Jeonghee Yun

Effects of water temperature and backwashing on bacterial population and community in a biological activated carbon process at a water treatment plant

Bacterial community dynamics was examined in an actual biological activated carbon (BAC) process for four consecutive seasons, using quantitative polymerase chain reaction and pyrosequencing. The BAC stably removed organic carbons for the period, although the water temperature substantially varied over the study period. Neither the population density nor community organization was correlated with time and temperature. However, the similarity degree between communities significantly reduced with time and temperature differences. Community analyses indicated that the community evolved over time, resulting in four distinct groups, and that the abundances of particular bacteria were significantly correlated with time and temperature, as well as their interaction. Additionally, backwashing did not affect the BAC bacterial population, community organization (diversity, evenness, and richness), or composition, although backwashing dislodged a large number of bacteria from the BAC (≈1015 · m−3). These results suggest that water temperature is an important factor driving community dynamics and that backwashing is a harmless management option for biomass control.

Suppression of methanogenesis in hydrogen fermentation by intermittent feeding

This study investigated whether intermittent feeding by using a concentrated carbon source is an appropriate method for selective enrichment of hydrogenesis by means of methanogen suppression. In a conventional reactor fed continuously for 10 d, methanogens increased from 2.8 × 107 to 1.1 × 109 gene copy number (GCN)/mg-cell dry weight, and methane concentration in the resulting biogas was 5.8%. However, when a carbon source was intermittently supplied for 10 d to the reactor, the number of methanogens was reduced 98.9% from 2.77 × 107 to 1.2 × 103 GCN/mg-cell dry weight, and methane was not detected during this period of intermittent feeding. Intermittent feeding shifted the dominants in the reactor from Clostridiaceae (70.5%) and Lactobacillaceae (11.0%) to Acetobacteraceae (62.0%) and Clostridiaceae (38.0%). In the reactor operated in continuous feeding mode after intermittent feeding, methane concentration was below 0.3% and the portion of methanogens in the bacterial community was maintained below 0.2%. These results suggest that the intermittent feeding of a carbon source during hydrogen production processes is a suitable method to suppress the activity of methanogens.

Effects of organic loading rate on hydrogen and volatile fatty acid production and microbial community during acidogenic hydrogenesis in a continuous stirred tank reactor using molasses wastewater

Microbial community associated with hydrogen production and volatile fatty acids (VFAs) accumulation was characterized in acidogenic hydrogenesis using molasses wastewater as a feedstock.

Odor mitigation and bacterial community dynamics in on-site biocovers at a sanitary landfill in South Korea

ABSTRACT Unpleasant odors emitted from landfills have been caused environmental and societal problems. For odor abatement, two pilot‐scale biocovers were installed at a sanitary landfill site in South Korea. Biocovers PBC1 and PBC2 comprised a soil mixture with different ratios of earthworm casts as an inoculum source and were operated for 240 days. Their odor removal efficiencies were evaluated, and their bacterial community structures were characterized using pyrosequencing. In addition, the correlation between odor removability and bacterial community dynamics was assessed using network analysis. The removal efficiency of complex odor intensity in the two biocovers ranged from 81.1% to 97.8%. Removal efficiencies of sulfur‐containing odors (hydrogen sulfide, methanethiol, dimethyl sulfide, and dimethyl disulfide), which contributed most to complex odor intensity, were greater than 91% in both biocovers. Despite the fluctuations in ambient temperature (−8.2 to 31.3 °C) and inlet complex odor intensity (10,000–42,748 of odor dilution ratio), biocovers PBC1 and PBC2 displayed stable deodorizing performance. A high ratio of earthworm casts as an inoculum source led to high odor removability during the first 25 days of operation, but different mixing ratios of earthworm casts did not significantly affect overall odor removability. A bacterial community analysis showed that Methylobacter, Arthrobacter, Acinetobacter, Rhodanobacter, and Pedobacter were the dominant genera in both biocovers. Network analysis results indicated that Steroidobacter, Cystobacter, Methylosarcina, Solirubrobacter, and Pseudoxanthomonas increased in relative abundance with time and were major contributors to odor removal, although these bacteria had a relatively low abundance compared to the overall bacterial community. These data contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between bacterial community dynamics and deodorizing performance in biocovers. HighlightsOn‐site biocovers were evaluated to mitigate odors at a Korean sanitary landfill.The biocover systems achieved above 80% removal of complex odor.Removal efficiency of sulfur odor as significant contributor was greater than 90%.The most abundant bacteria had little correlation with odor removability.Bacteria increased in relative abundance contributed highly to odor removal.