[Effects of dissolved oxygen in the oxic parts of A/O reactor on degradation of organic pollutants and analysis of microbial community for treating petrochemical wastewater].

Effects of dissolved oxygen (DO) on the biodegradation of organic pollutants were investigated using A/O reactors for the treatment of actual petrochemical wastewater. Two A/O reactors, DO were controlled at 2-3 mg x L(-1) in the oxic parts of reactor A and 5-6 mg x L(-1) of reactor B, were operated in parallel for comparison. The nearly a half of year operation results showed that the effluent COD in reactor A (72.5 ± 14.8 mg x L(-1)) was slightly higher than that in reactor B (68.7 ± 14.6 mg x L(-1)) at a HRT of 20 h. The average COD removal efficiencies were 67.0% and 68.8%, respectively. The effluent ammonium concentration was maintained at 0.8 mg x L(-1) and approximately 95% of ammonium removal was achieved. The effluent BOD, concentration was lower than 5 mg x L(-1). This indicated that the organic pollutants could be degraded thoroughly by the A/O processes, which were affected slightly by DO. Results of 454 pyrosequencing analysis of the sludge in oxic parts showed that at the phylum levels, sequences belonged to Proteobacteria, Planctomycetes and Bacteroidetes were abundant with 58.7% and 59.2%, 14.7% and 12.7%, 10.8% and 12.4% of total bacterial sequences in reactor A and B, respectively. Ammonium oxidation bacteria Nitrosomonas, nitrite oxidizing bacteria Nitrospira and obligate aerobic bacteria were highly enriched in reactor B with high DO levels, while the anaerobic denitrifiers Azospira and Acidovora were highly enriched in reactor A with low DO levels. The identified bacteria belonged to genera Novosphingobium, Comamonas, Sphingobium and Altererythrobacter were reported to degrade PAHs, chloronitrobenzene, pesticides and petroleum, which contributed to the degradation of petrochemical wastewater.

Systematic analysis of biochemical performance and the microbial community of an activated sludge process using ozone-treated sludge for sludge reduction.

Two lab-scale bioreactors (reactors 1 and 2) were employed to examine the changes in biological performance and the microbial community of an activated sludge process fed with ozonated sludge for sludge reduction. During the 122 d operation, the microbial activities and community in the two reactors were evaluated. The results indicated that, when compared with the conventional reactor (reactor 1), the reactor that was fed with the ozonated sludge (reactor 2) showed good removal of COD, TN and cell debris, without formation of any excess sludge. In addition, the protease activity and intracellular ATP concentration of reactor 2 were increased when compared to reactor 1, indicating that reactor 2 had a better ability to digest proteins and cell debris. DGGE analysis revealed that the bacterial communities in the two reactors were different, and that the dissimilarity of the bacterial population was nearly 40%. Reactor 2 also contained more protozoa and metazoa, which could graze on the ozone-treated sludge debris directly.

Analysis of the mechanism of sludge ozonation by a combination of biological and chemical approaches.

Using the practical sludge obtained from municipal sewage treatment plants, the mechanism of the sludge ozonation process was systematically investigated by a combination of biological and chemical approaches, including analysis of the changes in biological response by CFU and PCR-DGGE, bio-macromolecular activity and radical scavenging activity. The results indicated that after the sludge was exposed to ozone at less than 0.02 g O(3)/g TSS, the DGGE fingerprint remained constant and there was still some enzyme activity, indicating that the sludge solubilization was the main process. At greater than 0.02 g O(3)/g TSS, the bacteria began to be broken down and ozone was used to oxidize the bio-macromolecules such as proteins and DNA released from the sludge. Bacteria belonging to 'G-Bacteria' were able to conserve their DNA in the presence of less than 0.08 g O(3)/g TSS. At levels higher than 0.10 g O(3)/g TSS, the disintegration of the sludge matrix became slow and the microbes lost most of their activity, and ozone was used to transform the bio-macromolecules into small molecules. However, at levels higher than 0.14 g O(3)/g TSS, the ozone failed to oxidize the sludge efficiently, because several radical scavengers such as lactic acid and SO(4)(2-) were released from the microbial cells in the sludge.

Enhanced sludge solubilization by microbubble ozonation.

A microbubble ozonation process for enhancing sludge solubilization was proposed and its performance was evaluated in comparison to a conventional ozone bubble contactor. Microbubbles are defined as bubbles with diameters less than several tens of micrometers. Previous studies have demonstrated that microbubbles could accelerate the formation of hydroxyl radicals and hence improve the ozonation of dyestuff wastewater. The results of this study showed that microbubble ozonation was effective in increasing ozone utilization and improving sludge solubilization. For a contact time of 80 min, an ozone utilization efficiency of more than 99% was obtained using the microbubble system, while it gradually decreased from 94% to 72% for the bubble contactor. The rate of microbial inactivation was obviously faster in the microbubble system. At an ozone dose of 0.02g O(3)g(-1) TSS, about 80% of microorganisms were inactivated in the microbubble system, compared with about 50% inactivation for the bubble contactor. Compared to the bubble contactor, more than two times of COD and total nitrogen, and eight times of total phosphorus content were released from the sludge into the supernatant by using the microbubble system at the same ozone dosage. The application of microbubble technology in ozonation processes may provide an effective and low cost approach for sludge reduction.

Enhanced ozonation of simulated dyestuff wastewater by microbubbles.

The ozonation of synthetic wastewater containing azo dye, CI Reactive Black 5, was investigated using a microbubble generator and a conventional bubble contactor. The microbubble generator produced a milky and high intensity microbubble solution in which the bubbles had a mean diameter of less than 58 microm and a numerical density of more than 2.9 x 10(4) counts ml(-1) at a gas flow rate of less than 0.5 l min(-1). Compared with the bubble contactor, the total mass transfer coefficient was 1.8 times higher and the pseudo-first order rate constant was 3.2-3.6 times higher at the same initial dye concentration of 100 mg l(-1), 230 mg l(-1) and 530 mg l(-1) in the proposed microbubble system. The amount of total organic carbon removed per g of ozone consumed was about 1.3 times higher in the microbubble system than in the bubble contactor. The test using terephthalic acid as the chemical probe implied that more hydroxyl radicals were produced in the microbubble system, which contributed to the degradation of the dye molecules. The results suggested that in addition to the enhancement of mass transfer, microbubbles, which had higher inner pressure, could accelerate the formation of hydroxyl radicals and hence improve the oxidation of dye molecules.