Component analysis of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) during aerobic sludge granulation using FTIR and 3D-EEM technologies.

In recent years, lots of the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) related researches have focused on its role in the granulation and structural stability of aerobic sludge. Three-dimensional fluorescence spectrum (3D-EEM) and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) technologies were used to analyse the main components of sludge EPS during aerobic sludge granulation in this study. Results showed that the components of sludge EPS tended to be stable during aerobic sludge granulation. The peak F (Ex/Em=230/308.5) from 3D-EEM and the predominant spectral band at approximately 1517 cm(-1) from the FTIR spectra of the matured granular sludge indicated the importance of aromatic protein-like substances together, especially tyrosine in maintaining the stable structure of the granular sludge. Furthermore, the differences in the occurrence position and frequency of C-O bonds (1110-1047 cm(-1)) observed during aerobic sludge granulation showed that the transformations between the isomers and other forms of carbohydrates may be attributed to the formation of aerobic granule.

Effect of H2 on reductive transformation of p-ClNB in a combined ZVI-anaerobic sludge system.

Using a combined zero-valent iron (ZVI) and anaerobic sludge system as the platform, the hydrogen utilization and reductive mechanism of p-chloronitrobenzene (p-ClNB) were investigated in the study. Results showed that the corrosion of ZVI could be used as a source of electron donor for anaerobic microorganisms, and then enhanced reductive transformation of p-ClNB and production of methane. Thereinto, the transformation of p-ClNB was observed to have priority for the utilization of H(2). The enhancement factors (Q') for the reductive transformation of p-ClNB with exogenous H(2), reduced ZVI (RZVI), industrial ZVI (IZVI), and nanoscale ZVI (NZVI) as electron donors were 4.1-5.6, 14.8-35.1, 2.8-4.6, and 1.5-5.7, respectively. Results demonstrated that RZVI was the most effective type of electron donors, which was attributed to the production and utilization of H(2)/[H] simultaneously via the ZVI corrosion and microbial metabolism. It is hopeful for the application of ZVI to enhance the reductive transformation of analogous persistent organic pollutants in the anaerobic sludge system.

Role and significance of extracellular polymeric substances on the property of aerobic granule.

Because of the important role of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) in microbial aggregates, the relationship of the EPS and physico-chemical properties of aerobic granule was studied in two sequencing airlift bioreactors (SABR) using two kinds of substrates, acetate+glucose and 4-chloroaniline (4-ClA). Higher amounts of the exopolymeric protein (PN) and lower polysaccharides (PS) and DNA level were extracted from aerobic granules in the SABRs, and the variations in the PN and PN/PS of aerobic granules were higher (770% and 360%) in the SABR using 4-ClA as substrate than that in the other reactor. At the same time, suitable operating parameters (surface gas velocity at about 2.4 cm s(-1) and settling time at 5-10 min) favored EPS production and sludge granulation. Furthermore, the minimal settling velocity, hydrophobicity, surface charge increased in accordance with PN content increase, and a negative correlation between the sludge volume index (SVI) and PN content was observed.

Biofilm formation and microbial community analysis of the simulated river bioreactor for contaminated source water remediation.

BACKGROUND, AIM, AND SCOPE: The start-up pattern of biofilm remediation system affects the biofilm characteristics and operating performances. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performances of the contaminated source water remediation systems with different start-up patterns in view of the pollutants removal performances and microbial community succession. METHODS: The operating performances of four lab-scale simulated river biofilm reactors were examined which employed different start-up methods (natural enrichment and artificial enhancement via discharging sediment with influent velocity gradient increase) and different bio-fillers (Elastic filler and AquaMats® ecobase). At the same time, the microbial communities of the bioreactors in different phases were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, and sequencing. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The pollutants removal performances became stable in the four reactors after 2 months' operation, with ammonia nitrogen and permanganate index (COD(Mn)) removal efficiencies of 84.41-94.21% and 69.66-76.60%, respectively. The biomass of mature biofilm was higher in the bioreactors by artificial enhancement than that by natural enrichment. Microbial community analysis indicated that elastic filler could enrich mature biofilm faster than AquaMats®. The heterotrophic bacteria diversity of biofilm decreased by artificial enhancement, which favored the ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) developing on the bio-fillers. Furthermore, Nitrosomonas- and Nitrosospira-like AOB coexisted in the biofilm, and Pseudomonas sp., Sphaerotilus sp., Janthinobacterium sp., Corynebacterium aurimucosum were dominant in the oligotrophic niche. CONCLUSION: Artificial enhancement via the combination of sediment discharging and influent velocity gradient increasing could enhance the biofilm formation and autotrophic AOB enrichment in oligotrophic niche.