Sandra Tédde Santaella

Immobilization of microbial cells: A promising tool for treatment of toxic pollutants in industrial wastewater

The review articles on cell immobilization have been published since 1980 and reflect the general interest in this topic. Immobilized microbial cells create opportunities in a wide range of sectors including environmental pollution control. Compared with suspended microorganism technology, cell immobilization shows many advantages, such as resistance to toxic chemicals. This review presents the potential of immobilized microbial cells for treatment of toxic pollutants in industrial wastewater, the fundamentals, history and advantages of immobilized cells compared with suspended cells, characteristics of support materials and the principal methods of immobilization, with special emphasis for natural immobilization by cell adsorption. Keywords : Cell immobilization, microorganisms, adsorption, toxic pollutants, wastewater African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(28), pp. 4412-4418

Anaerobic digestion of crude glycerol: a review

Several researchers have used crude glycerol as a source of substrate for methane production and power generation, which is a way of adding value to this residue that has a high chemical oxygen demand (COD) and is rich in impurities. This review article summarizes recent data and discussions on the use of crude glycerol as substrate and co-substrate for anaerobic digestion. In general, the dilution of glycerol has been used to avoid problems of inhibition due to the presence of inorganic salts of chloride and sulphates, and due to accumulation of metabolites. However, other methods have been proposed, such as the use of halo-tolerant biomass. It can be concluded that the anaerobic digestion of crude glycerol is technically viable, and an anaerobic reactor treating 25 m3 per day of crude glycerol can produce 4.4 MW of thermal energy, which can be converted to 4.4 GW of heat or 1.2 GW of electricity.

Tratamento de efluentes de refinaria de petróleo em reatores com Aspergillus niger

This paper evaluated the effect of hydraulic retention time (HRT) on the performance of three upflow aerobic reactors, with polyurethane foam as support material, inoculated with Aspergillus niger AN400, used for the treatment of petroleum refinery wastewater. Each reactor was operated with a different HRT: 4, 8 and 12 hours, during 152 days. The performance was evaluated based on pH; phenols; COD, nitrate and nitrite. The results show that for the COD removal, it is more reasonable to operate the reactor with HRT of eight hours. However, there was no difference among results of phenol removal efficiency of the different HRTs. During steady state condition, nitrite was removed in approximately 99%, but there was no reduction on the nitrate concentration. Ammonia was produced in all reactors, probably due to ammonification of nitrite.

Influência da glicose sobre o consumo de fenol por Aspergillus niger an 400 em reatores em batelada

Batch reactors were inoculated with Aspergillus niger AN 400 to remove phenol from synthetic media with and without glucose. The experiment was set by: five blank reactors (group 1) with media containing only phenol; five reactors (group 2) inoculated with fungi and with media containing only phenol; and five reactors (group 3) inoculated with fungi and with media containing phenol and glucose (5 g/L). These reactors were kept at 30°C under stirring of 200 rpm during 5 days. The mean initial concentrations of phenol and COD were 323 mg/L and 696 mg COD/L for the media without glucose, and 6058 mg COD/L for the media containing glucose. The reactors of group 2 removed 48% of phenol and 21% of COD, while the reactors of group 3 removed 100% of phenol and 93% of COD. There was no significant reduction of phenol and COD in the blank reactors. The assimilation was the main pathway of phenol removal.

Biodegradability and methane production potential of glycerol generated by biodiesel industry

Crude glycerol, the main by-product of the biodiesel industry, is a material containing compounds considered recalcitrant to microorganisms. The aims of this study were to determine the anaerobic biodegradability and the methane production potential (MPP) of different crude glycerols generated from the transesterification of oils from several kinds of seeds and/or beans, and the anaerobic toxicity of crude glycerol obtained from a mixture of soybean and cottonseed oils. All tests were based on specific methanogenic activity assays (SMA). The biodegradability tests and the MPP assays lasted 30 days. Toxicity was evaluated through the statistical technique of factorial design and a response surface was generated in which the concentrations of crude glycerol and glucose were the independent variables and SMA was the dependent variable. The results showed that the type of seed or bean, as well as the transesterification process, affected the anaerobic biodegradability. Biodegradability ranged between 65.9 and 85.6% and MPP, between 0.220 and 0.322 m(3) CH(4)/kg crude glycerol. The toxicity test showed that crude glycerol was not toxic to anaerobic sludge.

Fermentative H2 production from residual glycerol: a review

The fermentative production of H2 from residual glycerol is an attractive alternative for clean energy production from a waste product. Selection of operational variables for microbial populations with an adequate diversity in order to improve H2 yields is an issue faced during optimization of biological production of H2. Operational and environmental factors affect both microbial diversity and the activity of specific enzymes. Therefore, these variables must be controlled to obtain the best H2 yields. This review covers the main variables involved in the fermentative production of H2 from crude glycerol and the biochemistry of the anaerobic digestion of glycerol, with a focus on the microbial diversity involved in this process.

Bioavailability of crude protein and lipid from biofloc meals produced in an activated sludge system for white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei

The present study compared the bioavailability of crude protein and lipid from biofloc meals generated with an activated sludge system using two water sources: wastewater from shrimp experimental culture (BFL-W) and, artificially, using clean seawater (BFL-C). The sludge system operated by chemical and organic fertilization three times per week. Sampling of bioflocs occurred every two days during 81 days. To evaluate digestibility, each type of biofloc meal was incorporated into a reference diet (REF) at 300 g/kg. Another diet acted as a negative control (NEG) by using fish waste meal. The apparent digestibility of bioflocs was estimated by the indirect method using chromic oxide (Cr2O3) as the inert marker at 10 g/kg of the diet. Juvenile L. vannamei of 5.09±0.79 g (n = 440) were stocked at 10 shrimp/tank in 44 tanks of 61 L each that operated under a water recirculating regime. Biofloc meals contained a high ash content (591.0-649.2 g/kg) combined with a low crude protein content (95.9-137.3 g/kg). After 26 days, shrimp achieved a final survival of 93.2±0.8% and a biomass gain of 37.1±1.8 g/tank. Final shrimp body weight ranged from 9.01±0.15 to 9.45±0.13 g. The apparent digestibility coefficient (ADC) of crude protein in the biofloc produced from BFL-W, BFL-C and fish waste meal (NEG) reached 26.0, 25.7, and 64.1%, respectively. Similarly, the lipid ADC was 78.9, 67.9, and 85.8%, respectively. This study indicated that biofloc meals had a low protein availability for L. vannamei. However, although low levels of lipid were present, it proved to be available for the species. The dietary inclusion of biofloc meal appears to have a growth-promoting effect on shrimp, which may be associated with trace minerals, or other nutrients not identified in this study.

Selection of culturable environmental microbial strains for cellular immobilization: Association of phenotypic adhesive characteristics and quantitative cellular retention

Environmental pollution by organic compounds is a global problem. Biological treatment methods are used to restore polluted environments. Microbial immobilization on abiotic surfaces is a recent strategy to improve the efficiency of these processes. In this technique, cell adhesion is a fundamental step for subsequent colonization and biofilm formation. Therefore, the use of strains with adhesive properties is a critical factor for successful immobilization. In this work, culturable environmental microbial strains were phenotypically characterized regarding their hydrophobicity, adhesion to polystyrene and production of exopolysaccharides and amyloid fibers. The cell retention was quantified by counting viable cells using polyurethane foam as material support. The degree of hydrophobicity varied from moderately hydrophobic to hydrophilic, while the adhesion to polystyrene and production of exopolysaccharides and amyloid fibers ranged from strong to negative. The results of qualitative tests were transformed into scores and a direct relationship between the qualitative characteristics and number of adhered cells on polyurethane foam was observed. The Gram-negative bacterium Serratia marcescens and the yeast Candida rugosa showed the best results and were selected for further immobilization tests. Key words : Hydrophobicity, cell adhesion, cell immobilization, Serratia marcescens, Candida rugosa.

Influencia do tempo de detencao hidraulica em um sistema UASB seguido de um reator biologico com fungos para tratar efluentes de industria de castanha de caju

In this research, it was studied the effect of hydraulic retention time (HRT) in a system comprised of an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) reactor and a Biological Reactor with Fungi (BRF) for treatment of the efluent of the industry of cashew nut improvement. The work was divided in two phases: batch reactors using shaking flasks and continuous-feed reactors (UASB-BRF). The UASB reactor was operated at HRT of 4 and 8 h, whereas the BRF was operated at HRT varying from 1 to 8 h. The performance of both reactors was evaluated based on the removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonium, nitrate, and orthophosfate. The results show that the best results were achieved when the UASB was operated at HRT of 4 h and the BRF was operated at HRT of 2 h, when the system removed 93,8% of the COD, 86,7% of the nitrate, 38,3% of the ammonium and 16% of the orthophosfate.

The Samarco mine tailing disaster: A possible time-bomb for heavy metals contamination?

In November 2015, the largest socio-environmental disaster in the history of Brazil occurred when approximately 50 million m3 of mine tailings were released into the Doce River (SE Brazil), during the greatest failure of a tailings dam worldwide. The mine tailings passed through the Doce River basin, reaching the ecologically important estuary 17 days later. On the arrival of the mine wastes to the coastal area, contamination levels in the estuarine soils were measured to determine the baseline level of contamination and to enable an environmental risk assessment. Soil and tailings samples were collected and analyzed to determine the redox potential (Eh), pH, grain size and mineralogical composition, total metal contents (Fe, Mn, Cr, Zn, Ni, Cu, Pb and Co) and organic matter content. The metals were fractionated to elucidate the mechanisms governing the trace metal dynamics. The mine tailings are mostly composed of Fe (mean values for Fe: 45,200 ± 2850; Mn: 433 ± 110; Cr: 63.9 ± 15.1; Zn: 62.4 ± 28.4; Ni: 24.7 ± 10.4; Cu: 21.3 ± 4.6; Pb: 20.2 ± 4.6 and Co: 10.7 ± 4.8 mg kg-1), consisting of Fe-oxyhydroxides (goethite, hematite); kaolinite and quartz. The metal contents of the estuarine soils, especially the surface layers, indicate trace metal enrichment caused by the tailings. However, the metal contents were below threshold levels reported in Brazilian environmental legislation. Despite the fact that only a small fraction (<2%) of the metals identified are readily bioavailable (i.e. soluble and exchangeable fraction), trace metals associated with Fe oxyhydroxides contributed between 69.8 and 87.6% of the total contents. Control of the trace metal dynamics by Fe oxyhydroxides can be ephemeral, especially in wetland soils in which the redox conditions oscillate widely. Indeed, the physicochemical conditions (Eh < 100 mV and circumneutral pH) of estuarine soils favor Fe reduction microbial pathways, which will probably increase the trace metal bioavailability and contamination risk.