Hojae Shim

Progress in decontamination by halophilic microorganisms in saline wastewater and soil.

Environments with high-salt concentrations are often populated by dense microbial communities. Halophilic microorganisms can be isolated from different saline environments and different strains even belonging to the same genus have various applications. Wastewater and soil rich in both organic matter and salt are difficult to treat using conventional microorganisms typically found in wastewater treatment and soil bioremediation facilities. Studies on decontaminative capabilities and decontamination pathways of organic contaminants (i.e., aromatic compounds benzoate, cinnamate, 3-phenylpropionate, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid), heavy metals (i.e., tellurium, vanadium), and nutrients in the biological treatment of saline wastewater and soil by halophilic microorganisms are discussed in this review.

Kinetics of BTEX biodegradation by a coculture of Pseudomonas putida and Pseudomonas fluorescens under hypoxic conditions

Pseudomonas putida and Pseudomonas fluorescens present as a coculture were studied for their abilities to degrade benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (collectively known as BTEX) under various growth conditions. The coculture effectively degraded various concentrations of BTEX as sole carbon sources. However, all BTEX compounds showed substrate inhibition to the bacteria, in terms of specific growth, degradation rate, and cell net yield. Cell growth was completely inhibited at 500mgl−1 of benzene, 600mgl−1 of o-xylene, and 1000mgl−1 of toluene. Without aeration, aerobic biodegradation of BTEX required additional oxygen provided as hydrogen peroxide in the medium. Under hypoxic conditions, however, nitrate could be used as an alternative electron acceptor for BTEX biodegradation when oxygen was limited and denitrification took place in the culture. The carbon mass balance study confirmed that benzene and toluene were completely mineralized to CO2 and H2O without producing any identifiable intermediate metabolites.

Use of the BCR sequential extraction procedure for the study of metal availability to plants

To investigate the mobility and availability of metals from soil to plant, concentrations of zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg) and arsenic (As) in topsoils and plants (lettuce, scallion, celery, tomato, carambola, wampee and longan) collected from the area around a petrochemical complex in Guangzhou, China, were analyzed. The modified European Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) three-step sequential extraction procedure was applied to determine the concentration of metal fractions in soils. The results showed that the distribution of Zn, Cu, Pb and Cd in four fractions varied greatly among the soil samples, and 18.8% of vegetable and fruit samples for Cd and 5.8% for Pb exceeded the maximum permissible levels in food of China. Soil-to-plant transfer coefficients were in the order of Cd>Zn>Cu>Hg>As>Pb, suggesting Cd being the most mobile and available to plants among the metals studied. Principal component analysis indicated that metal fractions and soil physicochemical properties (pH, organic matter, cation exchange capacity, clay content and electrical conductivity) affected metal uptake by plants. Furthermore, atmospheric deposition may be another important factor for the accumulation of metals in plants.

Effects of operational conditions on sludge degradation and organic acids formation in low-critical wet air oxidation.

Wet air oxidation processes are to treat highly concentrated organic compounds including refractory materials, sludge, and night soil, and usually operated at supercritical water conditions of high temperature and pressure. In this study, the effects of operational conditions including temperature, pressure, and oxidant dose on sludge degradation and conversion into subsequent intermediates such as organic acids were investigated at low critical wet oxidation conditions. The reaction time and temperature in the wet air oxidation process was shown an important factor affecting the liquefaction of volatile solids, with more significant effect on the thermal hydrolysis reaction rather than the oxidation reaction. The degradation efficiency of sludge and the formation of organic acids were improved with longer reaction time and higher reaction temperature. For the sludge reduction and the organic acids formation under the wet air oxidation, the optimal conditions for reaction temperature, time, pressure, and oxidant dose were shown approximately 240 degrees C, 30min, 60atm, and 2.0L/min, respectively.

Differential toxicity and accumulation of inorganic and methylated arsenic in rice

Background and aimsEfficient accumulation of arsenic (As) in rice (Oryza sativa L.) poses a potential health risk to rice consumers. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanisms of uptake, transport and distribution of inorganic arsenic (Asi) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) in rice plants.MethodsRice was exposed to Asi (As(V)) and DMA in hydroponics. High-performance liquid chromatography inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HPLC-ICP-MS) and synchrotron X-ray fluorescence (SXRF) microprobe were used to determine As concentration and the in situ As distribution.ResultsDMA induced abnormal florets before flowering and caused a sharp decline in the seed setting rate after flowering compared to Asi. Rice grains accumulated 2-fold higher DMA than Asi. The distribution of Asi concentration (root > leaf > husk > caryopsis) in As(V) treatments was different from that of the DMA concentration (caryopsis > husk > root ≥ leaf) in DMA treatments. SXRF showed that Asi mainly accumulated in the vascular trace of caryopsis with limited distribution to the endosperm, whereas DMA was observed in both tissues.ConclusionsDMA tended to accumulate in caryopsis and induced higher toxicity to the reproductive tissues resulting in markedly reduced grain yield, whereas Asi mainly remained in the vegetative tissues and had no significant effect on yield. DMA is more toxic than Asi to the reproductive tissues when both of them are at similar concentrations in nutrient solution.

Comparison of influence of free ammonia and dissolved oxygen on nitrite accumulation between suspended and attached cells.

The shortcut biological nitrogen removal (SBNR) hybrid (suspended cells combined with attached cells) process is an innovative technology that nitrosofies ammonium to nitrite and then denitrifies nitrite to nitrogen gas. Theoretically, this results in a 25% savings of the oxygen needed for nitrification and a 40% of savings in carbon source needed for denitrification. In this study, the influences of free ammonia (FA) and dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations on nitrite accumulation were investigated to find the optimal operational factors for stable nitrite accumulation over a long period. The maximum specific utilization rates for ammonium (qa) and nitrite (qn) were determined for suspended and attached cells taken from a bench-scale SBNR reactor and a pilot-scale livestock wastewater treatment plant reactor. For the ammonium and nitrite oxidations in both reactors, the attached cells were more resistant to the FA concentration, but were more significantly influenced by the DO concentration than the suspended cells. In addition, the effect of the DO concentration was more significant than that of the FA concentration for both types of cells from both reactors. In this SBNR hybrid system, a simultaneous manipulation of DO concentration (<1.5 mg l-1) and FA concentration (10-20 mg l-1) was required for maintaining high levels of nitrite accumulation.

Lipid production by a mixed culture of oleaginous yeast and microalga from distillery and domestic mixed wastewater.

Lipid productivity by mixed culture of Rhodosporidium toruloides and Chlorella pyrenoidosa was studied using 1:1 mixed real wastewater from distillery and local municipal wastewater treatment plant with initial soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) around 25,000 mg/L, initial cell density of 2×10(7) cells/mL (yeast) and 5×10(6) cells/mL (microalga), at 30 °C and 2.93 W/m2 (2000 lux, 12:12 h light and dark cycles). Lipid content and lipid yield achieved were 63.45±2.58% and 4.60±0.36 g/L with the associated removal efficiencies for SCOD, total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) at 95.34±0.07%, 51.18±2.17%, and 89.29±4.91%, respectively, after 5 days of cultivation without the pH adjustment. Inoculation of microalgae at 40 h of the initial yeast cultivation and harvesting part of inactive biomass at 72 h by sedimentation could improve both lipid production and wastewater treatment efficiency under non-sterile conditions.

Enhancement of lipid productivity of Rhodosporidium toruloides in distillery wastewater by increasing cell density

This study is to improve the process of producing lipid convertible to biodiesel, from distillery wastewater while simultaneously removing organics and nutrients efficiently by inoculating oleaginous yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides in the presence of indigenous microorganisms. The lipid productivity of R. toruloides was studied using real wastewater obtained from distillery and local municipal wastewater treatment plants. Under the conditions of mix rate of 1:1 with domestic wastewater, initial soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) over 20,000 mg/L and initial cell density of 2×10(7) cells/mL at 30 °C, lipid content and lipid yield achieved were 43.65±1.74% and 3.54±0.04 g/L, with the associated removal efficiencies for COD, total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP), 86.11±0.41%, 57.81±0.29%, and 67.69±0.73%, respectively, after three days of cultivation in real distillery wastewater without pH adjustment. The pH of wastewater increased from 3.71 to over 8 in 7 days of cultivation.

Biological Nutrient Removal in a Full Scale Anoxic/Anaerobic/Aerobic/ Pre-anoxic-MBR Plant for Low C/N Ratio Municipal Wastewater Treatment

Abstract A novel full scale modified A2O (anoxic/anaerobic/aerobic/pre-anoxic)-membrane bioreactor (MBR) plant combined with the step feed strategy was operated to improve the biological nutrient removal (BNR) from low C/N ratio municipal wastewater in Southern China. Transformation of organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, and membrane fouling were investigated. Experimental results for over four months demonstrated good efficiencies for chemical oxygen demand (COD) and NH+4-N removal, with average values higher than 84.5% and 98.1%, respectively. A relatively higher total nitrogen (TN) removal efficiency (52.1%) was also obtained at low C/N ratio of 3.82, contributed by the configuration modification (anoxic zone before anaerobic zone) and the step feed with a distribution ratio of 1 : 1. Addition of sodium acetate into the anoxic zone as the external carbon source, with a theoretical amount of 31.3 mg COD per liter in influent, enhanced denitrification and the TN removal efficiency increased to 74.9%. Moreover, the total phosphate (TP) removal efficiency increased by 18.0%. It is suggested that the external carbon source is needed to improve the BNR performance in treating low C/N ratio municipal wastewater in the modified A2O-MBR process.

Removal of carbamazepine and naproxen by immobilized Phanerochaete chrysosporium under non-sterile condition

This study explored the utilization of a white-rot fungus (WRF), Phanerochaete chrysosporium, immobilized in wood chips, to remove carbamazepine and naproxen under non-sterile condition. The removal efficiencies for both pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in artificially contaminated water were improved by 4% for naproxen and 30% for carbamazepine in seven days, compared to without wood chips. Although adsorption was crucial at the early stage, bioremoval was found to be the main removal mechanism for both PhACs. The extracellular enzymes played important roles in the naproxen removal, while the intracellular enzyme system was responsible for the carbamazepine removal. The increased of intracellular enzyme activity through the immobilization of WRF cells may contribute to the significantly enhanced removal efficiency for carbamazepine. In addition, the removal of naproxen or carbamazepine slightly increased when both compounds coexisted, compared to the system where the two pharmaceuticals existed separately. Based on the batch experimental results, a fixed-bed bioreactor packed with a mixture of WRF mycelia pellets and wood chips was developed and operated with the intermittent feeding and continuous aerating mode for 28 days under non-sterile condition, with naproxen and carbamazepine spiked into the influent at 1.0 mg L(-1). Almost complete removal of naproxen and 60-80% removal of carbamazepine were obtained in the first two weeks. However, the removal efficiencies for both compounds suddenly dropped to as low as less than 20% by the 14th day, possibly due to the contamination by other microorganisms in the reactor. After the addition of 8.25% sodium hypochlorite at the ratio of 1:100 (v/v) into the influent tank on both Day 20 and Day 25, a rapid recovery (higher than 95%) was achieved in the naproxen removal, by effectively inhibiting contamination in the reactor. In comparison, the same rebounding phenomenon was not observed for carbamazepine and this difference may be associated to the various enzyme-working systems. A longer hydraulic retention time (HRT) was conducive to improve the removal of both compounds.