Cometabolic degradation and inhibition kinetics of 1,2-dichloroethane (1,2-DCA) in suspended-growth nitrifying systems

Modelling cometabolic biotransformation of organic micropollutants in nitrifying reactors

Cometabolism is the ability of microorganisms to degrade non-growth substrates in the presence of primary substrates, being the main removal mechanism behind the biotransformation of organic micropollutants in wastewater treatment plants. In this paper, a cometabolic Monod-type kinetics, linking biotransformation of micropollutants with primary substrate degradation, was applied to a highly enriched nitrifying activated sludge (NAS) reactor operated under different operational conditions (hydraulic retention time (HRT) and nitrifying activity). A dynamic model of the bioreactor was built taking into account biotransformation, sorption and volatilization. The micropollutant transformation capacity (Tc), the half-saturation constant (Ksc) and the solid-liquid partitioning coefficient (Kd) of several organic micropollutants were estimated at 25 °C using an optimization algorithm to fit experimental data to the proposed model with the cometabolic Monod-type biotransformation kinetics. The cometabolic Monod-type kinetic model was validated under different HRTs (1.0-3.7 d) and nitrification rates (0.12-0.45 g N/g VSS d), describing more accurately the fate of those compounds affected by the biological activity of nitrifiers (ibuprofen, naproxen, erythromycin and roxithromycin) compared to the commonly applied pseudo-first order micropollutant biotransformation kinetics, which does not link biotransformation of micropollutants to consumption of primary substrate. Furthermore, in contrast to the pseudo-first order biotransformation constant (k(biol)), the proposed cometabolic kinetic coefficients are independent of operational conditions such as the nitrogen loading rate applied. Also, the influence of the kinetic parameters on the biotransformation efficiency of NAS reactors, defined as the relative amount of the total inlet micropollutant load being biotransformed, was assessed considering different HRTs and nitrification rates.

In situ aerobic cometabolism of chlorinated solvents: a review

The possible approaches for in situ aerobic cometabolism of aquifers and vadose zones contaminated by chlorinated solvents are critically evaluated. Bioaugmentation of resting-cells previously grown in a fermenter and in-well addition of oxygen and growth substrate appear to be the most promising approaches for aquifer bioremediation. Other solutions involving the sparging of air lead to satisfactory pollutant removals, but must be integrated by the extraction and subsequent treatment of vapors to avoid the dispersion of volatile chlorinated solvents in the atmosphere. Cometabolic bioventing is the only possible approach for the aerobic cometabolic bioremediation of the vadose zone. The examined studies indicate that in situ aerobic cometabolism leads to the biodegradation of a wide range of chlorinated solvents within remediation times that vary between 1 and 17 months. Numerous studies include a simulation of the experimental field data. The modeling of the process attained a high reliability, and represents a crucial tool for the elaboration of field data obtained in pilot tests and for the design of the full-scale systems. Further research is needed to attain higher concentrations of chlorinated solvent degrading microbes and more reliable cost estimates. Lastly, a procedure for the design of full-scale in situ aerobic cometabolic bioremediation processes is proposed.

Biodegradation and cometabolic modeling of selected beta blockers during ammonia oxidation

Accurate prediction of pharmaceutical concentrations in wastewater effluents requires that the specific biochemical processes responsible for pharmaceutical biodegradation be elucidated and integrated within any modeling framework. The fate of three selected beta blockers-atenolol, metoprolol, and sotalol-was examined during nitrification using batch experiments to develop and evaluate a new cometabolic process-based (CPB) model. CPB model parameters describe biotransformation during and after ammonia oxidation for specific biomass populations and are designed to be integrated within the Activated Sludge Models framework. Metoprolol and sotalol were not biodegraded by the nitrification enrichment culture employed herein. Biodegradation of atenolol was observed and linked to the activity of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and heterotrophs but not nitrite-oxidizing bacteria. Results suggest that the role of AOB in atenolol degradation may be disproportionately more significant than is otherwise suggested by their lower relative abundance in typical biological treatment processes. Atenolol was observed to competitively inhibit AOB growth in our experiments, though model simulations suggest inhibition is most relevant at atenolol concentrations greater than approximately 200 ng·L(-1). CPB model parameters were found to be relatively insensitive to biokinetic parameter selection suggesting the model approach may hold utility for describing pharmaceutical biodegradation during biological wastewater treatment.

Trichloroethylene aerobic cometabolism by suspended and immobilized butane-growing microbial consortia: a kinetic study

A kinetic study of butane uptake and trichloroethylene (TCE) aerobic cometabolism was conducted by two suspended-cell (15 and 30°C) and two attached-cell (15 and 30°C) consortia obtained from the indigenous biomass of a TCE-contaminated aquifer. The shift from suspended to attached cells resulted in an increase of butane (15 and 30°C) and TCE (15°C) biodegradation rates, and a significant decrease of butane inhibition on TCE biodegradation. The TCE 15°C maximum specific biodegradation rate was equal to 0.011 mg(TCE ) mg(protein)(-1) d(-1) with suspended cells and 0.021 mg(TCE) mg(protein)(-1) d(-1) with attached cells. The type of mutual butane/TCE inhibition depended on temperature and biomass conditions. On the basis of a continuous-flow simulation, a packed-bed PFR inoculated with the 15 or 30°C attached-cell consortium could attain a 99.96% conversion of the studied site's average TCE concentration with a 0.4-0.5-day hydraulic residence time, with a low effect of temperature on the TCE degradation performances.

Influence of nitrifying conditions on the biodegradation and sorption of emerging micropollutants

High biodegradation efficiencies of different emerging micropollutants were obtained with nitrifying activated sludge (NAS) working at high nitrogen loading rates (NLR), that boosted the development of biomass with high nitrifying activities (>1 g N-NH(4)(+)/g VSS d). Come-tabolic biodegradation seemed to be responsible for the removal of most compounds due to the action of the ammonium monooxygenase enzyme. NAS showed a different affinity for each compound, probably due to steric hindrance, activation energy limitations or the presence of specific functional groups. Increasing loading rates of micropollutants were removed at shorter hydraulic retention times, although the biodegradation efficiencies of compounds with slow/intermediate kinetics, such as fluoxetine, erythromycin, roxithromycin and trimethoprim, diminished due to kinetic and/or stoichiometric limitations. Solids retention time, always above the minimum to avoid the washout of nitrifiers, did not enhance the biodegradation of any of the selected compounds, with the exception of diclofenac. Regarding sorption, the solid-liquid distribution coefficients (K(d)) obtained in NAS were very similar to those found in conventional activated sludge by other authors. No correlation between K(d) values and any of the operational parameters was found for the selected substances.