Ryo Honda

Carbon dioxide capture and nutrients removal utilizing treated sewage by concentrated microalgae cultivation in a membrane photobioreactor

A highly efficient microalgae cultivation process was developed for carbon dioxide capture using nutrients from treated sewage. A submerged-membrane filtration system was installed in a photobioreactor to achieve high nutrient loading and to maintain a high concentration and production of microalgae. Chlorella vulgaris, Botryococcus braunii and Spirulina platensis were continuously cultivated with simulated treated sewage and 1%-CO(2) gas. The optimum hydraulic retention time (HRT) and solids retention time (SRT) were explored to achieve the maximum CO(2) capture rate, nutrient removal rate and microalgae biomass productivity. The carbon dioxide capture rate and volumetric microalgae productivity were high when the reactor was operated under 1-day (HRT) and 18-days (SRT) conditions. The independent control of HRT and SRT is effective for efficient microalgae cultivation and carbon dioxide capture using treated sewage.

Antibiotic resistance of Escherichia coli in leachates from municipal solid waste landfills: Comparison between semi-aerobic and anaerobic operations

A bacterial susceptibility test to 31 antibiotics was conducted on the 80 isolated Escherichia coli from the leachates of the landfills in two different operations: semi-aerobic (SL) and anaerobic (AL) landfills. The average population of E. coli from SL and AL leachates were 2.2 × 10(4) and 9.4 × 10(3)CFU/100ml, respectively. Between 80.8% and 87.5% of the E. coli isolated from both leachates as resistant to the tested antibiotics and high resistances were found to doxycycline (53.8-68.8%), cephalothin (57.5-61.3%), tetracycline (51.3-67.5%) and minocycline (37.5-46.3%). The percentages of isolates resistant to most antibiotics were higher in the AL leachate. The exception was nitrofurantoin to which the isolates from the SL were highly resistant. E. coli from both sources showed similarly high susceptibilities (90-100%) to aminoglycosides, quinolones, chloramphenicol, sulfonamide and some new beta-lactams. The difference in available oxygen in landfills could affect E. coli susceptibility to antibiotics in leachates.

Organic carbon recovery and photosynthetic bacteria population in an anaerobic membrane photo-bioreactor treating food processing wastewater

Purple non-sulfur bacteria (PNSB) were cultivated by food industry wastewater in the anaerobic membrane photo-bioreactor. Organic removal and biomass production and characteristics were accomplished via an explicit examination of the long term performance of the photo-bioreactor fed with real wastewater. With the support of infra-red light transmitting filter, PNSB could survive and maintain in the system even under the continual fluctuations of influent wastewater characteristics. The average BOD and COD removal efficiencies were found at the moderate range of 51% and 58%, respectively. Observed photosynthetic biomass yield was 0.6g dried solid/g BOD with crude protein content of 0.41 g/g dried solid. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoretic analysis (DGGE) and 16S rDNA sequencing revealed the presence of Rhodopseudomonas palustris and significant changes in the photosynthetic bacterial community within the system.

Municipal solid waste flow and waste generation characteristics in an urban--rural fringe area in Thailand.

In the urban—rural fringe of the Bangkok Metropolitan Region, rapid urbanization is creating a land-use mixture of agricultural fields and residential areas. To develop appropriate policies to enhance recycling of municipal solid waste (MSW), current MSW management was investigated in the oboto (local administrative district) of Bang Maenang in Nonthaburi Province, adjoining Bangkok. The authors conducted a structural interview survey with waste-related organizations and local residents, analysed household waste generation, and performed global positioning system (GPS) tracking of municipal garbage trucks. It was found that MSW was collected and treated by local government, private-sector entities, and the local community separately. Lack of integrated management of these entities complicated waste flow in the study area, and some residences were not served by MSW collection. Organic waste, such as kitchen garbage and yard waste, accounted for a large proportion of waste generation but was underutilized. Through GPS/GIS analysis, the waste collection rate of the generated waste amount was estimated to be 45.5— 51.1% of total generation.

Photosynthetic bacteria production from food processing wastewater in sequencing batch and membrane photo-bioreactors

Application of photosynthetic process could be highly efficient and surpass anaerobic treatment in releasing less greenhouse gas and odor while the biomass produced can be utilized. The combination of photosynthetic process with membrane separation is possibly effective for water reclamation and biomass production. In this study, cultivation of mixed culture photosynthetic bacteria from food processing wastewater was investigated in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) and a membrane bioreactor (MBR) supplied with infrared light. Both photo-bioreactors were operated at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 10 days. Higher MLSS concentration achieved in the MBR through complete retention of biomass resulted in a slightly improved performance. When the system was operated with MLSS controlled by occasional sludge withdrawal, total biomass production of MBR and SBR photo-bioreactor was almost equal. However, 64.5% of total biomass production was washed out with the effluent in SBR system. Consequently, the higher biomass could be recovered for utilization in MBR.

Effects of hydraulic retention time and carbon to nitrogen ratio on micro-pollutant biodegradation in membrane bioreactor for leachate treatment.

This research investigated the biodegradation of the micro-pollutants in leachate by the membrane bioreactor (MBR) system under six treatment conditions, comprising two C/N ratios (6, 10) and three hydraulic retention time (HRT) durations (6, 12, 24h). The experimental results indicated that the C/N 6 environment was more advantageous to the bacterial growth. The bacterial communities residing in the sludge were those of heterotrophic bacteria (HB), heterotrophic nitrifying bacteria (HNB) and ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB). It was found that HB and HNB produced phenol hydroxylase (PH), esterase (EST), phthalate dioxygenase (PDO) and laccase (LAC) and also enhanced the biodegradation rate constants (k) in the system. At the same time, AOB promoted the production of HB and HNB. The findings also revealed that the 12h HRT was the optimal condition with regard to the highest growth of the bacteria responsible for the biodegradation of phenols and phthalates. Meanwhile, the longer HRT duration (i.e. 24h) was required to effectively bio-degrade carbamazepine (CBZ), N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide (DEET) and diclofenac (DCF).

Effects of membrane orientation on fouling characteristics of forward osmosis membrane in concentration of microalgae culture.

Application of forward osmosis (FO) membrane to microalgae cultivation processes enables concentration of microalgae and nutrients with low energy consumption. To understand fouling characteristics of FO membrane in concentration of microalgae culture, we studied flux decline, flux recovery by cleaning, and foulants characteristics, in different membrane orientation of active-layer-facing-feed-solution (AL-FS) and active-layer-facing-draw-solution (AL-DS) modes. Batch concentration of Chlorella vulgaris was conducted with a cellulose-triacetate FO membrane. Rapid flux decline and lower flux recovery was observed in AL-DS mode because of inner-membrane fouling including internal pore clogging, adsorption and internal concentration polarization in the support layer. A proportion of polysaccharides in extracellular polymeric substances to soluble microbial products were larger in chemical cleaning effluent than physical one in AL-DS mode, although those were not significantly different in AL-FS mode. Excitation-emission matrix analysis revealed that proteins and humic-like substances were also possible irreversible foulants both in AL-DS and AL-FS modes.

Buried large block revealed by gravity anomalies in the Tonankai and Nankai earthquakes regions, southwestern Japan

We confirmed existence of a buried large block beneath seafloor off Cape Shionomisaki, Kii Peninsula, southwestern Japan, by improving marine gravity data. We found that the 1944 Tonankai and 1946 Nankai earthquakes occurred close to this block. The block is characterized by high gravity anomalies of 80 mGal larger than surrounding area with a diameter of about 40 km. Center of the anomaly is located 30 km off Cape Shionomisaki, southern end of the Kii Peninsula. This high gravity anomaly can be explained by existence of a higher density body with approximate thickness of 8 km just beneath the seafloor. This block coincides with the reported high velocity zone from recent seismic refraction survey in this area. Judging from seismic velocity, density, and geologic evidences, the block presumably consists of intruded acidic rocks, not seamount.

Impacts of housing development on nutrients flow along canals in a peri-urban area of Bangkok, Thailand

Change of nutrients load and flow according to land-use change induced by housing development was investigated in Bang Yai, Nonthaburi, Thailand, which located in the peri-urban area of Bangkok. Each house in the newly developed residential community was regulated to be equipped with a septic tank to collect night soil. However, greywater and leachate from the septic tank was collected by a community sewage system and discharged into the canals with insufficient treatment, while the canals still function as infrastructure for irrigation and transportation. In the study area, built-up area became 1.4 times and agricultural fields decreased by 13% from 2003 until 2007. Total nutrients load to the canals was increased by 25% as nitrogen and 14% as phosphorus according to the increase of built-up area. Net nutrients load from agricultural fields was largely set off when we evaluated nutrients inflow from the canals to the agricultural field through irrigation. Consequently, nutrients load from domestic wastewater accounted most of net nutrients load into the canal.

Toxic compounds biodegradation and toxicity of high strength wastewater treated under elevated nitrogen concentration in the activated sludge and membrane bioreactor systems

This research has assessed the removal efficiencies of toxic compounds in the high strength wastewater (the leachate and agriculture wastewater mixture) using the activated sludge (AS) and membrane bioreactor (MBR) technologies under two carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratios (C/N 14 and 6) and two toxic compounds concentrations (8-396μg/L and 1000μg/L). In addition, the toxicity evaluations of the AS and MBR effluents to the aquatic environment were undertaken at five effluent dilution ratios (10, 20, 30, 50 and 70% v/v). The findings indicate that the AS treatment performance could be enhanced by the elevation of the nitrogen concentration. Specifically, the C/N 6 environment helps promote the bacterial growth, particularly heterotrophic nitrifying bacteria (HNB) and nitrifying bacteria (NB), which produce the enzymes crucial to the toxic compounds degradation. The improved biodegradation makes the effluents less toxic to the aquatic environment, as evidenced by the lower mortality rates of both experimental fish species raised in the nitrogen-elevated diluted AS effluents. On the other hand, the elevated nitrogen concentration minimally enhances the MBR treatment performance, given the fact that the MBR technology is in itself a biological treatment scheme with very high compounds removal capability. Despite its lower toxic compounds removal efficiency, the AS technology is simple, inexpensive and operationally-friendly, rendering the system more applicable to the treatment operation constrained by the financial, manpower and technological considerations.