Tuba H. Erguder

Environmental factors shaping the ecological niches of ammonia‐oxidizing archaea

For more than 100 years it was believed that bacteria were the only group responsible for the oxidation of ammonia. However, recently, a new strain of archaea bearing a putative ammonia monooxygenase subunit A (amoA) gene and able to oxidize ammonia was isolated from a marine aquarium tank. Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) were subsequently discovered in many ecosystems of varied characteristics and even found as the predominant causal organisms in some environments. Here, we summarize the current knowledge on the environmental conditions related to the presence of AOA and discuss the possible site-related properties. Considering these data, we deduct the possible niches of AOA based on pH, sulfide and phosphate levels. It is proposed that the AOA might be important actors within the nitrogen cycle in low-nutrient, low-pH, and sulfide-containing environments.

Anaerobic biotransformation and methane generation potential of cheese whey in batch and UASB reactors

Anaerobic treatability and methane generation potential of cheese whey were determined in batch reactors. Furthermore, the effect of nutrient and trace metal supplementation on the batch anaerobic treatment, and the high-rate anaerobic treatability of cheese whey in upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors were investigated. To this purpose biochemical methane potential experiments were conducted and single- and two-stage UASB reactors with granular cultures were operated. In UASB experiments significance of process staging, operational parameters such as hydraulic retention time (HRT), influent chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentration and loading rate were also investigated. The results revealed that nutrient and trace metal supplementation is vital for the anaerobic treatment of cheese whey; the anaerobic methane generation for the cheese whey studied was found to be 424 ml CH4/g COD (23.4 1 CH4/l cheese whey); undiluted cheese whey could be treated anaerobically at relatively short HRT values (2.06-4.95 days) without any significant stability problems; HRT values as low as 2-3 days can be used for the anaerobic treatment of cheese whey, with a COD removal efficiency of 95-97% at influent COD concentration of 42 700 +/- 141-55 100 +/- 283 mg/l.

Anaerobic treatment of olive mill wastes in batch reactors

Abstract Anaerobic treatment of olive oil mill wastes, namely black water and prina, was investigated in batch reactors. Biochemical methane potential (BMP) tests were conducted to determine the anaerobic biodegradability of black water and/or prina. With these BMP tests the biodegradability of olive mill wastes (OMWs) at different initial chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentrations and corresponding methane gas productions were investigated. Furthermore, a screening study was performed to determine the most important nutrients for the anaerobic digestion of black water. The results indicated that OMWW could be treated anaerobically with high efficiencies (85.4–93.4%) and treatment of 1 l olive mill waste waters (OMWW) by anaerobic methods resulted in production of 57.1±1.5 l of methane gas. Anaerobic treatment of the olive mill residual solids (OMRS) alone was poor; however, when OMRS was mixed with OMWW in certain ratios, OMRS could be treated efficiently under anaerobic conditions. Anaerobic cultures needed an adaptation period of 15–25 days for treatment of OMRS with and without OMWW.

Anaerobic treatability and biogas production potential studies of different agro-industrial wastewaters in Turkey.

The anaerobic treatability and methane generation potential of the wastewaters of the three important agro-industries in Turkey, namely, cheese-making, poultry breeding and the olive-oil mill industries were studied. Biochemical methane potential (BMP) experiments were conducted for different initial chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentrations. The results indicate that anaerobic treatment was possible for all the wastewaters studied and the biogas produced had a high methane content.

Sequential (anaerobic/aerobic) biological treatment of Dalaman SEKA Pulp and Paper Industry effluent

In the pulp and paper industry, lignin and other color compounds are removed by chemical agents in bleaching process. Use of chlorine-based agents results in production of degradation products which include various chloro-organic derivatives. Since these new compounds are highly chlorinated, they cause a problem in the treatment of pulp and paper industry wastewaters. Chemical precipitation, lagooning, activated sludge, and anaerobic treatment are the processes used for treating pulp and paper effluents. Furthermore, a combination of these processes is also applicable. In this study, the effluent of Dalaman SEKA Pulp and Paper Industry was examined for its toxic effects on anaerobic microorganisms by anaerobic toxicity assay. Additionally, this wastewater was applied to a sequential biotreatment process consisting of an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket as the anaerobic stage and a once-through completely mixed stirred tank as the aerobic stage. Results indicated that: (1) Dalaman SEKA Pulp and Paper Industry wastewater exerted no inhibitory effects on the anaerobic cultures under the studied conditions, and (2) application of a sequential biological (anaerobic/aerobic) system to treat the Dalaman SEKA Pulp and Paper Industry wastewater resulted in approximately 91% COD and 58% AOX removals at a HRT of 5 and 6.54 h for anaerobic and aerobic, respectively.

Performance of leaching bed reactor converting the organic fraction of municipal solid waste to organic acids and alcohols

A lab-scale leaching bed reactor (LBR) was operated to (1) investigate the potential of in-vessel solid-state anaerobic digestion of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (MSW) and (2) examine the feasibility of using LBRs for hydrolysis/liquefaction and acidification of organic fraction of MSW for maximum total volatile fatty acid (tVFA) and alcohol production. A hydrolysis efficiency of 60% was achieved in the LBR, which was mainly affected by the solids content of organic fraction of MSW, the amount of water addition into the LBR and the channeling through the waste bed. The net mass of tVFA produced was 7000 mg at the end of 80 d. The main individual VFAs produced were acetic and butyric acids and the main alcohol was ethanol. The variations in the by-products of acidification were mainly due to the nature of feed and pH variations in the LBR. LBRs achieved rapid hydrolysis and acidification of organic fraction of MSW, consequently, high hydrolysis yield, chemical oxygen demand removal and tVFA production.

The inhibitory effects of lindane in batch and upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors.

In this study, the inhibitory effects of lindane (LIN) on originally unacclimated mixed anaerobic cultures were investigated by anaerobic toxicity assay (ATA) experiments. ATA experiments revealed that 10 mg/l LIN exerted inhibitory effects on anaerobic cultures, which was recoverable. Continuous reactor experiments conducted to determine the inhibitory effects of LIN and the maximum LIN loading rate achievable in two-stage upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors indicated that anaerobic granular cultures were successfully acclimated to 30 mg/l LIN. The maximum LIN loading rate and minimum hydraulic retention time (HRT) possible for the UASB system were 10 mg/l day and 18 h, respectively, which resulted in the overall chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency of 89%.

Investigation of the effect of culture type on biological hydrogen production from sugar industry wastes.

The bio-hydrogen generation potential of sugar industry wastes was investigated. In the first part of the study, acidogenic anaerobic culture was enriched from the mixed anaerobic culture (MAC) through acidification of glucose. In the second part of the study, glucose acclimated acidogenic seed was used, along with the indigenous microorganisms, MAC, 2-bromoethanesulfonate treated MAC and heat treated MAC. Two different COD levels (4.5 and 30g/L COD) were investigated for each culture type. Reactors with initial COD concentration of 4.5g/L had higher H(2) yields (20.3-87.7mL H(2)/g COD) than the reactors with initial COD concentration of 30g/L (0.9-16.6mL H(2)/g COD). The 2-bromoethanesulfonate and heat treatment of MAC inhibited the methanogenic activity, but did not increase the H(2) production yield. The maximum H(2) production (87.7mL H(2)/g COD) and minimum methanogenic activity were observed in the unseeded reactor with 4.5g/L of initial COD.

The effects of aerobic/anoxic period sequence on aerobic granulation and COD/N treatment efficiency

The effects of period sequence (anoxic-aerobic and aerobic-anoxic) on aerobic granulation from suspended seed sludge, and COD, N removal efficiencies were investigated in two sequencing batch reactors. More stable granules with greater sizes (1.8-3.5mm) were developed in R1 (anoxic-aerobic sequence). Yet, no significant difference was observed between the reactors in terms of removal efficiencies. Under optimum operational conditions, 92-95% COD, 89-90% TAN and 38-46% total nitrogen removal efficiencies were achieved. The anoxic-aerobic period sequence (R1) resulted in almost complete denitrification during anoxic periods while aerobic-anoxic sequence (R2) led to nitrate accumulation due to limited-carbon source and further granule disintegration. NH3-N concentration of 15-28 mg/L was found to inhibit COD removal up to 30%. This study also revealed the inhibitory sulfide production during anoxic periods. Sulfate concentration of 52.6-70.2mg/L was found to promote sulfate reduction and sulfide generation (0.24-0.62 mg/L) which, together with free-ammonia, inhibited TAN oxidation by 10-50%.

The inhibitory effects and removal of dieldrin in continuous upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors

The inhibitory effects and removal efficiency of dieldrin (DLD) in anaerobic reactors were investigated. Anaerobic toxicity assay (ATA) experiments conducted in batch reactors revealed that 30 mg/l DLD had inhibitory effects on the unacclimated mixed anaerobic cultures. Continuous reactor experiments performed in a lab-scale two-stage upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor system which was fed with ethanol as the sole carbon source, indicated that anaerobic granular cultures could be successfully acclimated to DLD. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiencies were 88-92% for the two-stage system. The influent DLD concentration of 10 mg/l was removed by 44-86% and 86-94% in the second stage and overall UASB system, respectively. Biosorption of DLD on granular anaerobic biomass was found to be a significant mechanism for DLD removal in the UASB system. The maximum DLD loading rate and minimum HRT achievable for the first stage UASB reactor were 0.5 mg/lday (76 microg DLD/g VSS.day) and 10 h, respectively, which resulted in the overall COD removal efficiency of 85%.