05/20/2020] [Accepted: 06/01/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Selenate (Se(VI)) contamination in groundwater is one of major concerns for human health, in particular in shale gas extraction sites. Microbial selenate reduction coupled to methane (CH4) oxidation has been demonstrated very recently. Little is known whether ethane (C2H6) and butane (C3H8) are able to drive selenate reduction, although they are also important components in shale gas. In this study, we demonstrated Se(VI) bio-reduction could be achieved using C2H6 and C3H8 as electron donors and carbon sources. Scanning electron microscopy coupled to energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) confirmed elemental Se (Se0) was the major final product formed from Se(VI) bio-reduction. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) were generated in the biofilms as the internal electron-storage materials, which were consumed for sustaining Se(VI) bio-reduction in absence of C2H6 and C3H8. Microbial community analysis showed that two genera capable of oxidizing gaseous alkanes dominated in the biofilms, including Mycobacterium (in both C2H6 and C3H8-fed biofilms) and Rhodococcus (in C3H8-fed biofilm). In addition, several potential Se(VI) reducers (e.g., Variovorax) were detected in the biofilms. Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States analysis supported that predictive genes associated with alkanes oxidation, denitrification and PHAs cycle were enriched in the biofilms. These findings offer insights into the process of selenate reduction driven by C2H6 and C3H8, which ultimately may help to develop a solution to use shale gas for groundwater remediation, especially near shale gas exploitation sites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chun-Yu Lai
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
| | - Yarong Song
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
| | - Mengxiong Wu
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
| | - Xuanyu Lu
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
| | - Yulu Wang
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
| | - Zhiguo Yuan
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia.
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42
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He C, Zhang B, Yan W, Ding D, Guo J. Enhanced Microbial Chromate Reduction Using Hydrogen and Methane as Joint Electron Donors. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2020; 395:122684. [PMID: 32330782 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.122684] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2020] [Revised: 03/19/2020] [Accepted: 04/07/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Hydrogen and methane commonly co-exist in aquifer. Either hydrogen or methane has been individually utilized as electron donor for bio-reducing chromate. However, little is known whether microbial chromate reduction would be suppressed or promoted when both hydrogen and methane are simultaneously supplied as joint electron donors. This study for the first time demonstrated microbial chromate reduction rate could be accelerated by both hydrogen and methane donating electrons. The maximum chromate reduction rate (4.70 ± 0.03 mg/L·d) with a volume ratio of hydrogen to methane at 1:1 was significantly higher than that with pure hydrogen (2.53 ± 0.02 mg/L·d) or pure methane (2.01 ± 0.02 mg/L·d) as the sole electron donor (p < 0.01). High-throughput 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing detected potential chromate reducers (e.g., Spirochaetaceae, Delftia and Azonexus) and hydrogenotrophic bacteria (e.g., Acetoanaerobium) and methane-metabolizing microorganisms (e.g., Methanobacterium), indicating that these microorganisms might play important roles on microbial chromate reduction using both hydrogen and methane as electron donors. Abundant hupL and mcrA genes responsible for hydrogen oxidation and methane conversion were harbored, together with chrA gene for chromate reduction. More abundant extracellular cytochrome c and intracellular NADH were detected with joint electron donors, suggesting more active electron transfers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chao He
- School of Water Resources and Environment, MOE Key Laboratory of Groundwater Circulation and Environmental Evolution, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing, 100083, China
| | - Baogang Zhang
- School of Water Resources and Environment, MOE Key Laboratory of Groundwater Circulation and Environmental Evolution, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing, 100083, China.
| | - Wenyue Yan
- School of Water Resources and Environment, MOE Key Laboratory of Groundwater Circulation and Environmental Evolution, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing, 100083, China
| | - Dahu Ding
- College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, 4072, Australia
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Ma TF, Chen YP, Fang F, Yan P, Shen Y, Kang J, Nie YD. Effects of ZnO nanoparticles on aerobic denitrifying bacteria Enterobacter cloacae strain HNR. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2020; 725:138284. [PMID: 32276046 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2020] [Revised: 03/23/2020] [Accepted: 03/26/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The aerobic denitrification process is a promising and cost-effective alternative to the conventional nitrogen removal process. Widely used ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) will inevitably reach wastewater treatment plants, and cause adverse impacts on aerobic denitrification and nitrogen removal. Therefore, a full understanding of the responses and adaption of aerobic denitrifiers to ZnO NPs is essential to develop effective strategies to reduce adverse effects on wastewater treatment. In this study, the responses and adaption to ZnO NPs were investigated of a wild type strain (WT) and a resistant type strain (Re) of aerobic denitrifying bacteria Enterobacter cloacae strain HNR. When exposed to 0.75 mM ZnO NPs, the nitrate removal efficiency of Re was 11.2% higher than that of WT. To prevent ZnO NPs entering cells by adsorption, the production of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) of WT and Re strains increased 13.2% and 43.9%, respectively. The upregulations of amino sugar and carbohydrate-related metabolism contributed to the increase of EPS production, and the increased nitrogen metabolism contributed to higher activities of nitrate and nitrite reductases. Interestingly, cationic antimicrobial peptide resistance contributed to resist Zn (II) released by ZnO NPs, and many antioxidative stress-related metabolism pathways were upregulated to resist the oxidative stress resulting from ZnO NPs. These findings will guide efforts to improve the aerobic denitrification process in an environment polluted by NPs, and promote the application of aerobic denitrification technologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teng-Fei Ma
- Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region's Eco-Environment, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China; National Research Base of Intelligent Manufacturing Service, Chongqing Technology and Business University, Chongqing 400067, China; Chongqing South-to-Thais Environmental Protection Technology Research lnstitute Co., Ltd., Chongqing 400069, China
| | - You-Peng Chen
- Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region's Eco-Environment, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China
| | - Fang Fang
- Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region's Eco-Environment, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China
| | - Peng Yan
- Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region's Eco-Environment, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China.
| | - Yu Shen
- National Research Base of Intelligent Manufacturing Service, Chongqing Technology and Business University, Chongqing 400067, China; Chongqing South-to-Thais Environmental Protection Technology Research lnstitute Co., Ltd., Chongqing 400069, China
| | - Jia Kang
- North China Univ Water Resources & Elect Power, Key Lab Water Environment Simulatation & Governance Henan, Zhengzhou 460046, Henan, China
| | - Yu-Dong Nie
- Engineering Research Centre for Waste Oil Recovery Technology and Equipment, Chongqing Technology and Business University, Chongqing 400067, China
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Cheng YF, Li GF, Ma WJ, Xue Y, Liu Q, Zhang ZZ, Jin RC. Resistance of anammox granular sludge to copper nanoparticles and oxytetracycline and restoration of performance. BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY 2020; 307:123264. [PMID: 32244076 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2020] [Revised: 03/18/2020] [Accepted: 03/20/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Nanoparticles and antibiotics, the two most frequently detected emerging pollutants from different wastewater sources, are eventually discharged into wastewater treatment plants. In this study, the widely used materials CuNPs and oxytetracycline (OTC) were selected as target pollutants to investigate their joint effects on anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox). The results indicated that the environmental concentration slightly inhibited the performance of the reactors, while the performance rapidly deteriorated within a week under high-level combined shocks (5.0 mg L-1 CuNPs and 2.0 mg L-1 OTC). After the second shock (2.5 mg L-1 CuNPs and 2.0 mg L-1 OTC), the resistance of anammox bacteria was enhanced, with an elevated relative abundance of Candidatus Kuenenia and absolute abundance of hzsA, nirS, and hdh. Moreover, the extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) content and specific anammox activity (SAA) showed corresponding changes. Improved sludge resistance was observed with increasing CuNP and OTC doses, which accelerated the recovery of performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ya-Fei Cheng
- Laboratory of Water Pollution Remediation, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
| | - Gui-Feng Li
- Laboratory of Water Pollution Remediation, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
| | - Wen-Jie Ma
- Laboratory of Water Pollution Remediation, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
| | - Yuan Xue
- Laboratory of Water Pollution Remediation, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
| | - Qi Liu
- Laboratory of Water Pollution Remediation, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
| | - Zheng-Zhe Zhang
- Laboratory of Water Pollution Remediation, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
| | - Ren-Cun Jin
- Laboratory of Water Pollution Remediation, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China.
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45
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Liu T, Li J, Khai Lim Z, Chen H, Hu S, Yuan Z, Guo J. Simultaneous Removal of Dissolved Methane and Nitrogen from Synthetic Mainstream Anaerobic Effluent. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2020; 54:7629-7638. [PMID: 32432469 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c00912] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Anaerobic technologies have been proposed as a promising solution to enhance bioenergy recovery and to transform a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) from an energy consumer to an energy exporter. However, 20-60% of the methane produced remains dissolved in the anaerobically treated effluent, which is a potent greenhouse gas and is easily stripped out in the aeration tank. This study aims to develop a solution using dissolved methane to support denitrification, thus simultaneously enhancing nitrogen removal and achieving beneficial use of dissolved methane. By coupling anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) with nitrite/nitrate-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation (n-DAMO), up to 85% of dissolved methane and more than 99% of nitrogen were removed in parallel in a biofilm system. Mass balance was conducted during both long-term operation and short-term batch tests, which indicated that n-DAMO bacteria and n-DAMO archaea indeed contributed jointly to the methane removal. The 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing further showed the co-presence of n-DAMO bacteria and n-DAMO archaea, while anammox bacteria were detected with a low relative abundance. This proposed technology can potentially be applied to reduce the carbon footprint and to save the organic carbon consumption in WWTPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tao Liu
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Jie Li
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Zhuan Khai Lim
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Hui Chen
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Shihu Hu
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Zhiguo Yuan
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
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46
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Lu P, Wang X, Tang Y, Ding A, Yang H, Guo J, Cui Y, Ling C. Granular activated carbon assisted nitrate-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation-membrane bioreactor: Strengthening effect and mechanisms. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2020; 138:105675. [PMID: 32213427 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.105675] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2020] [Revised: 03/17/2020] [Accepted: 03/17/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Eutrophication and global warming are two main urgent environmental problems around the world. Nitrate-dependent Anaerobic Methane Oxidation (NdAMO) is a bioprocess coupling nitrate reduction with anaerobic methane oxidation, which could mitigate of these two environmental issues simultaneously. In this study, a newly granular active carbon-NdAMO-membrane bioreactor (GAC-NdAMO-MBR) system was established to evaluate its nitrogen removal efficiency, membrane fouling property and the probable strengthening mechanism was also uncovered. Results indicated that the nitrate removal rate in GAC-NdAMO-MBR reached 31.85 ± 3.19 mgN·L-1·d-1 while it was only 10.35 ± 2.02 mgN·L-1·d-1 in NdAMO-MBR system (lack of GAC), which was multiplied three-fold. The membrane flux decay rate of GAC- NdAMO -MBR was 0.15 L/m2·h·d while it was 0.49 L/m2·h·d without GAC, and the addition of GAC could extend membrane fouling time for 2.5 times. Notablely, the relative abundance of NdAMO bacteria sharply increased from 27.15% to 56.91% after GAC addition while the NdAMO archaea showed similar variation trend. The physicochemical property of GAC mainly contributed the strengthening effect. The porous structure of GAC absorbed methane and adhered by microorganism, which enhance microorganism amount and metabolic activity. The mechanical strength of GAC scoured membrane surface to mitigate external fouling and pores absorbed EPS to reduce internal fouling. The combined effects could improve NdAMO microorganism growth and metabolism activity and finally improved nitrogen removal performance and controlled membrane fouling. These findings could deep the knowledge of NdAMO process and help extend its application potential in environment science and engineering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peili Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Coal Mine Disaster Dynamics and Control, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China; Department of Environmental Science, College of Environment and Ecology, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
| | - Xuewen Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Coal Mine Disaster Dynamics and Control, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China; Department of Environmental Science, College of Environment and Ecology, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
| | - Yingshuang Tang
- Ecology and Environment Bureau of Bishan, Chongqing 400044, China
| | - Aqiang Ding
- State Key Laboratory of Coal Mine Disaster Dynamics and Control, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China; Department of Environmental Science, College of Environment and Ecology, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China.
| | - Han Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Coal Mine Disaster Dynamics and Control, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China; Department of Environmental Science, College of Environment and Ecology, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
| | - Junliang Guo
- Department of Environmental Science, College of Environment and Ecology, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
| | - Ying Cui
- Department of Environmental Science, College of Environment and Ecology, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
| | - Chuanxiang Ling
- Department of Environmental Science, College of Environment and Ecology, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
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47
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Li W, Lu P, Zhang L, Ding A, Wang X, Yang H, Zhang D. Long-term performance of denitrifying anaerobic methane oxidation under stepwise cooling and ambient temperature conditions. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2020; 713:136739. [PMID: 32019052 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136739] [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: 11/22/2019] [Revised: 01/01/2020] [Accepted: 01/14/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Nitrate-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation (N-DAMO), a bioprocess that couples the oxidation of green gas and the removal of nitrogen oxides in a microbial group, has gained much attention as a potential economical method of biological removal of nitrates and methane from wastewater. Low-temperature (20 °C) operation of N-DAMO would be beneficial to utilize the methane dissolved in the effluent and thus decrease the cost of maintaining the bioreactor temperature in wastewater treatment. Here, the long-term (>350 days) operational activities of N-DAMO were evaluated to assess the performance of N-DAMO from stepwise cooling (30-20 °C) to ambient temperatures (13-38 °C). Under stepwise cooling conditions, the activity of the N-DAMO community was first inhibited and then rapidly adjusted. Notably, a similar N-DAMO activity was observed at 30 °C and 20 °C. Under ambient temperature conditions, the highest nitrate removal rate observed at the beginning of the test was 7.14 mg-N/L/d, which was 5.3 times higher than that recorded at the end of the test. This indicates that the long-term temperature fluctuation irreversibly inhibited N-DAMO activity. 16S rRNA gene sequencing analyses found that the functional archaea were ANME-2D, which has been deemed as the dominant culture in the N-DAMO process. The abundance of ANME-2D on the last day at stepwise cooling temperature conditions was much higher than on day 0, but disappeared after a long period of operation at ambient temperature. It was assumed that N-DAMO would stabilize at stepwise cooling temperature conditions, but not at ambient temperature. Our findings could offer a promising technology for anaerobic wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in temperate and warm climate zones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weiwei Li
- State Key Laboratory of Coal Mine Disaster Dynamics and Control, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, PR China
| | - Peili Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Coal Mine Disaster Dynamics and Control, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, PR China; Department of Environmental Science, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, PR China
| | - Lilan Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Coal Mine Disaster Dynamics and Control, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, PR China; Department of Environmental Science, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, PR China
| | - Aqiang Ding
- State Key Laboratory of Coal Mine Disaster Dynamics and Control, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, PR China; Department of Environmental Science, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, PR China.
| | - Xuewen Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Coal Mine Disaster Dynamics and Control, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, PR China
| | - Han Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Coal Mine Disaster Dynamics and Control, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, PR China
| | - Daijun Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Coal Mine Disaster Dynamics and Control, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, PR China; Department of Environmental Science, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, PR China
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48
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Liu T, Guo J, Hu S, Yuan Z. Model-based investigation of membrane biofilm reactors coupling anammox with nitrite/nitrate-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2020; 137:105501. [PMID: 32032775 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.105501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2019] [Revised: 01/13/2020] [Accepted: 01/16/2020] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
An innovative process coupling anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) with nitrite/nitrate-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation (n-DAMO) in membrane biofilm reactors (MBfRs) has been developed to achieve high-level nitrogen removal from both sidestream (i.e., anaerobic digestion liquor) and mainstream (i.e., domestic strength) wastewater. In this study, a 1D biofilm model embedding the n-DAMO and anammox reactions was developed to facilitate further understanding of the process and its optimization. The model was calibrated and validated using comprehensive data sets from two independent MBfRs, treating sidestream- and mainstream-strength wastewater, respectively. Modelling results revealed a unique biofilm stratification. While anammox bacteria dominated throughout the biofilm, n-DAMO archaea (coupling nitrate reduction with anaerobic methane oxidation) only occurred at the inner layer and n-DAMO bacteria (coupling nitrite reduction with anaerobic methane oxidation) spread more evenly with a slightly higher fraction in the outer layer. The established MBfRs were robust against dynamic influent flowrates and nitrite/ammonium ratios. Thicker biofilms were beneficial for not only the total nitrogen (TN) removal but also the system robustness. Additionally, a positive correlation between the nitrogen removal efficiency and the residual methane emission was observed, as a result of higher methane partial pressure required. However, there was a threshold of methane partial pressure, above which the residual methane increased but nitrogen removal efficiency was stable. Meanwhile, thicker biofilms were also favorable to achieve less residual methane emission. Simulation results also suggested the feasibility of methane-based MBfRs to polish mainstream anammox effluent to meet a stringent N discharge standard (e.g., TN < 5 mg/L).
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Affiliation(s)
- Tao Liu
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Shihu Hu
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Zhiguo Yuan
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia.
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49
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Liu T, Khai Lim Z, Chen H, Hu S, Yuan Z, Guo J. Temperature-Tolerated Mainstream Nitrogen Removal by Anammox and Nitrite/Nitrate-Dependent Anaerobic Methane Oxidation in a Membrane Biofilm Reactor. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2020; 54:3012-3021. [PMID: 32037796 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.9b05650] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
The mainstream anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) process provides strong support to the on-going paradigm shift from energy-negative to energy-neutral in wastewater treatment plants. However, the low temperature (e.g., below 15 °C) represents one of the major challenges for mainstream anammox in practice. In this study, a stable nitrogen removal rate (0.13 kg m-3 day-1), together with a high-level effluent quality (<5.0 mg N L-1), was achieved in a lab-scale upflow membrane biofilm reactor (MBfR) by coupling anammox with nitrite/nitrate-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation (n-DAMO) microorganisms, at a temperature as low as 10 °C. With the temperature being progressively decreased from 25 to 10 °C, the total nitrogen removal efficiency was maintained in the range of 90-94% at a constant hydraulic retention time of 9 h. The impact of temperature on the biofilm system coupling anammox and n-DAMO reactions increased at a lower temperature range with higher Arrhenius coefficients. Additionally, 16S rRNA gene sequencing results showed that anammox bacteria, n-DAMO bacteria, and n-DAMO archaea jointly dominated the biofilm, and their respective abundances remained relatively stable when the temperature was decreased. The major reason for this temperature-tolerated performance is the overcapacity developed, which is indicated by biofilm thickness measurements and mathematical modeling. The stable performance obtained in this study shows promise for the n-DAMO application in domestic wastewater.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tao Liu
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Zhuan Khai Lim
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Hui Chen
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Shihu Hu
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Zhiguo Yuan
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
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50
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Li J, Li J, Peng Y, Wang S, Zhang L, Yang S, Li S. Insight into the impacts of organics on anammox and their potential linking to system performance of sewage partial nitrification-anammox (PN/A): A critical review. BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY 2020; 300:122655. [PMID: 31926793 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.122655] [Citation(s) in RCA: 90] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2019] [Revised: 12/16/2019] [Accepted: 12/18/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Partial nitrification-anammox (PN/A) is an energy-efficient process for nitrogen removal from sewage. The influent organics of sewage is usually pre-removed, reducing the risk for enriching anammox bacteria (AnAOB). However, recent studies demonstrate that optimum influent organics could improve nitrogen removal and operational stability of PN/A. Thus, the impact of organics on PN/A-based process should not be overlooked. In this review, the complicated impacts of organics-containing influent on anammox and their linking to apply PN/A are discussed. Firstly, the effect of organics on AnAOB metabolism and the competition relationship between AnAOB and heterotrophic bacteria are summarized. Secondly, the combined effects of influent organics and operational strategies on PN/A-based process were reviewed. Thirdly, how to control influent organics in the real application of PN/A were discussed. Lastly, recent development of the PN/A-based process combined with denitrification were reviewed. Overall, influent organics could be an essential factor for successful application of sewage PN/A.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jialin Li
- National Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Technology, Key Laboratory of Beijing for Water Quality Science and Water Environment Recovery Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
| | - Jianwei Li
- National Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Technology, Key Laboratory of Beijing for Water Quality Science and Water Environment Recovery Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
| | - Yongzhen Peng
- National Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Technology, Key Laboratory of Beijing for Water Quality Science and Water Environment Recovery Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
| | - Shuying Wang
- National Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Technology, Key Laboratory of Beijing for Water Quality Science and Water Environment Recovery Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
| | - Liang Zhang
- National Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Technology, Key Laboratory of Beijing for Water Quality Science and Water Environment Recovery Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China.
| | - Shenhua Yang
- National Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Technology, Key Laboratory of Beijing for Water Quality Science and Water Environment Recovery Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
| | - Shuai Li
- National Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Technology, Key Laboratory of Beijing for Water Quality Science and Water Environment Recovery Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
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