Sequencing Batch Reactor System Research Articles

Advanced nitrogen and phosphorus removal in pilot-scale anaerobic/aerobic/anoxic system for municipal wastewater in Northern China

Removing nitrogen and phosphorus from low ratio of chemical oxygen demand to total nitrogen and temperature municipal wastewater stays a challenge. In this study, a pilot-scale anaerobic/aerobic/anoxic sequencing batch reactor (A/O/A-SBR) system first treated 15 m3/d actual municipal wastewater at 8.1–26.4 °C for 224 days. At the temperature of 15.7 °C, total nitrogen in influent and effluent were 45.5 and 10.9 mg/L, and phosphorus in influent and effluent were 3.9 and 0.1 mg/L. 16 s RNA sequencing results showed the relative abundance of Competibacter and Tetrasphaera raised to 1.25 % and 1.52 %. The strategy of excessive, no and normal sludge discharge enriched and balanced the functional bacteria, achieving an endogenous denitrification ratio more than 43.3 %. Sludge reduction and short aerobic time were beneficial to energy saving contrast with a Beijing municipal wastewater treatment. This study has significant implications for the practical application of the AOA-SBR process.

Copper oxide nanoparticles influence on the performance of sequencing batch reactor and the transfer of antibiotic resistance genes by regulating bacterial quorum sensing system

The environmental pollution caused by copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) has attracted widespread attention. In this study, microbial community, key metabolic pathways and quorum sensing (QS) were investigated to reveal the impact of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) on the performance of sequencing batch reactor (SBR) and the transfer of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Results showed that under CuO NPs impact, the removal efficiency of COD, ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N) and total nitrogen (TN) was stable at around 90%, 96% and 60%, respectively. However, removal efficiency of total phosphorus (TP) was reduced to below 60% under 0.1 mg/L and 1 mg/L CuO NPs exposure. Microbial community analysis showed CuO NPs was advantageous to the growth of key functional bacterial phyla Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria and Patescibacteria. The relative abundance of Candidatus Accumulibacter genus and ppX gene were decreased, which then lower the TP removal efficiency. Besides, CuO NPs might trigger QS system, affecting Candidatus Accumulibacter, Aeromonas genus and ppX gene, and then regulated the removal of TP in the SBR system. The co-occurrence network analysis revealed a correlation among core ARGs, signaling molecule, QS-related microbial community and ARGs’ hosts, suggesting that the spread of ARGs might be driven by QS system under selective pressure of CuO NP. These findings could reveal the effect of CuO NPs on the performance of activated sludge system and provides new ideas for ARGs control through regulating the QS system.

Combined recovery of polyhydroxyalkanoates and reclaimed water in the mainstream of a WWTP for agro-food industrial wastewater valorisation by membrane bioreactor technology

The present study investigated the combined production of reclaimed water for reuse purposes and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) from an agro-food industrial wastewater. A pilot plant implementing a two-stage process for PHA production was studied. It consisted of a mainstream sequencing batch membrane bioreactor (SBMBR) in which selection of PHA-accumulating organisms and wastewater treatment were carried out in, and a side-stream fed-batch reactor (FBR) where the excess sludge from the SBMBR was used for PHA accumulation. The performance of the SBMBR was compared with that of a conventional sequencing batch reactor (SBR) treating the same wastewater under different food to microorganisms’ ratios (F/M) ranging between 0.125 and 0.650 kgCOD kgTSS−3 d−1. The SBMBR enabled to obtain very high-quality effluent in compliance with the relevant national (Italy) and European regulations (Italian DM 185/03 and EU, 2020/741) in the field of wastewater reclamation, whereas the performances in the SBR collapsed at F/M higher than 0.50 kgCOD kgTSS−1d−1.A maximum intracellular storage of 45% (w/w) and a production yield of 0.63 gPHA L−1h−1 were achieved when the SBMBR system was operated with a F/M ratio close to 0.50 kgCOD kgTSS−1d−1. This resulted approximately 35% higher than those observed in the SBR, since the ultrafiltration membrane avoided the washout of dispersed and filamentous bacteria capable of storing PHA.Furthermore, while maximizing PHA productivity in conventional SBR systems led to process dysfunctions, in the SBMBR system it helped mitigate these issues by reducing membrane fouling behaviour. The results of this study supported the possibility to achieve combined recovery of reclaimed water and high-value added bioproducts using membrane technology, leading the way for agro-food industrial wastewater valorization in the frame of a circular economy model.

Advanced steam-explosion pretreatment mediated anaerobic digestion of municipal sludge: Effects on methane yield, emerging contaminants removal, and microbial community

Advanced steam explosion pretreatment, i.e., the Thermal hydrolysis process (THP) is applied mainly to improve the sludge solubilization and subsequent methane yield in the downstream anaerobic digestion (AD) process. However, the potential of THP in pretreating the high solids retention time (SRT) sludges, mitigating the risk of emerging organic micropollutants and effects on anaerobic microbiome in digester remains unclear. In this study, sludge from a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) system operating at a SRT of 40 days was subjected to THP using a 5 L pilot plant at the temperature ranges of 120–180 °C for 30–120 min. The effect of THP on organics solubilization, methane yield, organic micropollutant removal, and microbial community dynamics was studied. The highest methane yield of 507 mL CH4/g VSadded and volatile solids (VS) removal of 54% were observed at 160°C- 30min THP condition, i.e., 4.1 and 2.6 times higher than the control (123 mL CH4/gVSadded, 20.7%), respectively. The experimental values of hydrolysis coefficient and methane yield have been predicted using Modified Gompertz, First order, and Logistics models. The observed values fitted well with all three models showing an R2 value between 0.96 and 1.0. THP pretreated sludges showed >80% removal of Trimethoprim, Enrofloxacin, Ciprofloxacin, and Bezafibrate. However, Carbamazepine, 17α-ethinylestradiol, and Progesterone showed recalcitrant behavior, resulting in less than 50% removal. Microbial diversity analysis showed the dominance of Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Chloroflexi, and Bacteroidetes, collectively accounting for >70–80% of bacterial reads. They are mainly responsible for the fermentation of complex biomolecules like polysaccharides, proteins, and lipids. The THP-mediated anaerobic digestion of sludge shows better performance than the control digestion, improved methane yield, higher VS and micropollutants removal, and a diverse microbiome in the digester.

A novel sulfur autotrophic denitrification in-situ coupled sequencing batch reactor system to treat low carbon to nitrogen ratio municipal wastewater: Performance, niche equilibrium and pollutant removal mechanisms

A novel integrated sulfur fixed-film activated sludge in SBR system (IS0FAS-SBR) was proposed to treat the low C/N ratio municipal wastewater. The effluent total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) and PO43−-P decreased from 17 mg/L and 3.5 mg/L to 8.5 mg/L and 0.5 mg/L, and higher nitrogen removal efficiency was contributed by the autotrophic denitrification. Microbial response characteristics showed that catalase (CAT), reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) and extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) alleviated the oxidative stress of sulfur carrier to maintain cell activity, while metabolic activity analysis indicated that the electron transfer rate was enhanced to improve mixotrophic denitrification efficiency. Meanwhile, the increased key enzyme activities further facilitated nitrogen removal and sulfur oxidation process. Additionally, the microbial community, functional proteins and genes revealed a niche equilibrium of C, N, S metabolic bacteria. Sulfur autotrophic in-situ coupled SBR system enlarged a promising strategy for treatment of low C/N ratio municipal wastewater.

Suppression of nitrite oxidizing bacteria by hydrogen peroxide for energy reduction in municipal wastewater treatment

This paper investigated the application of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) for achieving partial nitrification in mainstream municipal wastewater treatment process. The investigation was carried out in both bench-scale and pilot-scale sequencing batch reactor systems using primary effluent as feed from municipal wastewater treatment plant. H2O2 played a dual role of: (1) inhibitor for nitrifying microorganisms, and (2) supplemental oxygen source. Bench scale studies were carried out at various doses of initial hydrogen peroxide concentrations (10,25,50,100 mg/L). It was found that at a concentration of 50 mg/L and above ammonia removal reduced by more than 80% implying significant impact on both ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB). After an acclimatization period of 18 days at a dose of 50 mg/L H2O2, complete nitrification was observed with about 30% nitrite accumulation in the effluent which showed NOBs were impacted more significantly than AOBs. It was also observed from the long-term pilot-scale study that the inhibitory impact on NOBs is almost double the impact of on AOBs which facilitated partial nitrification resulting a nitrite accumulation ratio up to 60% in the effluent at 2 mg/L DO and 15 days SRT.Peroxide dosing resulted in an energy savings of 12–15% compared to a control reactor. It was also shown that by reducing the DO from 2 to 1 mg/L, additional power saving of 15% is achievable. Therefore, the proposed approach is an efficient method for aeration energy savings and can be easily implemented in existing wastewater treatment plants.

Environmental co-benefits of energy recovery from wastewater of typical industrial sectors from life cycle perspective: Regional potentials in China

High organic content industrial wastewater (HOCIW) from typical industrial sectors has a tremendous potential for energy recovery. The energy recovery capacity and contribution to mitigating multiple environmental impacts synergistically at regional scale remain elusive. Targeting HOCIW from typical industrial sectors (including Food products, Textiles, Leather & clothing products, Paper & printing, and Pharmaceuticals) in 30 Chinese provincial regions, the energy input and output, as well as direct and indirect environmental impacts in the background scenario (sequencing batch reactor system) and foreground scenario (expanded granular sludge blanket + biogas power generation system) are evaluated. By comparing two scenarios, the environmental co-benefits of energy recovery from HOCIW are unraveled from life cycle and multi-impact category perspectives. Results indicate that Freshwater eutrophication and Marine eutrophication are the most remarkable impact categories (with the normalized score of impact potential greater than 0.005), followed by Global warming and Stratospheric ozone depletion (within 0.001–0.002). Attributed to power and fertilizer offsets, seven out of eight impact categories can be mitigated, except Freshwater eutrophication. There is the most remarkable mitigation effect on Fine particulate matter formation, ranging from −526.7% to −786.0% across regions. Shandong, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian are more prominent in terms of the impact potential and energy and resource recovery potentials. The findings can provide support for regional policy design regarding wastewater treatment considering energy recovery and environmental impact mitigation.

The use of immobilised bacteria cross-linked within magnetic alginate beads enhances the treatment of benzophenone-type UV filter chemicals by the SBR system

Benzophenone-n compounds (BPs) are applied in a broad spectrum of commercial products, one of which is sunscreen. These chemicals are frequently detected in a variety of environmental matrices worldwide, especially water bodies. BPs are defined as emerging contaminants as well as endocrine-disrupting contaminants; thus, it has become necessary to develop aggressive and green treatments to remove BPs. In this study, we used immobilised BP-biodegrading bacteria linked to reusable magnetic alginate beads (MABs). The MABs were added to a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) system to enhance the removal of 2,4-dihydroxybenzophenone (BP-1) and oxybenzone (BP-3) from sewage. The BP-1 and BP-3 biodegrading bacteria in the MABs consisted of strains from up to three genera to allow for efficient biodegradation. The strains used were Pseudomonas spp., Gordonia sp., and Rhodococcus sp. The optimal composition of the MABs consisted of 3% (w/v) alginate and 10% (w/v) magnetite. The MABs resulted in 60.8%–81.7% recovery by weight after 28 days, and there was a continuous release of bacteria. Moreover, the biological treatment of the BPs sewage improved after adding 100 g of BP1-MABs (1:27) and also 100 g BP3-MABs (1:27) into the SBR system at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 8 h. Compared with the SBR system without MABs, the removal rates of BP-1 and BP-3 increased from 64.2% to 71.5% and from 78.1% to 84.1%, respectively. Furthermore, the COD removal increased from 36.1% to 42.1%, and total nitrogen increased from 30.5% to 33.2%. Total phosphorus remained constant at 29%. The bacterial community analysis showed that the Pseudomonas population was <2% before the MAB addition, but increased to 56.1% by day 14. In contrast, the Gordonia sp. And Rhodococcus sp. Populations (<2%) remained unchanged throughout the 14-day treatment period.

Performance of simultaneous carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus removal from vegetable oil refining wastewater in an aerobic-anoxic sequencing batch reactor (OA-SBR) system by alternating the cycle times

Carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) pollutants are among the most common environmental contaminants in different types of industrial wastewater, and they are a pollution factor that causes the eutrophication of receiving aquatic systems. An aerobic-anoxic sequencing batch reactor (O/A-SBR) system was studied to enhance the efficiency of vegetable oil refining wastewater treatment (VORW). Reactors were exploited with a total cycle period of 24 h (20 min filling, 17 h aeration, 4 h anoxic, 2 h settling, 20 min draw, and 20 min idle). SBR efficiency was evaluated by measuring pH, turbidity, chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), and nutrients such as nitrate, ammonium, and phosphate. The results showed better performance from the start of operation with COD (83%), BOD5 (94%), turbidity (80%), nitrate (93%), ammonium (96%), and phosphate (91%) removal efficiencies. As industrial wastewater treatment is an important and complicated issue regarding environmental pollution, SBR can provide a better solution. The O/A-SBR system is a promising option that the VOR industry may adopt as a pre-treatment due to its more effective, inexpensive, and simple operation for organic matter and nutrient removal.

Seeding and Acclimatization for Aerobic Processing of Restaurant Wastewater with Sequencing Batch Reactor

Restaurant wastewater has a relatively high organic matter content, so it needs to be treated to meet the specified quality standard. One of the technologies that can be used in restaurant wastewater treatment is Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) technology. The purpose of this study is to set up an aerobic SBR system with seeding and acclimatization treatments to reduce the amount of organic matter in restaurant wastewater when a shock load occurs. The research was done using wastewater from a restaurant in Bandung and activated sludge from the food industry in Bogor as seeds for microorganisms. In this study, the seeding process was carried out by introducing 25% activated sludge and 75% nutrients into the reactor, and the acclimatization process was carried out by introducing a specific ratio of nutrients and wastewater into the reactor gradually until the waste concentration reached 100%. The parameters tested were COD, MLVSS, DO, pH, and temperature. During the seeding procedure, the initial COD value of 3,200 mg/L declined. It began to stabilize on the seventh day, with a COD value of 1,080 mg/L. The COD removal reached a relatively stable condition in the acclimatization process starting on day 2, where COD decreased from the original 1,280 mg/L to 480 mg/L.&#x0D;

Optimization of Simultaneous Nutrients and Chemical Oxygen Demand Removal from Anaerobically Digested Liquid Dairy Manure in a Two-Step Fed Sequencing Batch Reactor System Using Taguchi Method and Grey Relational Analysis.

The technological development for efficient nutrient removal from liquid dairy manure is critical to a sustainable dairy industry. A nutrient removal process using a two-step fed sequencing batch reactor (SBR) system was developed in this study to achieve the applicability of simultaneous removal of phosphorus, nitrogen, and chemical oxygen demand from anaerobically digested liquid dairy manure (ADLDM). Three operating parameters, namely anaerobic time:aerobic time (min), anaerobic DO:aerobic DO (mg L-1), and hydraulic retention time (days), were systematically investigated and optimized using the Taguchi method and grey relational analysis for maximum removal efficiencies of total phosphorus (TP), ortho-phosphate (OP), ammonia-nitrogen (NH3-N), total nitrogen (TN), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) simultaneously. The results demonstrated that the optimal mean removal efficiencies of 91.21%, 92.63%, 91.82%, 88.61%, and 90.21% were achieved for TP, OP, NH3-N, TN, and COD at operating conditions, i.e., anaerobic:aerobic time of 90:90 min, anaerobic DO:aerobic DO of 0.4:2.4 mg L-1, and HRT of 3 days. Based on analysis of variance, the percentage contributions of these operating parameters towards the mean removal efficiencies of TP and COD were ranked in the order of anaerobic DO:aerobic DO > HRT > anaerobic time:aerobic time, while HRT was the most influential parameter for the mean removal efficiencies of OP, NH3-N, and TN followed by anaerobic time:aerobic time and anaerobic DO:aerobic DO. The optimal conditions obtained in this study are beneficial to the development of pilot and full-scale systems for simultaneous biological removal of phosphorus, nitrogen, and COD from ADLDM.

Bioaugmentation and enhanced formation of biogranules for degradation of oil and grease: Start-up, kinetic and mass transfer studies

Biogranulation technology is an emerging biological process in treating various wastewater. However, the development of biogranules requires an extended period of time when treating wastewaters with high oil and grease (O&G) content. A study was therefore conducted to assess the formation of biogranules through bioaugmentation with the Serratia marcescens SA30 strain, in treating real anaerobically digested palm oil mill effluent (AD-POME), with O&G of about 4600 mg/L. The biogranules were developed in a lab-scale sequencing batch reactor (SBR) system under alternating anaerobic and aerobic conditions. The experimental data were assessed using the modified mass transfer factor (MMTF) models to understand the mechanisms of biosorption of O&G on the biogranules. The system was run with variable organic loading rates (OLR) of 0.69–9.90 kg/m3d and superficial air velocity (SAV) of 2 cm/s. After 60 days of being bioaugmented with the Serratia marcescens SA30 strain, the flocculent biomass transformed into biogranules with excellent settleability with improved treatment efficiency. The biogranules showed a compact structure and good settling ability with an average diameter of about 2 mm, a sludge volume index at 5 min (SVI5) of 43 mL/g, and a settling velocity (SV) of 81 m/h after 256 days of operation. The average removal efficiencies of O&G increased from 6 to 99.92%, respectively. The application of the MMTF model verified that the resistance to O&G biosorption is controlled via film mass transfer. This research indicates successful bioaugmentation of biogranules using the Serratia marcescens SA30 strain for enhanced biodegradation of O&G and is capable to treat real AD-POME.

Microplastics enhanced the toxic effects of sulfamethoxazole on aerobic granular sludge and enriched antibiotic resistance genes

Aerobic granular sludge (AGS) is an effective antibiotic wastewater treatment technology. However, although sulfonamide antibiotics (SAs) and microplastics (MPs) are frequently and simultaneously detected, their combined effects on AGS remain unclear. Herein, the effects of a combination of polystyrene (PS) and sulfamethoxazole (SMX) on the granulation, performance, and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) of AGS in sequencing batch reactor (SBR) systems were evaluated. The response mechanism of AGS microorganisms to the combined toxicity was investigated using metagenomics and metabolomics. The results revealed that the combined stress decreased the removal rate of COD and NO3−-N in the SBR system, delayed the process of AGS granulation, and increased the abundance of ARGs by 62.02% compared with SMX stress alone. The increased concentration of malondialdehyde and phospholipid metabolites suggested that PS enhanced the toxicity of SMX toward microorganisms by disrupting the cell membrane, thereby increasing the secretion of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) by 28.16% and decreasing the proportion of viable cells by 23.16%. In contrast, the abundance of carbon-source utilization, denitrifying bacteria, and corresponding key functional genes decreased. Microbes respond to combined toxic shocks by increasing the synthesis of “cheap” amino acids and polysaccharides to secrete a greater amount of EPS. This study will promote the understanding of the impact of the coexistence of MPs and SAs on AGS.

Effect of Organic Loading Rates on Performance of Treating Dairy Wastewater in a Lab-Scale Sequencing Batch Reactor

This study aims to investigate, the effect of organic loading rates (OLRs), nutrient ratio addition, and sludge retention time (SRT) on treating dairy wastewater in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) system. This investigation is verified by experiments conducted in 3 phases at 3 different OLRs (1.8, 1.2, and 0.9 kg/m3d, respectively). Urea ((NH2)2CO) is added to make a suitable (COD:N:P) ratio of (100:5:1) in dairy wastewater. The SRT is adjusted from 50 days to an appropriate value of 18 days. The obtained results show that the COD, TN, and TP removal efficiencies are increased with decreasing OLRs. Sludge concentration in the SBR tank is stable at 1100 mg/L after adding (NH2)2CO. In addition, the SBR operated at a suitable SRT (i.e. 18 days) helps the biomass stably, resulting in enhancement of COD, TN, and TP removal. The results are helpful to the design of SBR for treating dairy wastewater.

P, N, and C-related functional genes in SBR system promoted antibiotics resistance gene transmission under polystyrene microplastics stress

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are important sinks of microplastics (MPs) and antibiotics resistance genes (ARGs). Information regarding connections between functional modules of WWTPs and spread of ARGs under MPs stress is still lacking. In this study, correlations between P-, N-, and C-related functional genes and ARGs in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) system were evaluated under polystyrene (PS) MPs stress. Total P and chemical oxygen demand (COD) in effluent showed no significant changes under 0.5–50 mg L−1 PS MPs stress within 32 cycle treatment periods of SBR, while 0.5 mg L−1 PS MPs affected the N cycling process. PS MPs (0.5–50 mg L−1) promoted the richness and diversity of microbial community in SBR, and the denitrification process was exuberant. PS MPs with a low dosage (0.5–5 mg L−1) enhanced secretion of extracellular polymeric substances and promoted expression levels of functional genes related to C fixation, C degradation, P cycling, and N cycling. Simultaneously, aac(3)-II, blaTEM-1, and tetW increased by 27.13%, 38.36%, and 9.57% under low dosages of PS MPs stress; more importantly, the total absolute abundance of intI1 nearly doubled. 78.4% of these P-, N-, and C-related functional genes were positively correlated with intI1, thus favoring transmission of ARGs. This study firstly disclosed the underlying correlations between functional modules of WWTPs and spread of ARGs under MPs stress.

Performance of simultaneous carbon and nitrogen removal of high-salinity wastewater in heterotrophic nitrification-aerobic denitrification mode

In this work, heterotrophic nitrification-aerobic denitrification (HN-AD) mode was successfully established after a 105-day acclimation in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) system using mustard tuber wastewater (MTWW) as substrate. The performance of simultaneous carbon and nitrogen removal (SCNR) was investigated using manual wastewater within the salinity from 1% to 6%. Results indicate that high salinity caused little effect on carbon removal, while it brought a significant influence on nitrogen removal. At the salinity of 1% and 3%, the heterotrophic nitrification rates were 2.83 and 3.96-fold of those of the autotrophic nitrification, respectively. As the salinity was up to 6%, the autotrophic nitrification was significantly inhibited, while the anoxic denitrification was slightly affected and the aerobic denitrification became dominant. The analysis on microbial community structure of the acclimated wastewater sludge reveals that the genera with autotrophic nitrification were gradually eliminated with an increasing salinity during the acclimation. Paracoccus, Pseudomonas, Alcaligenes and Bacillus were the dominant genera related to HN-AD process. The optimal operation parameters for SCNR were investigated, including C/N ratio (25), DO concentration (6 mg/L) and temperature (35 °C). This work provides an insight into the migration of nitrogen removal pathway and the succession of HN-AD microbial community in the process of high-salt wastewater biotreatment.

Integrated sonophotocatalytic oxidation and SBR processes for the effective treatment of antibiotics with an emphasis on process optimization and microbial diversity

The presence of antibiotics in water and wastewater is a serious environmental concern of emerging interest globally. Their effective removal with a single treatment process is, however, challenging because of their widely varying characteristics, and requires innovative integration of treatment processes. In this study, sonophotocatalytic oxidation process was integrated with an aerobic sequencing batch reactor (SBR) for the comprehensive removal of a mixture of antibiotics. Initially, a Central Composite Design using Response Surface Methodology was used to optimise the operational parameters, viz. ultrasound (US) frequency, pH, and catalyst dosage, for the removal of Ciprofloxacin (CPX), Amoxicillin (AMX), and Tetracycline (TTC) in simulated wastewater. An optimised condition of 20 kHz US frequency, 6.59 initial pH, and 0.94 g L−1 catalyst dosage was observed for the maximum pollutant removal. These experimental conditions were subsequently used for combined sonophotocatalysis-aerobic SBR treatment. Three SBR systems representing a control system, pre-treated system, and untreated system, were used for the study. All three systems were able to achieve an average COD and NH4+-N removal of 85 % and 98 %, respectively. Results from the biological systems concluded that an enhanced CPX and TTC removal was observed in the pre-treated system, whereas maximum AMX removal was observed in the untreated SBR system. The metagenomic analysis confirmed the significant difference of microbial species with the addition of pretreated and untreated wastewater into the biological reactor, and pretreated system having higher number of species and greater biodiversity in comparison to untreated system.

Model-based evaluation of simultaneous nitrification and denitrification in aerobic granular sludge systems.

A lab-scale granular sludge sequencing batch reactor (G-SBR) system was operated using synthetic wastewater. The total nitrogen removal efficiency of 85% was obtained together with the achievement of complete total phosphorus removal with average granule diameter of 400µm. Dual-step nitrification and denitrification model with fixed biofilm thickness was used for performance analysis. The denitrification mode only contributed to TN removal with 25% which can be calculated with process stoichiometry. The remaining nitrogen removal could be explained by simulating simultaneous nitrification and denitrification which was responsible for 75% denitrification during aerobic period. In addition, low NO3- concentration at the beginning of the fill period provided advantage for securing a prolonged anaerobic period for enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR). The model parameters of boundary layer thickness (zBL = 50µm) and half-saturation of O2 for nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (KO2,NOB = 0.5 gO2/m3) were tuned to fit NO2 and NO3 profiles in SBR cycle.

Simulating the impact of ozonation on biodegradation characteristics of industrial wastewater concentrated with membrane filtration

The biodegradation of raw wastewater for an organized industrial zone has been studied by means of dedicated respirometric and analytical experiments. The experimental results indicated that the investigated industrial wastewater contains mainly the soluble (slowly) hydrolysable fraction of chemical oxygen demand (COD) (58 %) while readily biodegradable and soluble inert fractions were in the order of 19 % and 3 %, respectively. Full-scale dynamic modeling results successfully confirmed the validity of estimated COD fraction and biodegradation kinetics. End of pipe wastewater reuse potential studied with a pilot plant revealed that almost 100 % soluble inert organics could be concentrated in reverse osmosis (RO) reject. Expectedly, the concentration was far above the COD discharge limit of 200 mg/L. Subsequently, the application of specific ozone dose around 7 kg O3/(kg COD·hour) on RO concentrates was not sufficient to secure the discharge limit by itself. However, the ozone oxidation converted 85 % of inert COD into the (soluble) slowly biodegradable organic matter. The modeling studies also showed that biodegradable organic matter generated by ozonation has much lower degradation kinetics compared to mainstream sequencing batch reactor system.

Ciliated Peritrichous Protozoa in a Tezontle-Packed Sequencing Batch Reactor as Potential Indicators of Water Quality.

The presence of colonial and solitary ciliated peritrichous protozoa was determined in a Sequencing Batch Reactor system filled with tezontle, a volcanic rock, economic, and abundant material that can be found in some parts of the world, like Mexico. The presence of these protozoa was related to the removal efficiencies of organic matter. Also, two novel staining techniques are proposed for staining both colonial and solitary peritrichous protozoa. The results show that tezontle promotes the growth of solitary and colonial ciliated peritrichous protozoa, which, once identified, could be used as indicators of the efficiency of the wastewater treatment process. Additionally, the staining techniques established in the current study allowed the precise observation of protozoan nuclei. They can represent a useful complementary methodology for identifying protozoan species present in water treatment processes, along with the already existing identification techniques. The number and variety of protozoa found in the system may be considered potential bioindicators of water quality during biological treatments.