Occurrence and removal of organic micropollutants in the treatment of landfill leachate by combined anaerobic-membrane bioreactor technology

Organic micropollutants,with high toxicity and environmental concern,are present in the landfill leachate at much lower levels than total organic constituents (chemical oxygen demand (COD),biochemical oxygen demand (BOD),or total organic carbon (TOC)),and few has been known for their behaviors in different treatment processes.In this study,occurrence and removal of 17 organochlorine pesticides (OCPs),16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs),and technical 4-nonylphenol (4-NP) in landfill leachate in a comb...

Comparison of membrane fouling during short-term filtration of aerobic granular sludge and activated sludge

Aerobic granular sludge was cultivated adopting internal-circulate sequencing batch airlift reactor. The contradistinctive experiment about short-term membrane fouling between aerobic granular sludge system and activated sludge system were investigated. The membrane foulants was also characterized by Fourier transform infrared （FTIR） spectroscopy technique. The results showed that the aerobic granular sludge had excellent denitrification ability; the removal efficiency of TN could reach 90%. The aerobic granular sludge could alleviate membrane fouling effectively. The steady membrane flux of aerobic granular sludge was twice as much as that of activated sludge system. In addition, it was found that the aerobic granular sludge could result in severe membrane pore-blocking, however, the activated sludge could cause severe cake fouling. The major components of the foulants were identified as comprising of proteins and polysaccharide materials.

Anaerobic-aerobic processes for the treatment of textile dyeing wastewater containing three commercial reactive azo dyes:Effect of number of stages and bioreactor type

In this study,the effect of number of stages and bioreactor type on the removal performance of a sequential anaerobic-aerobic process employing activated sludge for the treatment of a simulated textile dyeing wastewater containing three commercial reactive azo dyes was considered.Two stage processes performed better than one stage ones,both in terms of overall organic and color removal,as well as the higher contribution of anaerobic stage to the overall removal performance,thereby making them a more energy efficient option.The employment of a moving bed sequencing batch biofilm reactor,which uses both suspended and attached biomass,for the implementation of the anaerobic stage of the process,was compared with a sequencing batch reactor that only employs suspended biomass.The results showed that,although there was no meaningful difference in biomass concentration between the two bioreactors,the latter reactor had better performance in terms of chemical oxygen demand(COD)removal efficiency and rate and color removal rate.Further exploratory tests revealed a difference between the roles of suspended and attached bacterial populations,with the former yielding better color removal whilst the latter had better COD removal performance.The sequential anaerobic–aerobic process,employing an aerobic membrane bioreactor in the aerobic stage resulted in COD and color removal of 77.1±7.9%and 79.9±1.5%,respectively.The incomplete COD and color removal was attributed to the presence of soluble microbial products in the effluent and the autoxidation of dye reduction metabolites,respectively.Also,aerobic partial mineralization of the dye reduction metabolites,was experimentally observed.

Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactors (AnMBR) for Wastewater Treatment

This paper focuses on the recent research in the development of anaerobic membrane bioreactors in wastewater treatment. Anaerobic wastewater treatment technology is gaining increasing attention due to its capacity to convert wastewater BODs to usable biogas with relatively low energy consumption. The anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR), which is a combination of the anaerobic biological wastewater treatment process and membrane filtration, represents a recent development in the high-rate anaerobic bioreactors. This paper reviews applications and performances of AnMBR and the membrane filtration behaviour in AnMBRs.

Start-up and contaminants removal characteristics of aerobic granules-membrane bioreactor at low temperature

In order to understand the effect of low temperature on the formation process of aerobic granules and contaminants removal characteristics,the aerobic granules-membrane bioreactor (AGS-MBR) has been started up and operated at low temperature using the carbon resource of sodium acetate. Aerobic granules cultivated in AGS-MBR possess smooth surface and compact structure in morphology as well as better settling property and higher biomass after 38 days. The average parameters of aerobic granules are: diameter 3. 1 mm,wet density 1. 041 g/mL,sludge volume index 42. 35 mL/g and settling velocity 20. 6 - 45. 2 cm/min. During the start-up of AGS-MBR,the respectively average contaminants removal efficiencies at low temperature are 91. 9% for chemical oxygen demand (COD) ,89. 2% for NH4 + -N and 86. 3% for PO43- -P,and the overgrowth of filamentous bacteria has been well controlled. In addition,the hollow fiber microfiltration (MF) membrane fouling is light and the regime membrane layer is capable of enhancing membrane filtration as well as the average growth of trans-membrane pressure (TMP) is 1. 07 kPa/d. Compared with the conventional cultivation of aerobic granules,the sludge granulation time significantly decreases from 73 days to 38 days by the application of microfiltration membrane at low temperature.

Comparative study of thermophilic and mesophilic anaerobic treatment of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) wastewater

The paper provides a critical comparison between mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic treatment of PTA wastewater through diagnosis of a case study. Aspects covered are bioavailability, biodegradability, microbial population, thermodynamics, kinetics involved and bio-reactor design for PTA wastewater treatment. The results of the case study suggests that one- stage thermophilic anaerobic reactor coupled with coagulation-flocculation pre-treatment unit and an aerobic post treatment unit could be techno-economically viable for PTA wastewater treatment to ensure that the final effluent quality conforms to the international standard. The in-formation emanated from this study could be useful and thought provoking to the professionals and academia in the area of PTA wastewater treatment and can serve as impetus toward the development of research lines in similar problems like the treatment of other petrochemical wastewater such as phenol-con- taining wastewater, benzene/benzoic acid-con- taining wastewater or wastewater from other similar industrial settings.

Achieving simultaneous removal of carbon and nitrogen by an integrated process of anaerobic membrane bioreactor and flow-through biofilm reactor

In this study,a combined system consisting of an anaerobic membrane bioreactor(AnMBR)and flow-through biofilm reactor/CANON(FTBR/CANON)was developed to simultaneously remove carbon and nitrogen from synthetic livestock wastewater.The average removal efficiencies of total nitrogen(TN)were 64.2 and 76.4%with influent ammonium(NH4+-N)concentrations of approximately 200 and 500 mg/L,respectively.The COD removal efficiencies were higher than 98.0%during the entire operation.Mass balance analysis showed that COD and TN were mainly removed by the AnMBR and FTBR/CANON,respectively.The anammox process was the main nitrogen removal pathway in the combined system,with a contribution of over 80%.High functional bacterial activity was observed in the combined system.Particularly,an increase in the NH4+-N concentration considerably improved the anammox activity of the biofilm in the FTBR/CANON.16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing revealed that Methanosaeta,Candidatus Methanofastidiosum,and Methanobacterium were the dominant methanogens in the AnMBR granular sludge.In the CANON biofilm,Nitrosomonas and Candidatus Kuenenia were identified as aerobic and anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria,respectively.In summary,this study proposes a combined AnMBR and FTBR/CANON process targeting COD and nitrogen removal,and provides a potential alternative for treating high-strength wastewater.

Effect of powdered activated carbon on Chinese traditional medicine wastewater treatment in submerged membrane bioreactor with electronic control backwashing

Chinese traditional medicine wastewater, rich in macromolecule and easy to foam in aerobic biodegradation such as Glycosides, was treated by two identical bench-scale aerobic submerged membrane bioreactors （SMBRs） operated in parallel under the same feed, equipped with the same electronic control backwashing device. One was used as the control SMBR （CSMBR） while the other was dosed with powdered activated carbon （PAC） （PAC-amended SMBR, PSMBR）. The backwashing interval was 5 min. One suction period was about 90 min by adjusting preestablished backwashing vacuum and pump frequency. The average flux of CSMBR during a steady periodic state of 24 d （576 h） was 5.87 L/h with average hydraulic residence time （HRT） of 5.97 h and that of PSMBR during a steady periodic state of 30 d （720 h） was 5.85 L/h with average HRT of 5.99 h. The average total chemical oxygen demand （COD） removal efficiency of CSMBR was 89.29% with average organic loading rate （OLR） at 4.16 kg COD/（m^3.d） while that of PSMBR was 89.79% with average OLR at 5.50 kg COD/（m^3.d）. COD concentration in the effluent of both SMBRs achieved the second level of the general wastewater effluent standard GB8978-1996 for the raw medicine material industry （300 mg/L）. Hence, SMBR with electronic control backwashing was a viable process for medium-strength Chinese traditional medicine wastewater treatment. Moreover, the increasing rates of preestablished backwashing vacuum, pump frequency, and vacuum and flux loss caused by mixed liquor in PSMBR all lagged compared to those in CSMBR; thus the actual operating time of the PSMBR system without membrane cleaning was extended by up to 1.25 times in contrast with the CSMBR system, and the average total COD removal efficiency of PSMBR was enhanced with higher average OLR.

Isolation and characterization of heterotrophic nitrifying bacteria in MBR

The study presented the method for isolating the heterotrophic nitrifiers and the characterization of heterotrophic nitrification. Continuous tests via a membrane bioreactor (MBR) were operated under the controlled conditions to proliferate the nitrifiers. Heterotrophic nitrifying bacteria were isolated from the system in which the efficiency of total nitrogen(TN) removal was up to 80%. Since no autotrophic ammonium and nitrite oxidizers could be detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization(FISH), oxidized-N production was unlikely to be catalyzed by autotrophic nitrifiers during the heterotrophic nitrifiers' isolation in this study. The batch test results indicate that the isolated heterotrophic bacteria were able to nitrify. After 3 weeks incubation, the efficiencies of the COD removal by the three isolated bacterial strains B1, B2, and B3 were 52 6%, 71 7%, and 77 7%, respectively. The efficiencies of the TN removal by B1, B2, and B3 were 35 6%, 61 2% and 68 7%, respectively.

Advances in Energy-Producing Anaerobic Biotechnologies for Municipal Wastewater Treatment

Municipal wastewater treatment has long been known as a high-cost and energy-intensive process that destroys most of the energy-containing molecules by spending energy and that leaves little energy and few nutrients available for reuse, Over the past few years, some wastewater treatment plants have tried to revamp themselves as ＂resource factories,＂ enabled by new technologies and the upgrading of old technologies. In particular, there is an renewed interest in anaerobic biotechnologies, which can convert organic matter into usable energy and preserve nutrients for potential reuse. However, considerable technological and economic limitations still exist. Here, we provide an overview of recent advances in several cutting-edge anaerobic biotechnologies for wastewater treatment, including enhanced side- stream anaerobic sludge digestion, anaerobic membrane bioreactors, and microbial electrochemical systems, and discuss future challenges and opportunities for their applications. This review is intended to provide useful information to guide the future design and optimization of municipal wastewater treatment processes.

Microbial characteristics in anaerobic membrane bioreactor treating domestic sewage:Effects of HRT and process performance

Two anaerobic membrane bioreactors(AnMBRs)equipped with different membrane pore size(0.4 or 0.05μm)were operated at 25℃and fed with domestic wastewater.The hydraulic retention time(HRT)of the reactors was shortened.The microbial communities of the two AnMBRs were investigated by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to see the effects of HRT.The predominant Archaea was an aceticlastic methanogen Methanosaeta.The composition of hydrogenotrophic methanogens changed with the HRTs:the population of Methanobacterium was higher for longer HRTs,whereas the population of unclassified Methanoregulaceae was higher for shorter HRTs.The Anaerolineae,Bacteroidia and Clostridia bacteria were dominant in both of the reactors,with a combined relative abundance of over 55%.The relative abundance of Anaerolineae was proportional to the biogas production performance.The change in the population of hydrogenotrophic methanogens or Anaerolineae can be used as an indicator for process monitoring.The sum of the relative abundance of Anaerolineae and Clostridia fluctuated slightly with changes in the HRT in both AnMBRs when the reactor was stably operated.The co-occurrence analysis revealed the relative abundance of the operational taxonomic units belonging to Anaerolineae and Clostridia was functionally equivalent during the treatment of real domestic sewage.A principal coordination analysis revealed that the changes in the microbial community in each reactor were consistent with the change of HRT.In addition,both the HRT and the stability of the process are important factors for maintaining microbial community structures.

Aggravation of membrane fouling and methane leakage by a three-phase separator in an external anaerobic ceramic membrane bioreactor

The three-phase separator is a critical component of high-rate anaerobic bioreactors due to its significant contribution in separation of biomass, wastewater, and biogas. However, its role in an anaerobic membrane bioreactor is still not clear. In this study, the distinction between an external anaerobic ceramic membrane bioreactor (EAnCMBR) unequipped (R1) and equipped (R2) with a three-phase separator was investigated in terms of treatment performance, membrane fouling, extracellular polymers of sludge, and microbial community structure. The results indicate that the COD removal efficiencies of Rl and R2 were 98.2%±0.4% and 98.1%±0.4%, respectively, but the start-up period of R2 was slightly delayed. Moreover, the membrane fouling rate of R2 (0.4 kPa/d) was higher than that of Rl (0.2 kPa/d). Interestingly, the methane leakage from R2 (0.1 L/d) was 20 times higher than that from Rl (0.005 L/d). The results demonstrate that the three-phase separator aggravated the membrane fouling rate and methane leakage in the EAnCMBR. Therefore, this study provides a novel perspective on the effects of a three-phase separator in an EAnCMBR.

Impact of food to microorganism ratio and alcohol ethoxylate dosage on methane production in treatment of low-strength wastewater by a submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor

The effects of food to microorganism （FIM） ratio and alcohol ethoxylate （AE） dosage on the methane production potential were investigated in treatment of low-strength wastewater by a submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor （SAnMBR）. The fate of AE and its acute and/or chronic impact on the anaerobic microbes were also analyzed. The results indicated that AE had an inhibitory effect to methane production potential （lag-time depends on the AE dosage） and the negative effect attenuated subsequently and methane production could recover at FIM ratio of 0.088-0.357. VFA measurement proved that AE was degraded into small molecular organic acids and then converted into methane at lower FIM ratio （FIM 〈 0.158）. After long-term acclimation, anaerobic microbe could cope with the stress of AE by producing more EPS （extracellular polymeric substances） and SMP （soluble microbial products） due to its self-protection behavior and then enhance its tolerance ability. However, the methane production potential was considerably decreased when AE was present in wastewater at a higher FIM ratio of 1.054. Higher AE amount and FIM ratio may destroy the cell structure of microbe, which lead to the decrease of methane production activity of sludge and methane production potential.

An in-situ biochar-enhanced anaerobic membrane bioreactor for swine wastewater treatment under various organic loading rates

A biochar-assisted anaerobic membrane bioreactor(BC-AnMBR)was conducted to evaluate the performance in treating swine wastewater with different organic loading rates(OLR)ranging from 0.38 to 1.13 kg-COD/(m3.d).Results indicated that adding spent coffee grounds biochar(SCG-BC)improved the organic removal efficiency compared to the conventional AnMBR,with an overall COD removal rate of>95.01%.Meanwhile,methane production of up to 0.22 LCH4/gCOD with an improvement of 45.45%was achieved under a high OLR of 1.13 kg-COD/(m3.d).Furthermore,the transmembrane pressure(TMP)in the BC-AnMBR system was stable at 4.5 kPa,and no irreversible membrane fouling occurred within 125 days.Microbial community analysis revealed that the addition of SCG-BC increased the relative abundance of autotrophic methanogenic archaea,particularly Methanosarcina(from 0.11%to 11.16%)and Methanothrix(from 16.34%to 24.05%).More importantly,Desulfobacterota and Firmicutes phylum with direct interspecific electron transfer(DIET)capabilities were also enriched with autotrophic methanogens.Analysis of the electron transfer pathway showed that the concentration of c-type cytochromes increased by 38.60%in the presence of SCGBC,and thus facilitated the establishment of DIET and maintained high activity of the elec-tron transfer system even at high OLR.In short,the BC-AnMBR system performs well under various OLR conditions and is stable in the recovery energy system for swine wastewater.

投加零价铁对AnDMBR处理预浓缩污水的影响研究

应用厌氧动态膜生物反应器(AnDMBR)处理预浓缩的生活污水,考察了投加微米零价铁(ZVI)对工艺的过滤性能、污染物去除效果、产甲烷性能及污泥性质的影响。对比研究表明,投加ZVI后浊度的去除未受到影响,出水平均COD降低了6.8%,平均产甲烷率提高了50%。此外,溶解性胞外聚合物的含量减少了47.0%,污泥性质得到了改善。但是投加ZVI使跨膜压差(TMP)的增长率略有升高(0.04kPa/d),推测源于ZVI释放的铁离子引起的膜无机污染。

A novel approach to treat combined domestic wastewater and excess sludge in MBR

Domestic wastewater was treated by combined anaerobic biofilm aerobic membrane bioreactor(MBR) process, and part biomass in MBR was withdrawn to treat with ozone, then the ozonated sludge was returned to anaerobic inlet. In aerobic MBR, MLSS and DO were controlled at 3000—3500 mg/L and 0 8 mg/L respectively. Comparing the experimental results of two stages, it was noticed that ozonation did not affect the removal efficiency for organics but had a significant influence on the removals of NH 3 N and TN. During the ozonation period of two months, no excess sludge was wasted, and a zero sludge yield was obtained.

Pretreatment of hypersaline mustard wastewater with integrated bioreactor

A full-scale experimental study of treating mustard wastewater by the integrated bioreactor with designed scale of 1 000 m3/d is conducted combined with a demonstration project. The systematical researches on the efficiency of combined operation conditions of anaerobic-aerobic and anaerobic-aerobic-flocculation as well as chemical phosphorus removal of hypersaline mustard wastewater are conducted. The optimal operation condition and parameters in pretreatment of mustard wastewater in winter （the water temperature ranges 8-15 ~C） are determined： the anaerobic load is 3.0 kg （COD）/（m3.d）, the average COD and phosphate concentration of the inflow are respectively 3 883 mg/L and 35.53 mg/L and the dosage of flocculent （PAC） is 400 mg/L. The anaerobic-aerobic-flocculation combined operation condition and postpositive phosphorous removal with ferrous sulfate are employed. After treatment, the COD of the effluent is 470 mg/L and the average phosphate concentration is 5.09 mg/L. The effluent could achieve the third-level of Integrated Wastewater Discharge Standard （GB 8978--1996）.

Methanation and chemolitrophic nitrogen removal by an anaerobic membrane bioreactor coupled partial nitrification and Anammox

An AnMBR-PN/A system was developed for mainstream sewage treatment.To verify the efficient methanation and subsequent chemolitrophic nitrogen removal,a long-term experiment and analysis of microbial activity were carried out.AnMBR performance was less affected by the change of hydraulic retention time(HRT),which could provide a stable influent for subsequent PN/A units.The COD removal efficiency of AnMBR was>93%during the experiment,85.5%of COD could be recovered in form of CH4.With the HRT of PN/A being shortened from 10 to 6 h,nitrogen removal efficiency(NRE)of PN/A increased from 60.5%to 80.4%,but decreased to 68.8%when the HRTPN/A further decreased to 4 h.Microbial analysis revealed that the highest specific ammonia oxidation activity(SAOA)and the ratio of SAOA to specific nitrate oxidation activity(SNOA)provide stable NO_(2)^(−)-N/NH_(4)^(+)-N for anammox,and anammox bacteria(mainly identified as Candidatus Brocadia)enriched at the bottom of Anammox-UASB might play an important role in nitrogen removal.In addition,the decrease of COD in Anammox-UASB indicated partial denitrification occurred,which jointly promoted nitrogen removal with anammox.

Treating both wastewater and excess sludge with an innovative process

The innovative process consists of biological unit for wastewater treatment and ozonation unit for excess sludge treatment. An aerobic membrane bioreactor(MBR) was used to remove organics and nitrogen, and an anaerobic reactor was added to the biological unit for the release of phosphorus contained at aerobic sludge to enhance the removal of phosphorus. For the excess sludge produced in the MBR, which was fed to ozone contact column and reacted with ozone, then the ozonated sludge was returned to the MBR for further biological treatment. Experimental results showed that this process could remove organics, nitrogen and phosphorus efficiently, and the removals for COD, NH 3-N, TN and TP were 93.17%, 97.57%, 82.77% and 79.5%, respectively. Batch test indicated that the specific nitrification rate and specific denitrification rate of the MBR were 1.03 mg NH 3-N/(gMLSS·h) and 0.56 mg NOx-N/(gMLSS·h), and denitrification seems to be the rate-limiting step. Under the test conditions, the sludge concentration in the MBR was kept at 5000—6000 mg/L, and the wasted sludge was ozonated at an ozone dosage of 0.10 kgO 3/kgSS. During the experimental period of two months, no excess sludge was wasted, and a zero withdrawal of excess sludge was implemented. Through economic analysis, it was found that an additional ozonation operating cost for treatment of both wastewater and excess sludge was only 0.045 RMB Yuan(USD 0.0054)/m 3 wastewater.

A reactor system combining reductive dechlorination with co-metabolic oxidation for complete degradation of tetrachloro-entylene

A laboratory sequential anaerobic aerobic bioreactor system, which consisted of an anaerobic fixed film reactor and two aerobic chemostats, was set up to degrade tetrachloroethylene (PCE) without accumulating highly toxic degradation intermediates. A soil enrichment culture, which could reductively dechlorinate 900 μM (ca. 150 mg/L) of PCE stoichiometrically into cis 1,2 dichloroethylene ( cis DCE), was attached to ceramic media in the anaerobic fixed film reactor. A phenol degrading strain, Alcaligenes sp. R5, which can efficiently degrade cis DCE by co metabolic oxidation, was used as inoculum for the aerobic chemostats consisted of a transformation reactor and a growth reactor. The anaerobic fixed film bioreactor showed more than 99 % of PCE transformation into cis DCE in the range of influent PCE concentration from 5 μM to 35 μM at hydraulic retention time of 48h. On the other hand, efficient degradation of the resultant cis DCE by strain R5 in the following aerobic system could not be achieved due to oxygen limitation. However, 54% of the maximum cis DCE degradation was obtained when 10 μmol of hydrogen peroxide (H 2O 2) was supplemented to the transformation reactor as an additional oxygen source. Further studies are needed to achieve more efficient co metabolic degradation of cis DCE in the aerobic reactor.