Quorum sensing regulation methods and their effects on biofilm in biological waste treatment systems: A review

Quorum sensing (QS) plays an important role in microbial aggregation control. Recently, the optimization of biological waste treatment systems by QS regulation gained an increasing attention. The effects of QS regulation on treatment performances and biofilm were frequently investigated. To understand the state of art of QS regulation, this review summarizes the methods of QS enhancement and QS inhibition in biological waste treatment systems. Typical QS enhancement methods include adding exogenous QS molecules, adding QS accelerants and cultivating QS bacteria, while typical QS inhibition methods include additions of quorum quenching (QQ) bacteria, QS-degrading enzymes, QS-degrading oxidants, and QS inhibitors. The specific improvements after applying these QS regulation methods in different treatment systems are concluded. In addition, the effects of QS regulation methods on biofilm in biological waste treatment systems are reviewed in terms of biofilm formation, extracellular polymeric substances production, microbial viability, and microbial community. In the end, the knowledge gaps in current researches are analyzed, and the requirements for future study are suggested.

Intended process water management concept for the mechanical biological treatment of municipal solid waste

Accumulating operational experience in both aerobic and anaerobic mechanical biological waste treatment （MBT） makes it increasingly obvious that controlled water management would substantially reduce the cost of MBT and also enhance resource recovery of the organic and inorganic fraction. The MBT plant at Gescher, Germany, is used as an example in order to determine the quantity and composition of process water and leachates from intensive and subsequent rotting, pressing water from anaerobic digestion and scrubber water from acid exhaust air treatment, and hence prepare an MBT water balance. The potential of, requirements for and limits to internal process water reuse as well as the possibilities of resource recovery from scrubber water are also examined. Finally, an assimilated process water management concept with the purpose of an extensive reduction of wastewater quantity and freshwater demand is presented.

Effect of loading rate on shear strength parameters of mechanically and biologically treated waste

Mechanical biological treatment(MBT)technology has attracted increasing attention because it can reduce the volume of waste produced.To deal with the current trend of increasing waste,MBT practices are being adopted to address waste generated in developing urban societies.In this study,a total of 20 specimens of consolidated undrained triaxial tests were conducted on waste obtained from the Hangzhou Tianziling landfill,China,to evaluate the effect of loading rate on the shear strength parameters of MBT waste.The MBT waste samples exhibited an evident strain-hardening behavior,and no peak was observed even when the axial strain exceeded 25%.Further,the shear strength increased with an increase in the loading rate;the effect of loading rate on shear strength under a low confining pressure was greater than that under a high confining pressure.Furthermore,the shear strength parameters of MBT waste were related to the loading rate.The relationship between the cohesion,internal friction angle,and logarithm of the loading rate could be fitted to a linear relationship,which was established in this study.Finally,the ranges of shear strength parameters cohesion c and effective cohesion c′were determined as 1.0–8.2 kPa and 2.1–14.9 kPa,respectively;the ranges of the internal friction angleφand effective internal friction angleφ’were determined as 16.2°–29°and 19.8°–43.9°,respectively.These results could be used as a valuable reference for conducting stability analyses of MBT landfills.

Quantifying and managing regional greenhouse gas emissions: Waste sector of Daejeon, Korea

A credible accounting of national and regional inventories for the greenhouse gas （GHG） reduction has emerged as one of the most significant current discussions. This article assessed the regional GHG emissions by three categories of the waste sector in Daejeon Metropolitan City （DMC）, Korea, examined the potential for DMC to reduce GHG emission, and discussed the methodology modified from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Korea national guidelines. During the last five years, DMC＇s overall GHG emissions were 239 thousand tons C02 eq./year from eleven public environmental infrastructure facilities, with a population of 1.52 million. Of the three categories, solid waste treatment/disposal contributes 68%, whilst wastewater treatment and others contribute 22% and 10% respectively. Among GHG unit emissions per ton of waste treatment, the biggest contributor was waste incineration of 694 kg CO2 eq./ton, followed by waste disposal of 483 kg CO2 eq./ton, biological treatment of solid waste of 209 kg CO2 eq./ton, wastewater treatment of 0.241 kg CO2 eq./m3, and public water supplies of 0.067 kg CO2 eq./m3. Furthermore, it is suggested that the potential in reducing GHG emissions from landfill process can be as high as 47.5% by increasing landfill gas recovery up to 50%. Therefore, it is apparent that reduction strategies for the main contributors of GHG emissions should take precedence over minor contributors and lead to the best practice for managing GHGs abatement.