Jingxin Zhang

Effects of ferric iron on the anaerobic treatment and microbial biodiversity in a coupled microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) – Anaerobic reactor

Adding Fe(III) into a MEC - anaerobic reactor enhanced the degradation of organic matters. To clarify the respective effects of combining Fe(III) dosage and a MEC and Fe(III) dosage only on strengthening anaerobic digestion, three anaerobic reactors were operated in parallel: a MEC - anaerobic reactor with dosing Fe(OH)3 (R1), an anaerobic reactor with dosing Fe(OH)3 (R2) and a common anaerobic reactor (R3). With increasing influent COD from 1500 to 4000 mg/L, the COD removal in R1 was maintained at 88.3% under a voltage of 0.8 V, which was higher than that in reactor R2 and R3. When the power was cut off, the COD removal in R1 decreased by 5.9%. The addition of Fe(OH)3 enhanced both anaerobic digestion and anodic oxidation, resulting in the effective mineralization of volatile fatty acids (VFAs). The reduced Fe(II) combined with electric field resulted more extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) production. Quantitative real - time PCR showed a higher abundance of bacteria in the anodic biofilm and R1. Pyrosequencing and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis revealed that the dominant bacteria and archaea communities were richer and more abundant in the anode biofilm and R1.

Effects of an electric field and zero valent iron on anaerobic treatment of azo dye wastewater and microbial community structures

A zero valent iron (ZVI) bed with a pair of electrodes was packed in an anaerobic reactor aiming at enhancing treatment of azo dye wastewater. The experiments were carried out in three reactors operated in parallel: an electric field enhanced ZVI-anaerobic reactor (R1), a ZVI-anaerobic reactor (R2) and a common anaerobic reactor (R3). R1 presented the highest performance in removal of COD and color. Raising voltage in R1 further improved its performance. Scanning electron microscopy images displayed that the structure of granular sludge from R1 was intact after being fed with the high dye concentration, while that of R3 was broken. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis indicated that the abundance of methanogens in R1 was significantly greater than that in the other two reactors. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis showed that the coupling of electric field and ZVI increased the diversity of microbial community and especially enhanced bacterial strains responsible for decolorization.

Enhanced anaerobic digestion of organic contaminants containing diverse microbial population by combined microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) and anaerobic reactor under Fe(III) reducing conditions

Microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) devices are efficient for wastewater treatment, but its application was limited due to low anode oxidation rate. The objective of this study was to improve anode performance of a MEC combined anaerobic reactor (R1) for high concentration industrial wastewater treatment via dosing Fe(OH)3. For the first 53 days without power, the addition of Fe(OH)3 in R1 enhanced the degradation of reactive brilliant red X-3B dye and sucrose. Applying a voltage of 0.8 V in R1 resulted in a higher decolorization and COD removal through driving the redox reactions at electrodes under Fe(III)-reducing conditions. Real-time PCR and enzyme activity analysis showed that the abundance and azoreductase activity of bacteria were improved in R1. Pyrosequencing revealed that dominant populations in anode biofilm and R1 were more diverse and abundant than the common anaerobic reactor (R2), and there was a significant distinction among anode film, R1 and R2 in microbial community structure.

Biological sulfate reduction in the acidogenic phase of anaerobic digestion under dissimilatory Fe (III)--reducing conditions.

In this study, a novel approach was developed for sulfate - containing wastewater treatment via dosing Fe₂O₃ in a two - stage anaerobic reactor (A1, S1). The addition of Fe₂O₃ in its second stage i.e. acidogenic sulfate-reducing reactor (S1) resulted in microbial reduction of Fe (III), which significantly enhanced the biological sulfate reduction. In reactor S1, increasing influent sulfate concentration to 1400 mg/L resulted in a higher COD removal (27.3%) and sulfate reduction (57.9%). In the reference reactor without using Fe₂O₃ (S2), the COD and sulfate removal were 15.6% and 29%, respectively. The combined performance of the two-stage anaerobic reactor (A1, S1) also showed a higher COD removal of 74.2%. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and phylogenetic analysis showed that the dominant bacteria with high similarity to IRB species as well as sulfate reducer Desulfovibrio and acidogenic bacteria (AB) were enriched in S1. Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) analysis presented a higher proportion of sulfate reducer Desulfovibrio marrakechensis and Fe (III) reducer Iron-reducing bacteria HN54 in S1.

Enhancement of anaerobic acidogenesis by integrating an electrochemical system into an acidogenic reactor: effect of hydraulic retention times (HRT) and role of bacteria and acidophilic methanogenic Archaea.

In this study, an acidogenic reactor packed with a pair of Fe-carbon electrodes (R1) was developed to enhance anaerobic acidogenesis of organic wastewater at short hydraulic retention times. The results indicated that the acidogenic efficiency was improved by settling a bio-electrochemical system. When hydraulic retention times decreased from 12 to 3h, R1 showed 18.9% more chemical oxygen demand removal and 13.8% more acidification efficiency. After cutting off the voltage of R1, the COD removal decreased by about 5%. Coupling of Fe(2+) leaching and electric field accelerated the hydrolysis of polysaccharide, relieving its accumulation in the sludge phase. Several acidophilic methanogenic Archaea such as Methanosarcina sp. were enriched in R1, which was favorable for consuming organic acids and preventing excessive pH decline. Thus, the developed acidogenic reactor with Fe-carbon electrodes is expected to be potentially effective and useful for wastewater treatment.

Enhanced anaerobic fermentation with azo dye as electron acceptor: simultaneous acceleration of organics decomposition and azo decolorization.

Accumulation of hydrogen during anaerobic processes usually results in low decomposition of volatile organic acids (VFAs). On the other hand, hydrogen is a good electron donor for dye reduction, which would help the acetogenic conversion in keeping low hydrogen concentration. The main objective of the study was to accelerate VFA composition through using azo dye as electron acceptor. The results indicated that the azo dye serving as an electron acceptor could avoid H2 accumulation and accelerate anaerobic digestion of VFAs. After adding the azo dye, propionate decreased from 2400.0 to 689.5mg/L and acetate production increased from 180.0 to 519.5mg/L. It meant that the conversion of propionate into acetate was enhanced. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis showed that the abundance of propionate-utilizing acetogens with the presence of azo dye was greater than that in a reference without azo dye. The experiments via using glucose as the substrate further demonstrated that the VFA decomposition and the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal increased by 319.7mg/L and 23.3% respectively after adding the azo dye. Therefore, adding moderate azo dye might be a way to recover anaerobic system from deterioration due to the accumulation of H2 or VFAs.