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.

COD/sulfate ratio does not affect the methane yield and microbial diversity in anaerobic digesters.

Anaerobic digestion of organic matter is the major route of biomethane production. However, in the presence of sulfate, sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) typically outcompete methanogens, which may reduce or even preclude methane production from sulfate-containing wastewaters. Although sulfate-reduction and methanogenesis can occur simultaneously, our limited understanding of the microbiology of anaerobic digesters treating sulfate-containing wastewaters constrains improvements in the production of methane from these systems. This study tested the effects of carbon sources and chemical oxygen demand-to-sulfate ratio (COD/SO42-) on the diversity and interactions of SRB and methanogens in an anaerobic digester treating a high-sulfate waste stream. Overall, the data showed that sulfate removal and methane generation occurred in varying efficiencies and the carbon source had limited effect on the methane yield. Importantly, the results demonstrated that methanogenic and SRB diversities were only affected by the carbon source and not by the COD/SO42- ratio.

Influência da razão DQO/[SO 4 2- ] e da concentração de Na + na remoção de matéria orgânica e sulfato em reator UASB / Influence of COD/[SO4 2-] ratio and Na+ concentration on organic matter and sulfate removal in UASB reactor

RESUMO O tratamento anaeróbio de efluentes industriais ricos em sulfato e sódio pode ser limitado por vários fatores, dentre os quais a relação DQO/sulfato, a concentração de SO4 2- e a concentração de sódio. Entre os fenômenos investigados estão a competição entre bactérias redutoras de sulfato e arquéias metanogênicas por substrato, a concentração de sulfeto gerado na sulfetogênese e a inibição por cátions. Este trabalho apresentou e discutiu os resultados da operação de um reator UASB, com volume útil de 10,5 L e vazão de 16,0 L.dia-1. Utilizou-se glicose, acetato e metanol (DQO≈2.000 mg.L-1), sob razão DQO/sulfato variando de 0,20 a 6,15, concentração de sulfato de 0,3 a 10,0 g.L-1 e concentração do cátion Na+ de 0,70 g.L-1 a 5,40 g.L-1. A eficiência de remoção de DQO foi mantida acima de 80%, e a concentração de sulfato removida ficou limitada a cerca de 800 mg.L-1 durante o período experimental. A atividade metanogênica específica do lodo (AME) foi de 0,630 gCH4-DQO.gSSV-1 até carga de sulfato de 0,300 gSO4 2-.L-1 e (razão DQO/sulfato de 6,15), declinando até atingir 0,168 gCH4-DQO.gSSV-1 (queda de 70%) na última fase com 10,000 gSO4 2-.L-1 (razão DQO/[SO4 2-] de 0,24) e concentração de Na+ de 5,41±0,10 g.L-1. O aumento crescente das concentrações de sódio e sulfato, mantendo-se a concentração de matéria orgânica constante, permitiu constatar a inibição da metanogênese por sódio e sulfeto, mesmo em concentrações abaixo das consideradas inibidoras individualmente. O efeito do sódio na estrutura do grânulo foi determinante na inibição da metanogênese observada.

ABSTRACT The anaerobic treatment of industrial wastewater presenting high concentrations of sulfate and sodium may be limited by several factors, including the ratio COD / [SO4 2-], the concentration of SO4 2- and the concentration of Na+. The competition between sulfate reducing bacteria and methanogenic archaea for substrate, the concentration of sulfide generated in sulfidogenesis, and the inhibition by cations are among the main phenomena that have been investigated. This paper presented and discussed the results of a UASB reactor with a volume of 10.5 L and flowrate of 16.0 L.day-1, subjected to increasing COD/sulfate ratio whereas influent COD was kept constant. Glucose, acetate and methanol (≈2,000 COD mg.L-1) were the carbon sources, and the COD/sulfate ratio ranged from 0.20 to 6.15 for sulfate concentrations of 0.3 to 10.0 g.L-1, Na + concentrations of 0.70 g.L-1 to 5.40 g.L-1. The COD removal efficiency was maintained above 80%, and the sulfate removal was limited to 800 mg.L-1 throughout the experimental period. The specific methanogenic activity (SMA) was 0.630 gCH4-DQO.gSSV-1 for 0.300 gSO4 2-.L-1 (COD/sulfate of 6.15), decreasing to 0.168 (70% decrease) in the last phase (COD /sulfate of 0.24) at concentrations of 10.000 gSO4 2-.L-1 and of Na+ 5.41±0.10 g.L-1. The progressive increase of sulfate and sodium concentrations at constant influent COD resulted in methanogenesis inhibition by sodium and sulfide, even at concentrations bellow the inhibition limits, if individually considered. The effect of sodium in the granule structure was determinant for methanogenesis inhibition.

Continuous sulfidogenic wastewater treatment with iron sulfide sludge oxidation and recycle.

This study evaluated the technical feasibility of packed-bed sulfidogenic bioreactors dosed with ferrous chloride for continuous wastewater treatment over a 450-day period. In phase I, the bioreactors were operated under different combinations of carbon, iron, and sulfate mass loads without sludge recycling to identify optimal treatment conditions. A COD/sulfate mass ratio of 2 and a Fe/S molar ratio of 1 yielded the best treatment performance with COD oxidation rate of 786 ± 82 mg/(L⋅d), which resulted in 84 ± 9% COD removal, 94 ± 6% sulfate reduction, and good iron retention (99 ± 1%) under favorable pH conditions (6.2-7.0). In phase II, the bioreactors were operated under this chemical load combination over a 62-day period, during which 7 events of sludge collection, oxidation, and recycling were performed. The collected sludge materials contained both inorganic and organic matter with FeS and FeS2 as the main inorganic constituents. In each event, the sludge materials were oxidized in an oxidizing basin before recycling to mix with the wastewater influent. Sludge recycling yielded enhanced COD removal (90 ± 6% vs. 75 ± 7%), and better effluent quality in terms of pH (6.8 ± 0.1 vs. 6.5 ± 0.2), iron (0.7 ± 0.5 vs. 1.9 ± 1.7 mg/L), and sulfide-S (0.3 ± 0.1 vs. 0.4 ± 0.1 mg/L) removal compared to the baseline operation without sludge recycling during phase II. This process exhibited treatment stability with reasonable variations, and fairly consistent sludge content over long periods of operation under a range of COD/sulfate and Fe/S ratios without sludge recycling. The bioreactors were found to absorb recycling-induced changes efficiently without causing elevated suspended solids in the effluents.