Optimization of sulfate reduction and methanogenesis via phase separation in a two-phase internal circulation reactor for the treatment of high-sulfate organic wastewater.

To enhance the performance of the internal circulation (IC) reactor when treating high-sulfate organic wastewater, a laboratory-scale two-phase IC reactor with distinct phase separation capabilities was designed, and the sulfate reduction and methanogenesis processes were optimized by segregating the reactor into two specialized reaction zones. The results demonstrated that the first and second reaction areas of the two-phase IC reactor could be maintained at 4.5-6.0 and 7.5-8.5, respectively, turning them into the specialized phase for sulfate reduction and methanogenesis. Through phase separation, the two-phase IC reactor achieved a COD degradation and sulfate reduction efficiency of more than 80% when the influent sulfate concentration exceeded 5,000 mg/L, which were 32.32% and 16.04% higher than that before phase separation. Functional analyses indicated a greater activity of both the dissimilatory and assimilatory sulfate reduction pathways in the acidogenic phase, largely due to a rise in the relative abundance of the genera Desulfovibrio, Bacteroides, and Lacticaseibacillus, the primary carriers of sulfate reduction functional genes. In contrast, all the acetoclastic, hydrogenotrophic, and methylotrophic methanogenesis pathways were inhibited in the acidogenic phase but thrived in the methanogenic phase, coinciding with shifts in the genus Methanothrix, which harbors the mcrA, mcrB, and mcrG genes essential for the final transformation step of all three methanogenesis pathways.

Unraveling the evolution of dissolved organic matter in full-scale A/A/O wastewater treatment process using size exclusion chromatography with PARAFAC and nonnegative matrix factorization analysis.

Changes in spectral features and molecular weight (MW) of dissolved organic matter (DOM) along the A/A/O processes in eight full-scale wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) were characterized using size exclusion chromatography with a diode array detector, a fluorescence detector and an organic carbon detector in tandem (SEC-DAD-FLD-OCD) as well as bulk water quality parameters. The parallel factor (PARAFAC) and the nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) analyses have been effectively applied to the postprocessing of SEC-FLD fingerprints and SEC-OCD chromatograms, respectively. Individual SEC-FLD-PARAFAC or SEC-OCD-NMF components may span a broad range of MW, indicating that these SEC fractions within the same component were cognate and varied coherently across the dataset samples. The SEC-FLD-PARAFAC modeling and SEC-OCD-NMF analysis have clearly and concisely presented that the dramatic decreases of dissolved organic carbon, UV absorbance at 254 nm and protein-like fluorescence at Ex280/Em350 nm in the anaerobic process were primarily associated with the degradation of the large MW proteinaceous and polysaccharide-like biopolymers. It has also revealed that fluorescence of humic acid-like fractions increased significantly during the anaerobic process, but fluorescence of fulvic acid-like and humic substances' building blocks decreased slightly. Laboratory experiments further confirmed the presence of the humification process in anaerobic processes, and the formation of humic acid-like fluorophores may be associated with carbohydrate metabolism. The combination of SEC-FLD-PARAFAC and SEC-OCD-NMF helped to establish the links between changes in bulk water quality parameters and the evolution of SEC MW fractions, which provides a more in-depth insight into wastewater DOM treatability and enables the optimization of wastewater treatment processes.

Simultaneous determination of dissolved organic nitrogen, nitrite, nitrate and ammonia using size exclusion chromatography coupled with nitrogen detector.

Accurate quantification of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) has been a challenge due to the cumulative analytical errors in the conventional method via subtracting dissolved inorganic nitrogen species (DIN) from total dissolved nitrogen (TDN). Size exclusion chromatography coupled with an organic nitrogen detector (SEC-OND) has been developed as a direct method for quantification and characterization of DON. However, the applications of SEC-OND method still subject to poor separations between DON and DIN species and unsatisfied N recoveries of macromolecules. In this study, we packed a series of SEC columns with different lengths and resin materials for separation of different N species and designed an independent vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) oxidation device for complete oxidation converting N species to nitrate. To guarantee sufficient N recoveries, the operation conditions were optimized as oxidation time ≥ 30 min, injection mass (sample concentration × injection volume) < 1000 µL × mg-N/L for macromolecular proteins, and neutral pH mobile eluent. The dissolved O2 concentration in SEC mobile phase determined the upper limit of VUV oxidation at a specific oxidation time. Compared to conventional HW50S column (20 × 250 mm), HW40S column (20 × 350 mm) with mobile phase comprising of 1.5 g/L Na2HPO4·2H2O + 2.5 g/L KH2PO4 (pH = 6.85) could achieve a better separation of DON, nitrite, nitrate, and ammonia. When applied to river water, lake water, wastewater effluent, groundwater, and landfill leachate, the SEC-OND method could quantify DON as well as DIN species accurately and conveniently even the DIN/TDN ratio reached 0.98.

Unravelling relationships between fluorescence spectra, molecular weight distribution and hydrophobicity fraction of dissolved organic matter in municipal wastewater.

The characteristics of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the influent and secondary effluent from 6 municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) were investigated with a size exclusion chromatogram (SEC) coupled with multiple detectors to simultaneously detect ultraviolet absorbance, fluorescence, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) as a function of molecular weight (MW). The SEC chromatograms showed that biopolymers (>6 kDa) and humic substances (0.5-6 kDa) comprised the significant fraction in the influent, while humic substances became the abundant proportion in the secondary effluent. Direct linkages between MW distribution and hydrophobicity of DOM in the secondary effluent were further explored via SEC analysis of XAD resin fractions. DON and DOC with different hydrophobicity exhibited significantly distinct MW distribution, indicating that it was improper to consider DOC as a surrogate for DON. Different from DOC, the order of averaged MW in terms of DON was hydrophobic neutral ≈ transphilic neutral > hydrophobic acid > transphilic acid > hydrophilic fraction. Fluorescence spectral properties exhibited a significant semi-quantitative correlation with MW and hydrophobicity of DOC, with Pearson's coefficients of -0.834 and 0.754 (p < 0.01) for biopolymer and humic substances. Meanwhile, regional fluorescence proportion was demonstrated to indicate the MW and hydrophobicity properties of DON at the semi-quantitative level. The fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (EEM) could be explored to provide a rapid estimation of MW distribution and hydrophobic/hydrophilic proportion of DOC and DON in WWTPs.

Substrate competition and microbial function in sulfate-reducing internal circulation anaerobic reactor in the presence of nitrate.

Nitrate and sulfate often coexist in organic wastewater. In this study, an internal circulation anaerobic reactor was conducted to investigate the impact of nitrate on sulfate reduction. The results showed that sulfate reduction rate dropped from 78.4% to 41.4% at NO3- /SO42- ratios ranging from 0 to 1.03, largely attributed to the inactivity of acetate-utilizing sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and preferential usage of nitrate of propionate-utilizing SRB. Meanwhile, high nitrate removal efficiency was maintained and COD removal efficiency increased with nitrate addition. Enhancement of propionate and butyrate degradation based on Modified Gompertz model and Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States (PICRUSt2) analysis. Moreover, nitrate triggered the shift of microbial community and function. Twelve genera affiliated to Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria were identified as keystone genera via network analysis, which kept functional stability of the bacterial community responding to nitrate stress. Increased nitrate inhibited Desulfovibrio, but promoted the growth of Desulforhabdus. Both the predicted functional genes associated with assimilatory sulfate reduction pathway (cysC and cysNC) and dissimilatory sulfate reduction pathway (aprA, aprB, dsrA and dsrB) exhibited negative relationship with nitrate addition.

Characterizing property and treatability of dissolved effluent organic matter using size exclusion chromatography with an array of absorbance, fluorescence, organic nitrogen and organic carbon detectors.

In this study, size exclusion chromatography with an array of absorbance, fluorescence, organic nitrogen and organic carbon detectors was used for characterizing property and treatability of effluent organic matter (EfOM) from 12 wastewater treatment plants. According to their apparent molecular weight (AMW), EfOM fractions were assigned to biopolymers (>20 kDa), humic substances that comprise sub-fractions of humic-like acids (HA-I & HA-II, 2.3-7.0 kDa) and fulvic-like acids (FA, 1.5-2.3 kDa), building blocks (0.55-1.5 kDa) and low molecular weight neutral substances (<550 Da). The fractions of biopolymers and low molecular weight neutral substances didn't show humic-like fluorescence, while the fractions of HA-II, FA and building blocks usually had signatures of both humic-like and protein-like fluorescence. Humic substances generally contributed the largest proportion of dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen (DOC & DON) in effluents. Coagulation removed EfOM fractions following the order of biopolymers > HA subfraction > FA subfraction > building blocks, while little removal of protein-like fluorescence in HA-II and FA subfractions was detected. Anion exchange treatment could effectively reduce DOC and DON concentrations; the sequence of the treatment efficiency was humic substances > biopolymers > building blocks. Increasing O3 doses caused DOC and DON of EfOM to be gradually transformed from large AMW fractions into small AMW fractions, while chromophores and fluorophores in HA subfractions were relatively more refractory than those in the other fractions. Size exclusion chromatography with multiple detectors are suggested to be an informative technique for estimating treatability of EfOM by advanced wastewater treatment processes.

Bacterial community structure and predicted function in an acidogenic sulfate-reducing reactor: Effect of organic carbon to sulfate ratios.

A lab-scale acidogenic sulfate-reducing reactor with N2 stripping was continuously operated to uncover its microbial mechanism treating highly sulfate-containing organic wastewaters. Results showed that sulfate reduction efficiency decreased with the influent COD/sulfate ratios. Microbial community analysis showed that VFA accumulation mainly caused by the predominance of fermentative bacteria including Streptococcus and Oceanotoga. Genus Desulfovibrio was the most predominant SRB and enriched at low influent COD/sulfate ratios. Although Bifidobacterium, Atopobium, Wohlfahrtiimonas, Dysgonomonas etc. had low average abundance, they were identified keystone genera by the co-occurrence network analysis. The functions of the microbial community were not insignificantly influenced by COD/sulfate ratios. All predicted functional genes involved in dissimilatory sulfate reduction reached their maximum abundances at influent COD/sulfate ratio of 1.5, while the assimilatory sulfate reduction was favored at the COD/sulfate ratio lower than 2.

Microstructure, bacterial community and metabolic prediction of multi-species biofilms following exposure to di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP).

The occurrence and transportation of phthalate esters in biofilms from natural and engineered sources have attracted considerable research interest. However, little information is available highlighting the responses of multi-species biofilms in terms of their physicochemical structure and bacterial community induced by phthalate esters. Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), a model phthalate eater, was selected to treat multi-species biofilm aggregates, including an attached biofilm from a moving bed bioreactor (MBBR), a periphytic biofilm from a natural source and activated sludge in short-term exposure experiments (120 h). The production of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) from the three biofilms initially decreased and then slightly increased after exposure to DEHP, consistent with the variation of the most dominant fluorescent compounds consisting of humic-acid-like organic substances. The MBBR and periphytic biofilms secreted more fluorescence compounds than the activated sludge during the exposure period. The organic matter in the EPS was converted into smaller molecules, while limited variation was observed in the functional groups and secondary protein structures. Acinetobacter and Bacillus demonstrated significant increases and were likely the key genera responsible for DEHP degradation. The combined use of spectral, chromatographic and sequencing analyses indicated that the periphytic biofilm was more resistant to DEHP, possibly owing to the presence of more mature assemblages, including cells with higher metabolic activity and a higher diversity within the bacterial community. This study provides insights into the microstructural and bacterial responses of multi-species biofilms following exposure to phthalate esters, and provides important guidance for bioremediation of phthalate esters using periphytic biofilms.

Applying UV absorbance and fluorescence indices to estimate inactivation of bacteria and formation of bromate during ozonation of water and wastewater effluent.

Ozone is an effective oxidant and disinfectant commonly used for elimination of micropollutants and inactivation of resistant microbes. However, undesirable oxidation/disinfection byproducts such as bromate might form during ozonation. In this study, the UV absorbance and fluorescence indices were applied as surrogate indicators for predicting the inactivation of bacteria and formation of bromate during ozonation of water and wastewater effluents. The inactivation efficiencies of lab-cultured Escherichia coli (E. coli) and autochthonous bacteria were measured by plating (for E. coli only) and flow cytometry with fluorescence staining. During ozonation of E. coli spiked into wastewater effluents (∼106 cell/mL), the priority of inactivation efficiency determined by different cell viability methods were in the order of CFU > membrane damage > DNA damage. Approximately, 99% membrane damage and/or 90% DNA damage are conservatively supposed as an indicator for sufficient bacterial inactivation as well as degradation of antibiotic resistance genes. The related required O3 dosing thresholds for sufficient inactivation of E. coli and autochthonous bacteria refer to ∼0.6 O3/DOC (g/g), ∼50% decrease of UVA254, ∼60% decrease of UVA280, or ∼80% decrease of humic-like fluorescence. Within the range of 106-108 cell/mL, the bacterial concentration did not have significant effects on the required thresholds of the specific O3 doses or spectroscopic indicators required for bacterial inactivation. The addition of 50 mM tert-BuOH as ·OH scavenger increased the required specific ozone doses but decreased the losses of spectroscopic indicators necessary for sufficient bacterial inactivation, and also suggested that the membrane/DNA damages for bacterial inactivation were mainly attributed to the direct O3 attacks. The bromate concentration was determined using ion chromatography with MS/MS detection. The results showed that when O3 was dosed at the required thresholds for sufficient bacterial inactivation, bromate formation could usually be suppressed below 10 µg/L. The present work supports that it is possible to reach a balance between bacterial inactivation and bromate formation.