Specific Degradation Rate Research Articles

Mn-Co spinel coatings on Crofer 22 APU by electrophoretic deposition: Up scaling, performance in SOFC stack at 850 °C and compositional modifications

Ceramic coatings for metallic interconnects play a key role in limiting corrosion and chromium evaporation in solid oxide cells. This study presents the upscaling of the electrophoretic deposition (EPD) technique to process Mn-Co spinels on real-dimension Crofer 22 APU interconnects and the test in a SOFC stack. Area specific resistance of long-term test conducted for 5000 h at 850 °C demonstrated that two-steps sintering has a significant influence on the coating performance; an area specific resistance degradation rate of 0.5 mΩ cm2 kh−1 is recorded. Stack test, operated in fuel cell mode at 850 °C for 3000 h under application of 227 mA/cm², including 5 thermal cycles, demonstrated the effectiveness of the electrophoretically deposited Mn-Co spinel in limiting the oxide scale growth on the Crofer 22 APU. An advanced post mortem investigation showed the effectiveness of the EPD ceramic coating, even when considering different and complex surfaces of the Crofer 22 APU.

Microbiome Reengineering by Heat Selection for Rapid Biodegradation of Trichloroethylene with Minimal Vinyl Chloride Formation

Trichloroethylene (TCE) was a widely used industrial solvent but is now regarded as a notorious groundwater contaminant. Both physicochemical and biological methods have been applied to remediate groundwater contaminated by TCE. For medium to low level of TCE contamination, bioremediation could be more cost-effective. However, bioremediation approaches suffer from slow degradation rates and accumulation of vinyl chloride (VC). In addition, bioaugmentation is often highly encouraged but may introduce foreign genes and increase the pace of microbial evolution. In this study, a microbiome reengineering strategy by heat selection is applied to solve these problems. Out of eight heat-treated mixed cultures, two showed a much-improved TCE degradation rate, more than 70 times higher than the untreated. The biodegradation half-life (t1/2) of TCE was 0.0627 d or shorter. No VC was detected by a gas chromatography equipped with flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and only a minimal amount by a GC-mass spectrometer (GC-MS). Ethene achieved a fairly good mass balance. Polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) and next-generation sequencing (NGS) results showed that the heating process did not kill most bacteria, but Dehalococcoides were either not present or very scarce. Acetoanaerobium and Methanosarcina could be the most important species in this reductive dechlorination process. Kinetic study results showed that the maximum specific TCE degradation rate was approximately 1,271 nmole/min/mg cell protein, which are two orders of magnitude higher than that of the mixed cultures reported in literature. These results suggest that apart from biostimulation and bioaugmentation, microbiome reengineering could be a promising approach for rapid bioremediation of TCE-contaminated aquifers.

Treatment of a mixture of pharmaceuticals, herbicides and perfluorinated compounds by powdered activated carbon and ozone: Synergy, catalysis and insights into non-free OH contingent mechanisms.

Powdered activated carbon (PAC) is a strong adsorbent also capable of catalyzing ozonation processes. Ozone (O3) and PAC were simultaneously applied to treat a mixture of 17 micropollutants (MPs) at low concentrations, including 13 compounds that were studied for the first time by simultaneous addition of O3 and PAC system. Synergy and catalysis improved the removals and specific degradation rates of MPs in the first minute of the treatment. Radical probing experiments showed that scavenging hydroxyl radicals (OH) did not have a significant impact on the removals, while scavenging other reactive oxygen species was more influential. A detailed study by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy ascertained that the decomposition of ozone in presence of PAC at neutral pH did not boost the generation of free OH. Instead, adsorbed OH was likely produced as PAC-HO along with other oxidizing species resulting from adsorbed singlet oxygen and superoxide radicals.

Kinetics, pathways and toxicity of hexabromocyclododecane biodegradation: Isolation of the novel bacterium Citrobacter sp. Y3

This research investigated the biodegradation kinetics, pathways and ecological risk of hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) by a novel bacterium Citrobacter sp. Y3. Results showed the biodegradation followed a first-order model. The specific degradation rate constant of HBCD were obviously higher in batch experiments with combined carbon sources (k: 0.156–0.290 d−1) than those using HBCD as the sole carbon source (k: 0.055 d−1). Correspondingly, the degradation half-life became much shorter (T1/2: 2.39–4.44 d vs T1/2: 13.7 d). HBCD could be degraded through dehydrobromination and dehalohydroxylation, of which six possible degradation products were detected. To evaluate the ecological risk of HBCD biodegradation products, acute toxicity tests were assessed for the first time. The acute toxicity decreased slowly during treatment for 3–5 d and then decreased sharply. In general, treatment by Strain Y3 is not only a biodegradation process but also a detoxification process, thus it shows potential for bioremediation of HBCD contaminated sites.

Effect of protein and prebiotic on the survival of encapsulated probiotic during storage

The aim of this research was to investigate the impact of encapsulation system on its protective capability during freeze drying of Lactobacillus casei TISTR 1463 and its storage at 4˚C and 30˚C for 90 and 60 days, respectively. Sericin extract is a kind of protein with gel-like property that could aid in binding and also contains important amino acids. The combinations of sericin and prebiotics, including isomaltooligosaccharide and modified starch were evaluated during microencapsulation of probiotic L. casei TISTR 1463 in alginate beads. The highest encapsulation efficiency was 97.61% with the addition of sericinisomalto-oligosaccharide. Encapsulated probiotic with sericin-modified starch had the lowest specific rate of degradation (k) of 3.74x10-2 day-1 and 1.09x10-1 day-1 at both storage temperatures of 4˚C and 30˚C, respectively. Probiotic property of cell surface hydrophobicity (CSH) was also carried out.

Inhibition Kinetics Study of Molybdenum Reduction by Pantoea sp. strain HMY-P4

Physical, chemical or biological data mathematical simulation may assist the investigator to describe a phenomenon found based on physical, chemical or biological mechanisms. The model may also be used to forecast or predict future behavior, simulate a hypothetical event or feedback, and better tests can be planned. Molybdenum reduction to the insoluble molybdenum blue by bacteria is an emerging tool for bioremediation of molybdenum pollutant worldwide. In this study, the molybdenum reduction rate by the bacterium Pantoea sp. strain HMY-P4 was studied for its inhibitory kinetics characteristics using sodium molybdate as a substrate. Modeling kinetics showed that molybdenum reduction could be explained by several models such as Monod, Haldane, Hans-Levenspiel, Luong, Teissier, Aiba and Yano with Aiba as the best model as judged using error function analysis such as bias and accuracy factors (BF and AF), root mean square error (RMSE), adjusted coefficient of determination (adjR2), and corrected Akaike Information Criterion (AICc). The calculated values for the Aiba constants qmax (the maximum specific substrate degradation rate (h−1), Ks (concentration of substrate at the half maximal degradation rate (mg/L) or saturation constant and Ki (inhibition constant (mg/L)) were 0.060 (95% CI, 0.024 to 0.096), 0.302 (95% CI, 0.381 to 0.222) and 0.953 (95% CI, 0.568 to 1.338), respectively. These model parameters indicate a good tolerance of the bacterium against high concentration of toxic molybdenum making the bacterium useful for bioremediation works.

Biodegradation of phenol by a highly tolerant strain Rhodococcus ruber C1: Biochemical characterization and comparative genome analysis

A novel phenol-degrading strain was isolated and identified as Rhodococcus ruber C1. The degradation analysis shows that 1806 mg/L of phenol can be completely degraded by strain C1 within 38 h, and the maximum specific growth rate (μmax=1.527 h−1) and maximum specific phenol degradation rate (qmax=3.674 h−1) indicate its excellent phenol metabolism capability. More importantly, phenol can be degraded by strain C1 in the temperature range of 20–45 °C within 72 h, and with longer degradation time, phenol can be completely degraded even at 10, 15 and 50 °C. The whole genome of strain C1 was sequenced, and a comparative genome analysis of strain C1 with 36 other genomes of Rhodococcus was performed. A remarkable gene family expansion occurred during the evolution of Rhodococcus, and a comprehensive evolutionary picture of Rhodococcus at genomic level was presented. Moreover, the copy number of genes involved in phenol metabolism was compared among genus Rhodococcus, and the results demonstrate high phenol degradation capability of strain C1 at genomic level. These findings suggest that Rhodococcus ruber C1 is a bacterium capable of degrading phenol efficiently in the temperature range of 10–50 °C.

Bacterial community progression during food waste composting containing high dioctyl terephthalate (DOTP) concentration

The overall dioctyl terephthalate (DOTP) degradation efficiency during food waste composting was 98%. The thermophilic phases contributed to 76% of the overall degradation efficiency, followed by the maturation phase (22%), then the mesophilic phase (0.7%). The thermophilic phase had the highest specific degradation rate of 0.149 d−1. The progression of the bacterial community during the composting process was investigated to understand DOTP biodegradation. The results showed that the bacterial richness and the alpha diversity of the DOTP composting were similar to a typical composting process, indicating that the high concentration of DOTP did not hinder the thriving and evolution of the bacterial community. Additionally, Firmicutes was the most dominant at the phylum level, followed by Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes. Bacilli was the most dominant class (70%) in the mesophilic phase, with the abundance decreasing thereafter in the thermophilic and maturation phase. Moreover, Lactobacillus sp. was the dominant species at the beginning of the experiment, which was probably responsible for DOTP biodegradation. The high removal efficiency observed in the maturation phase indicates that degradation occurs in all the composting phases, and that compost can be used to enhance natural attenuation. These findings provide a better understanding of the bacterial communities during biodegradation of DOTP and plasticizers via food waste composting and should facilitate the development of appropriate green bioremediation technologies.

A comprehensive study on bisphenol A degradation by newly isolated strains Acinetobacter sp. K1MN and Pseudomonas sp. BG12

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an endocrine disrupting chemical. Its extensive use has led to the wide occurrence of BPA in various environmental ecosystems, at levels that may cause negative effects to the ecosystem and public health. Although there are many bacteria able to BPA utilization, only a few of them have a strong capacity for its biodegradation. Therefore, it is important to search for new bacteria strains, investigate their BPA biodegradation ability and potential effect of pH and other organic compounds on the process. These tasks have become the object of the present study. The results of our research show that for the newly isolated strains Acinetobacter sp. K1MN and Pseudomonas sp. BG12 after 15 days, with an initial BPA concentration of 100 mg L− 1, the highest BPA removal was achieved at pH 8, while sodium glutamate as a biostimulant best accelerated BPA degradation. Kinetic data for BPA biodegradation by both strains best fitted the Monod model. The specific degradation rate and the half saturation constant were estimated respectively as 8.75 mg L− 1 day− 1 and 111.27 mg L− 1 for Acinetobacter sp. K1MN, and 8.6 mg L− 1 day− 1 and 135.79 mg L− 1 for Pseudomonas sp. BG12. The half-maximal effective concentration (EC50) of BPA for Acinetobacter sp. K1MN was 120 mg L− 1 and for Pseudomonas sp. BG12 it was 123 mg L− 1. The toxicity bioassay (Microtox test) showed that elimination of BPA by both strains is accompanied by reduction of its toxic effect. The ability of tested strains to degrade BPA combined with their high resistance to this xenobiotic indicates that Acinetobacter sp. K1MN and Pseudomonas sp. BG12 are potential tools for BPA removal during wastewater treatment plant.

Bioremediation of fipronil using Bacillus sp. FA3: Mechanism, kinetics and resource recovery potential from contaminated environments

Present study investigates the role of Bacillus sp. FA3 in fipronil degradation and resource recovery from a contaminated environment. The degradation conditions of fipronil with strain FA3 were optimized using Box-Behnken design at a temperature of 32 °C, a pH of 7.0, and a shaking speed of 110 rpm. Strain FA3 efficiently metabolized fipronil in mineral salt medium (MSM) and degradation was 76.0%, in 15 days. The degradation kinetics of fipronil revealed effective degradation in the presence of strain FA3, with a kinetic parameters, half-life (t1/2), degradation constant (k), and determination coefficient (R2) of 7.7 days, 0.891 day−1, and 0.921, respectively. Maximum specific degradation rate (qmax), half-saturation constant (Ks), and inhibition constant (Ki) for fipronil were 1.4155 day−1, 65.1 mg L−1, and 156.3 mg L−1, respectively. FA3 cells immobilized with sodium alginate and an agar disc significantly enhanced fipronil degradation as compared to unimmobilized culture. FA3 strain could be helpful in biodegradation of fipronil and resource recovery from the wastewater and soil system. Based on the effective degradation rate and kinetics under in vitro conditions, this strain could be used for large-scale treatment of fipronil contaminants in soil and water environments.

Intensified 4-chlorophenol biodegradation in an aerobic sequencing batch reactor: Microbial and kinetic properties evaluation

In this paper, the microbial and biodegradation kinetics of acclimated-mixed sludge to 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) were investigated in an aerobic sequencing batch reactor (SBR). A molecular technique was applied to evaluate the bacterial variety and role in mixed biomass. Culture isolation and a 16S rDNA sequence authenticated the domination of Gram-positive high-G+C bacilli and coccobacilli with a 99% similarity belonging to the group of Actinobacteria. These isolates include Brevibacterium casei DSM20657, Corynebacterium callunae 10338, Microbacterium oxydan s XH0903, and Kocuria rhizophila Ag09. Those strains in the mixed condition aerobically removed 4-CP till a concentration of 800 mg L −1 . The biodegradation kinetics of 4-CP were adequately predicted by the Haldane formulae with a half-saturation constant ( K s ) and an inhibition constant ( K i ), of 9.12 and 609.7 mg L −1 , respectively. The maximum specific degradation rate ( q m ) was 20.33 mg 4-CP g −1 VSS h −1 . Amounts of the yield coefficient (Y) were among 0.25 and 0.48 mg VSS mg −1 COD. However, due to congregate of 5-chloro-2-hydroxymuconic semialdehyde (CHMS), an intermediate meta-cleavage product of 4-CP, the pure strains isolated from mixed sludge did not show a higher 4-CP-removal efficiency compared with the mixed sludge. Therefore, the use of mixed biomass in engineering systems has attracted increased attention for both environmental and biotechnological applications. • Representing firstly Gram positive high-G+C bacteria degrading 4-CP based on 16S rDNA. • Kinetic properties of acclimated-mixed sludge treating high concentration of 4-CP. • The Y value was observed to be from 0.25 to 0.48 mg VSS mg -1 COD. • The critical concentration of 4-CP and the K i /K s ratio were 74.5 mg L -1 and 66.85, respectively. • High concentration of 4-CP could be removed by SBR with acclimated-mixed sludge.

Biodegradation of catechol by Pseudomonas fluorescens isolated from petroleum‐impacted soil

AbstractBioremediation strategies have been applied to clean up petroleum hydrocarbon (PHC) impacted sites. Introducing PHC degrading microorganisms (bioaugmentation) and enhancing the in‐situ nutrients availability (biostimulation) are widely used strategies. These strategies can be combined to lead to a better bioremediation performance. In this work, Pseudomonas fluorescens was isolated from a PHC impacted site. Through a 23 factorial design plan, the effect of various combinations of nitrate, sulphate, and phosphate ions on the PHC bioremediation performance by P. fluorescens was investigated using catechol, an essential metabolic intermediate of BTEX degradation, as the sole carbon source. The maximum specific catechol degradation rate was chosen as the response to evaluate the catechol bioremediation performance. The ANOVA results indicated that the presence of nitrate ions alone lowered the maximum specific catechol degradation rate, which can be explained by the accumulation of nitrites and ammonia during the denitrification process by P. fluorescens. It was noted that dosing sulphate ions alone did not affect the bioremediation performance, which indicates P. fluorescens can grow in a sulphur‐limited environment. In contrast, the presence of sulphate and nitrate ions together can lead to a higher specific catechol degradation rate. This may be caused by the presence of sulphate that can suppress the production of nitrites. The importance of phosphate ions on catechol biodegradation was investigated. The absence of phosphate led to incomplete biodegradation. Introducing phosphate ions can accelerate catechol degradation, which can be explained by the secretion of organic acids.

Conductive spinels derived from Co–Mn based alloy precursor for SOFC cathode-side contact application

The utilization of gas-atomized Co–Mn based alloy precursor is a promising approach to lowering the sintering temperature of the spinel contact layer and enhancing its performance. In this study, simulated interconnect/contact/cathode cells are employed to investigate the effects of different metallic precursors (i.e., three Co–Mn based alloy powders and a mixture of Co + MnO2 powders) on the microstructure and performance of the reactively-sintered MnCo2O4-based contact layer. While excellent overall electrical performance is observed for all the cells with the four contact precursors during 1000-h testing at 800 °C in air, the cell with the Ce-doped alloy contact precursor shows the lowest cell area specific resistance (ASR) and ASR degradation rate. Cross-sectional observation of the tested cells is conducted to assess the compatibility of the contact layer with adjacent components as well as its effectiveness in reducing the Cr2O3 scale growth and blocking Cr migration from the interconnect to the cathode.

Rapid and Complete Biodegradation of Acrylic Acid by a Novel Strain Rhodococcus ruber JJ-3: Kinetics, Carbon Balance, and Degradation Pathways

Acrylic acid is used in various industrial applications but inflicts harm to human health and causes environmental pollution. A new bacterium, identified as Rhodococcus ruber JJ-3, was isolated, which can degrade high concentrations of acrylic acid rapidly and completely. Experimental results showed that the strain can achieve complete degradation of 1000 mg·L−1 acrylic acid in 11 h under the following conditions: pH 7, temperature 35°C, and inoculation quantity 15%. A high concentration of acrylic acid (2000 mg·L−1) can be completely removed in 28 h. According to the Monod model, the maximum specific degradation rate (vmax) and half saturation rate constant (KS) of the strain were 0.85 h−1 and 101.83 mg·L−1, respectively. The results of carbon balance revealed that 54.6% carbon was assimilated by R. ruber JJ-3 as biomass, and 43.0% carbon was mineralized into CO2. Furthermore, glycerol and lactic acid were measured as intermediates, and the possible degradation pathway was proposed during the biodegradation of acrylic acid. These results suggested that R. ruber JJ-3 completely degrades acrylic acid and might have a potential environmental implication in the purification of acrylic acid-contaminated environments.

Efficient and facile integrated biological-electrocatalytic process for treating highly concentrated toilet wastewater

Low-flush toilets have received increasing attention in relation to the water crisis in water-scarce regions because the vacuum flushing system (VFS) can reduce the amount of water required for flushing by approximately 80%. However, low-flush toilet wastewater exhibits the characteristics of high pollutant concentrations and cannot be directly discharged into urban pipe networks; therefore, decentralized wastewater treatment is necessary. Traditional control process (mainly consisting of hydrolysis acidification tank (HAT), anaerobic-anoxic–oxic (AAO) tank, coagulation sedimentation filtration tank and UV disinfection) was unsatisfactory for treating this type of wastewater. Therefore, a newly designed integrated biological-electrocatalytic (AAIE) process (mainly consisting of anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR), alternating internal circulation activated sludge process (AICS), and electrocatalytic oxidation (EC)) was introduced. ABR achieved large amounts of organic matter removal, the organic biodegradation kinetics revealed that the maximum specific degradation rate of the ABR was 0.050 to 0.082 d−1; AICS further removed COD and nitrogen, the denitrification rate and growth rate of nitrifying bacteria in the AICS were in the range of 0.079–0.121 kg/(kg·d) and 0.32–1.54 d−1, respectively. The temperature and organic loading rate were identified as two key parameters for ABR and AICS to remove pollutants, therefore, EC was the guarantee to make the effluent quality met the directly discharge standard of China (GB 18918-2002), especially in winter. The results showed that the AAIE process presented COD, colority, ammonia and total nitrogen removal rates of 98.5 ± 0.7%, 98.8 ± 0.6%, 97.0 ± 0.4% and 93.4 ± 2.6%, respectively, which were considerably higher than those of the control process. Furthermore, the economic analysis indicated that the AAIE process was feasible and may help to pave the way for wide application of biological-electrocatalytic processes for highly concentrated toilet wastewater treatment.

Microbial Heat and Organic Matter Loss in an Aerobic Corn Stover Storage Reactor: A Model Validation and Prediction Approach Using Lumped-Parameter Dynamical Formulation.

Corn stover dry matter loss effects variability for biofuel conversion facility and technology sustainability. This research seeks to understand the dynamic mechanisms of the thermal system, organic matter loss, and microbial heat generation in corn stover storage operations through system dynamics, a mathematical modeling approach, and response analysis to improve the system performance. This study considers epistemic uncertainties including cardinal temperatures of microbial respiratory activity, specific degradation rate, heat evolution per unit substrate degraded, and thermal conductivity in corn stover storage reactors. These uncertainties were managed through calibration, a process of improving the agreement between the computational and benchmark experimental results by adjusting the parameters of the model. Model calibration successfully predicted the temperature of the system as quantified by the mean absolute error, 0.6°C, relative to the experimental work. The model and experimental dry matter loss after 30 days of storage were 5.1% and 4.9 ± 0.28%. The model was further validated using additional experimental results to ensure that the model accurately represented the system. Model validation obtained a temperature mean absolute relative error of 0.9 ± 0.3°C and dry matter loss relative error of 3.1 ± 1.5%. This study presents a robust prediction of corn stover storage temperature and demonstrates that an understanding of carbon sources, microbial communities, and lag-phase evolution in bi-phasic growth are essential for the prediction of organic matter preservation in corn stover storage systems under environment’s variation.

UVA/persulfate-driven nonylphenol polyethoxylate degradation: effect of process conditions

ABSTRACT UV/persulfate (UV/PS) technologies have gained increased attention as efficient alternatives for removing pollutants from different classes, although processes based on the UVA-driven (PS) activation have not yet been discussed in the literature for the removal of the nonionic surfactant nonylphenol polyethoxylate (NPEO). The present study investigated the simultaneous effect of the initial persulfate concentration ([PS]0) and specific photon emission rate (E P,0) on NPEO degradation by UVA/PS following a Doehlert experimental design. The results for [NPEO]0 = (4.65 ± 0.15) mg L−1 indicated more than 97.8% NPEO removal after 2 h, with pseudo first-order specific degradation rate (k obs) of 0.0320 min−1, for [PS]0 = 7.75 mmol L−1 and E P,0 = 0.437 μmol photons L−1 s−1. Under these conditions, NPEO half-life time was about 22 min, and the EC50-48 h (% v/v) values for Daphnia similis before and after treatment did not differ significantly. Higher values of E P,0 would influence NPEO removal for [PS]0 not higher than 8–10 mmol L−1, although lower degradation efficiencies were obtained with higher [NPEO]0 or real wastewater, except for longer reaction times. Additionally, UVA/PS showed to be efficient for tensoactivity removal, despite the negligible total organic carbon (TOC) removal achieved. Finally, UVC and UVA resulted in NPEO degradation higher than 96% and similar tensoactivity removals when UVA/PS was conducted under optimal conditions ([PS]0 = 10 mmol L−1; E P,0 = 0.324 μmol photons L−1 s−1), suggesting that UVA radiation available in solar light could be advantageously employed for NPEO removal at concentrations usually found in wastewater.

Comparison of Photocatalytic Membrane Reactor Types for the Degradation of an Organic Molecule by TiO2-Coated PES Membrane

Photocatalytic membrane reactors with different configurations (design, flow modes and light sources) have been widely applied for pollutant removal. A thorough understanding of the contribution of reactor design to performance is required to be able to compare photocatalytic materials. Reactors with different flow designs are implemented for process efficiency comparisons. Several figures-of-merit, namely adapted space-time yield (STY) and photocatalytic space-time yield (PSTY), specific energy consumption (SEC) and degradation rate constants, were used to assess the performance of batch, flow-along and flow-through reactors. A fair comparison of reactor performance, considering throughput together with energy efficiency and photocatalytic activity, was only possible with the modified PSTY. When comparing the three reactors at the example of methylene blue (MB) degradation under LED irradiation, flow-through proved to be the most efficient design. PSTY1/PSTY2 values were approximately 10 times higher than both the batch and flow-along processes. The highest activity of such a reactor is attributed to its unique flow design which allowed the reaction to take place not only on the outer surface of the membrane but also within its pores. The enhancement of the mass transfer when flowing in a narrow space (220 nm in flow-through) contributes to an additional MB removal.

Aerobic degradation of high tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) and its impacts on nitrification and microbial community

Tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) was often used as developer in the high-tech industries. Information regarding biological treatment of high TMAH-containing wastewater is limited. This study investigated aerobic degradation of high TMAH, its impacts on nitrification, and microbial community in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR). The initial TMAH concentrations of SBR gradually increased from 200 to 4666 mg L−1 (equivalent to 31 to 718 mg-N L−1) to enrich microbial community for aerobic TMAH degradation and nitrification. The results indicated that the aerobic specific TMAH degradation rates followed the Monod-type kinetics with a maximum specific TMAH degradation rate of 2.184 mg N hour−1 g volatile suspended solid (VSS)−1 and the half-saturation coefficient of 175.1 mg N L−1. After TMAH degradation and ammonia release, the lag time for the onset of nitrification highly correlated with initial TMAH fed for the SBR. According to the microbial community analysis using next generation sequencing (NGS), potential aerobic TMAH-degraders including Mycobacterium sp. and Hypomicrobium sp. were enriched in the aerobic SBR. The results of real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and reverse transcript (RT)-qPCR indicated that Hyphomicrobium sp. may be able to utilize both TMAH and its degradation intermediates such as trimethylamine (TMA), while Thiobacillus sp. can only utilize TMAH. The qPCR and RT-qPCR results suggested that TMAH may inhibit nitrification by inactive expression of amoA gene and the intermediates of TMAH degradation may compete ammonia monooxygenase (AMO) enzyme with ammonia for nitrification inhibition.

Effects of copper on biological treatment of NMF- and MDG-containing wastewater from TFT-LCD industry

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of copper on N-methylformamide (NMF)- and methyl diglycol (MDG)-containing wastewater treatment using batch experiments and a lab-scale anoxic–oxic (A/O) sequencing batch reactor (SBR). Batch experimental results indicated that aerobic degradation of NMF followed Monod-type kinetics. Copper inhibition on nitrification also followed Monod-type inhibition kinetics with copper-to-biomass ratio instead of copper concentration. Specific degradation rates of NMF and MDG under both aerobic and anoxic conditions decreased in the matrix of full-scale wastewater, and high copper dosage would further reduce the degradation rates. In the long-term presence of 0.5 mg/L copper, the A/O SBR could maintain stable and complete degradations of NMF and MDG, 95% of COD removal, and more than 50% of total nitrogen (TN) removal. High concentrations of copper spikes, including 40 mg/L and 110 mg/L, slowed down degradation rates for both NMF and MDG, but did not affect COD and TN removal efficiencies in the full 24 h-cycle operation. The long-term A/O SBR operation revealed that daily dosage of 0.5 mg/L copper was not detrimental to NMF/MDG degradations due to regularly wasting sludge, but 110 mg/L of copper spike obviously reduced NMF/MDG degradation rate although it could be recovered later by regularly wasting sludge and maintaining SRT at 20 days.