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The rapid growth of the use of nanomaterials in different modern industrial branches makes the study of the impact of nanoparticles on the human health and environment an urgent matter. For instance, it has been reported that titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) can be found in wastewater treatment plants. Previous studies have found contrasting effects of these nanoparticles over the activated sludge process, including negative effects on the oxygen uptake. The non-utilization of oxygen reflects that aerobic bacteria were inhibited or decayed. The aim of this work was to study how TiO2 NPs affect the bacterial diversity and metabolic processes on an activated sludge. First, respirometry assays of 8 h were carried out at different concentrations of TiO2 NPs (0.5–2.0 mg/mL) to measure the oxygen uptake by the activated sludge. The bacterial diversity of these assays was determined by sequencing the amplified V3–V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene using Illumina MiSeq. According to the respirometry assays, the aerobic processes were inhibited in a range from 18.5 ± 4.8% to 37.5 ± 2.0% for concentrations of 0.5–2.0 mg/mL TiO2 NPs. The oxygen uptake rate was affected mainly after 4.5 h for concentrations higher than 1.0 mg/mL of these nanoparticles. Results indicated that, in the presence of TiO2 NPs, the bacterial community of activated sludge was altered mainly in the genera related to nitrogen removal (nitrogen assimilation, nitrification and denitrification). The metabolic pathways prediction suggested that genes related to biofilm formation were more sensitive than genes directly related to nitrification–denitrification and N-assimilation processes. These results indicated that TiO2 NPs might modify the bacteria diversity in the activated sludge according to their concentration and time of exposition, which in turn impact in the performance of the wastewater treatment processes.

The paper describes briefly the process performance and the reuse potential of a laboratory scale wastewater treatment system. The treatment involves enhanced primary treatment of Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) campus sewage using ferric chloride as a coagulant, anaerobic digestion of coagulated organics, and biofilm aerobic process. The treated effluent after disinfection (using sunlight and chlorine) was used for irrigation of Tagetes erecta (marigold) plants and the plant growth parameters were evaluated for a life span of 3 months. In the primary treatment, an optimum ferric chloride dose of 30 mg/L could remove turbidity, chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and bacterial count (Escherichia coli) of 69%, 60%, 77%, and 55%, respectively. The coagulated organics could digest in a 25 L anaerobic reactor effectively with methane content in biogas varied between 50 and 60% and enhanced volatile suspended solids (VSS) reduction up to 70%. Sunlight based photo-oxidation followed chlorine disinfection saved 50% of the chlorine dose required for disinfection and treated effluent was fit for reuse. The results of growth parameters for Tagetes erecta plants indicate that anaerobically digested sludge is an excellent soil conditioner cum nutrient supplier. The results of this study exhibit a promising reuse potential of a decentralized wastewater treatment system and needs to be promoted for field scale applications.

Nitrogen removal and nitrous oxide (N2O) emission in a lab-scale constant-flow multiple anoxic (A) and aerobic (O) process, combined with the addition of suspended carriers, were investigated. Under steady state, 99.9% of ammonia nitrogen (NH4-N), 76.8% of orthophosphate, and 80.2% of total inorganic nitrogen removal efficiency was achieved. The N2O emission factor during nitrification was 0.8–1.9% of the oxidized NH4-N. The emission factor increased to 7.4–45.9% with the coexistence of heterotrophic activities. Extending the anoxic time from 30 to 90 min reduced the N2O emission factor from 1.6 to 1.0%. N2O emission was stimulated with nitrite (NO2-N) as the electron acceptor, with the N2O emission factor of 5.2–5.6%. Denitrification with internal organic carbon contributed 6.8% of reduced NO2-N to N2O. NO2-N might exert a crucial role in N2O emission independent of carbon source. For the acclimated microbial communities, Nitrospira and Nitrosospira were the dominant nitrifiers and responsible for the N2O emission during nitrification. Azospira, Dechloromonas, Flavobacterium, Pseudomonas, and unclassified genus of family Comamonadaceae might be responsible for N2O emission during denitrification. These findings may guide the design of multiple AO process for controlling N2O emission.

With the organic carbon of acetate (SBR-A) and propionate (SBR-P), the effect of organic carbon sources on nitrogen removal and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emission in the multiple anoxic and aerobic process was investigated. The nitrogen removal percentages in SBR-A and SBR-P reactor were both 72%, and the phosphate removal percentages were 97 and 85.4%, respectively. During nitrification, both the NH 4 + -N oxidation rate in the SBR-A and SBR-P had a small change without the influence of the addition of nitrite nitrogen (NO 2 − -N). With the addition of 10 mg/L NO 2 − -N, the nitrate nitrogen (NO 3 − -N) production rate, N 2 O accumulation rate and emission factor had increased. At the same time, the N 2 O emission factor of SBR-A and SBR-P reactors increased from 2.13 and 0.87% to 4.66 and 2.08%, respectively. During exogenous denitrification, when nitrite was used as electron acceptor, the N 2 O emission factors were 34.1 and 8.6 times more than those of NO 3 − -N as electron acceptor in SBR-A and SBR-P. During endogenous denitrification with NO 2 − -N as electron acceptor, the accumulation rate and emission factor of N 2 O were higher than those of NO 3 − -N as electron acceptor. High-throughput sequencing test showed that the dominant bacteria were Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes in both reactors at the phylum level, while the main denitrification functional bacteria were Thauera sp. , Zoogloea sp. and Dechloromonas sp. at the genus level.

Oxygen availability drives changes in microbial diversity and biogeochemical cycling between the aerobic surface layer and the anaerobic core in nitrite-rich anoxic marine zones (AMZs), which constitute huge oxygen-depleted regions in the tropical oceans. The current paradigm is that primary production and nitrification within the oxic surface layer fuel anaerobic processes in the anoxic core of AMZs, where 30–50% of global marine nitrogen loss takes place. Here we demonstrate that oxygenic photosynthesis in the secondary chlorophyll maximum (SCM) releases significant amounts of O2 to the otherwise anoxic environment. The SCM, commonly found within AMZs, was dominated by the picocyanobacteria Prochlorococcus spp. Free O2 levels in this layer were, however, undetectable by conventional techniques, reflecting a tight coupling between O2 production and consumption by aerobic processes under apparent anoxic conditions. Transcrip-tomic analysis of the microbial community in the seemingly anoxic SCM revealed the enhanced expression of genes for aerobic processes, such as nitrite oxidation. The rates of gross O2 production and carbon fixation in the SCM were found to be similar to those reported for nitrite oxidation, as well as for anaerobic dissimilatory nitrate reduction and sulfate reduction, suggesting a significant effect of local oxygenic photosynthesis on Pacific AMZ biogeochemical cycling.

Synergic catalytic effect between active sites and supports greatly determines the catalytic activity for the aerobic oxidative desulfurization of fuel oils. In this work, Ni-doped Co-based bimetallic metal-organic framework (CoNi-MOF) is fabricated to disperse N-hydroxyphthalimide (NHPI), in which the whole catalyst provides plentiful synergic catalytic effect to improve the performance of oxidative desulfurization (ODS). As a bimetallic MOF, the second metal Ni doping results in the flower-like morphology and the modification of electronic properties, which ensure the exposure of NHPI and strengthen the synergistic effect of the overall catalyst. Compared with the monometallic Co-MOF and naked NHPI, the NHPI@CoNi-MOF triggers the efficient activation of molecular oxygen and improves the ODS performance without an initiator. The sulfur removal of dibenzothiophene-based model oil reaches 96.4% over the NHPI@CoNi-MOF catalyst in 8 h of reaction. Furthermore, the catalytic product of this aerobic ODS reaction is sulfone, which is adsorbed on the catalyst surface due to the difference in polarity. This work provides new insight and strategy for the design of a strong synergic catalytic effect between NHPI and bimetallic supports toward high-activity aerobic ODS materials.

The pre-aerobic process of coking wastewater treatment has strong capacity of decarbonization and detoxification, which contribute to the subsequent dinitrogen of non-carbon source/heterotrophic denitrification. The COD removal rate can reach > 90% in the first aerobic bioreactor of the novel O/H/O coking wastewater treatment system during long-term operation. The physico-chemical characteristics of influent and effluent coking wastewater in the first aerobic bioreactor were analyzed to examine how they correlated with bacterial communities. The diversity of the activated sludge microbial community was investigated using a culture-independent molecular approach. The microbial community functional profiling and detailed pathways were predicted from the 16S rRNA gene-sequencing data by the PICRUSt software and the KEGG database. High-throughput MiSeq sequencing results revealed a distinct microbial composition in the activated sludge of the first aerobic bioreactor of the O/H/O system. Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Chlorobi were the decarbonization and detoxification dominant phyla with the relative abundance of 84.07 ± 5.45, 10.89 ± 6.31, and 2.96 ± 1.12%, respectively. Thiobacillus , Rhodoplanes , Lysobacter , and Leucobacter were the potential major genera involved in the crucial functional pathways related to the degradation of phenols, cyanide, benzoate, and naphthalene. These results indicated that the comprehensive understanding of the structure and function diversity of the microbial community in the bioreactor will be conducive to the optimal coking wastewater treatment.

Production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) by mixed cultures has been widely studied in the last decade. Storage of PHA by mixed microbial cultures occurs under transient conditions of carbon or oxygen availability, known respectively as aerobic dynamic feeding and anaerobic/aerobic process. In these processes, PHA-accumulating organisms, which are quite diverse in terms of phenotype, are selected by the dynamic operating conditions imposed to the reactor. The stability of these processes during long-time operation and the similarity of the polymer physical/chemical properties to the one produced by pure cultures were demonstrated. This process could be implemented at industrial scale, providing that some technological aspects are solved. This review summarizes the relevant research carried out with mixed cultures for PHA production, with main focus on the use of wastes or industrial surplus as feedstocks. Basic concepts, regarding the metabolism and microbiology, and technological approaches, with emphasis on the kind of feedstock and reactor operating conditions for culture selection and PHA accumulation, are described. Challenges for the process optimization are also discussed.

The efficiency of aerobic biodegradation of distillery wastewater using various microbial cultures is intricately linked to process conditions. The study aimed to examine the aerobic biodegradation by a Bacillus bacteria under controlled dissolved oxygen tension (DOT) conditions as a novel approach in the treatment of sugar beet distillery stillage. The processes were conducted in a 2-L Biostat ® B stirred-tank reactor (STR), at a temperature of 36°C, with aeration of 1.0 L/(L·min), and uncontrolled pH of the medium (an initial pH of 8.0). Each experiment was performed at a different DOT setpoint: 75%, 65% and 55% saturation, controlled through stirrer rotational speed adjustments. The study showed that the DOT setpoint did not influence the process efficiency, determined by the pollutant load removal expressed as COD, BOD 5 and TOC. In all three experiments, the obtained reduction values of these parameters were comparable, falling within the narrow ranges of 78.6–78.7%, 97.3–98.0% and 75.0–76.4%, respectively. However, the DOT setpoint did influence the rate of process biodegradation. The removal rate of the pollutant load expressed as COD, was the lowest when DOT was set at 55% (0.48 g O 2 /(L•h)), and the highest when DOT was set at 65% (0.55 g O 2 /(L•h)). For biogenic elements (nitrogen and phosphorus), a beneficial effect was observed at a low setpoint of controlled DOT during biodegradation. The maximum extent of removal of both total nitrogen (54%) and total phosphorus (67.8%) was achieved at the lowest DOT setpoint (55%). The findings suggest that conducting the batch aerobic process biodegradation of sugar beet stillage at a relatively low DOT setpoint in the medium might achieve high efficiency pollutant load removal and potentially lead to a reduction in the process cost.

Among the different contaminants, detergent as an important pollutant has serious risks to natural ecosystems. Furthermore, detergents can pass into the wastewater treatment plants and have bad effect on their performance. They are part of human life and consumed for different aims especially hygienic purposes. Therefore, detergent components can enter to soil and water bodies from different sources. Detergents affect fauna and flora, and they have direct and indirect effects on ecosystems. Eutrophication, foaming, and altering parameters such as temperature, salinity, turbidity, and pH are more important, and their effects need to be managed and controlled. Researchers confirmed that aerobic processes are able to degrade the most of detergents but anaerobic degradation is not possible because of restricted metabolic pathways and toxicity of them. Therefore, production of environment-friendly detergent is an important issue around the world. Graphical abstract