Aerobic granular sludge formation based on substrate availability:Effects of flow pattern and fermentation pretreatment

The influences of flow patterns(mixed-flow and plug-flow)and fermentation pretreatment on aerobic granular sludge(AGS)formation with various substrate availability levels were investigated by running four identical laboratory-scale sequencing batch reactors(R1-R4),comparing two anaerobic feeding strategies and three kinds of substrates.R1 achieved faster granulation with a fast influent fill step followed by a modified anaerobic mixed-flow phase,but the AGS showed poorer stability with a cracked structure and a high suspended solids concentration in the effluent.The anaerobic plug-flow feeding mode(with influent fed slowly from the bottom)in R2 provided deeper penetration depth for the substance to reach the core of A G S and accordingly strengthen A G S stability.An acidogenic upflow sludge bed reactor was introduced as a pretreatment to improve the AGS performance by enhancing glucose pre-fermentation(R4).AGS fed with mixed volatile fatty acids(VFA)after glucose fermentation showed similar performance compared with the reactor fed with acetate in the aspects of stability,structure,size distribution and nitrogen removal efficiency,and 74%similarity in the microbial community.For actual wastewater with low VFA concentrations,fermentation treatment was suggested as a promising pretreatment for stable AGS granulation and operation.

Delignification of disposable wooden chopsticks waste for fermentative hydrogen production by an enriched culture from a hot spring

Hydrogen （H2） production from lignocellulosic materials may be enhanced by removing lignin and increasing the porosity of the material prior to enzymatic hydrolysis. Alkaline pretreatment conditions, used to delignify disposable wooden chopsticks （DWC） waste, were investigated. The effects of NaOH concentration, temperature and retention time were examined and it was found that retention time had no effect on lignin removal or carbohydrate released in enzymatic hydrolysate. The highest percentage of lignin removal （41%） was obtained with 2% NaOH at 100℃, correlated with the highest carbohydrate released （67 mg/gpretreated DWC） in the hydrolysate. An enriched culture from a hot spring was used as inoculum for fermentative H2 production, and its optimum initial pH and temperature were determined to be 7.0 and 50℃, respectively. Furthermore, enzymatic hydrolysate from pretreated DWC was successfully demonstrated as a substrate for fermentative H2 production by the enriched culture. The maximum H2 yield and production rate were achieved at 195 mL H2/g total sugarsconsumed and 1 16 mL Hz/（L.day）, respectively.