Yangguo Zhao

Enrichment of anodic biofilm inoculated with anaerobic or aerobic sludge in single chambered air-cathode microbial fuel cells.

Aerobic sludge after anaerobic pretreatment and anaerobic sludge were separately used as inoculum to start up air-cathode single-chamber MFCs. Aerobic sludge-inoculated MFCs arrived at 0.27 V with a maximum power density of 5.79 W m(-3), while anaerobic sludge-inoculated MFCs reached 0.21 V with 3.66 W m(-3). Microbial analysis with DGGE profiling and high-throughput sequencing indicated that aerobic sludge contained more diverse bacterial populations than anaerobic sludge. Nitrospira species dominated in aerobic sludge, while anaerobic sludge was dominated by Desulfurella and Acidithiobacillus species. Microbial community structure and composition in anodic biofilms enriched, respectively from aerobic and anaerobic sludges tended gradually to be similar. Potentially exoelectrogenic Geobacter and Anaeromusa species, biofilm-forming Zoogloea and Acinetobacter species were abundant in both anodic biofilms. This study indicated that aerobic sludge performed better for MFCs startup, and the enrichment of anodic microbial consortium with different inocula but same substrate resulted in uniformity of functional microbial communities.

Effect of carbon sources on sulfidogenic bacterial communities during the starting-up of acidogenic sulfate-reducing bioreactors.

The effect of different carbon sources on the starting-up duration of sulfidogenic bioreactor and corresponding bacterial communities were investigated. The bioreactor starting-up duration was closely dependent on the complexity and availability of the carbon sources. 16S rRNA gene diversity of climax bacterial communities developed in each bioreactor had an increasing tendency for the carbon resource of lactate, acetate/ethanol, glucose and molasses. At the steady stage of bioreactors, the molasses-fed bacterial community pattern grouped with that of glucose-fed and acetate/ethanol-fed grouped with that of lactate-fed, both of which separated each other and departed further from the seed sludge. The present study concludes that utilization of simple carbon sources that are readily utilized by sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) can not only increase the fraction of SRB and thus improve sulfate removal efficiency, but also shorten the starting-up duration.

Long-term effects of ZnO nanoparticles on nitrogen and phosphorus removal, microbial activity and microbial community of a sequencing batch reactor

The performance, microbial activity, and microbial community of a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) were investigated under the long-term exposure of ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO NPs). Low ZnO NPs concentration (less than 5mg/L) had no obvious effect on the SBR performance, whereas the removals of COD, NH4(+)-N, and phosphorus were affected at 10-60mg/L ZnO NPs. The variation trend of nitrogen and phosphorus removal rate was similar to that of microbial enzymatic activity with the increase of ZnO NPs concentrations. The richness and diversity of microbial community showed obvious variations at different ZnO NPs concentrations. ZnO NPs appeared on the surface and cell interior of activated sludge, and the Zn contents in the effluent and activated sludge increased with the increase of ZnO NPS concentration. The present results provide use information to understand the effect of ZnO NPS on the performance of wastewater biological treatment systems.

Rhizodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons by Sesbania cannabina in bioaugmented soil with free and immobilized consortium.

The present study reports the effect of bioaugmentation by free and immobilized bacterial culture on the rhizodegradation of petroleum-polluted soil using Sesbania cannabina plant. Total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH), hydrocarbon-degrading bacterial counts, microbial activity and root morphology were assessed during 120 days of plant growth. TPH concentration analyzed by GC-MS showed that bioaugmentation did not improve the TPH degradation. TPH concentration decreased from 2541 mg kg(-1) to 673 mg kg(-1) and 867 mg kg(-1) in the rhizosphere of free (FR) and immobilized bacterial inoculated (IR) soil, respectively at the 120th day while in the rhizosphere of uninoculated soil (CR) concentration decreased to 679 mg kg(-1) only at the 90th day, showing higher and rapid rhizodegradation with indigenous bacteria than bioaugmented bacterial cultures. Various predominant bacterial groups responsible for higher TPH degradation in the rhizosphere of S. cannabina were identified by PCR-DGGE analysis. It is concluded that natural plant-microbe interaction in the rhizosphere of S. cannabina was efficient enough to degrade TPH and plant rhizosphere keeps bacterial community in its surrounding therefore immobilized culture had no obvious effect on petroleum degradation.

Biological treatment of steroidal drug industrial effluent and electricity generation in the microbial fuel cells

The single chamber microbial fuel cells (MFCs) were used to treat steroidal drug production wastewater (SPW) and generate electricity simultaneously. The results indicated that the maximum COD removal efficiency reached 82%, total nitrogen and sulfate removal rate approached 62.47% and 26.46%, respectively. The maximum power density and the Coulombic efficiency reached to 22.3Wm(-3) and 30%, respectively. The scanning electron microscope showed that the dominant microbial populations were remarkably different in morphology on the surface of SPW and acetate-fed anodes. PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis profiles revealed that the microbial community structure fed with different concentrations of SPW presented a gradual succession and unique bacterial sequences were detected on the SPW and acetate-fed anodes. This research demonstrates that MFCs fed with SPW achieved a high efficiency of power density and simultaneous nutrient removal, and the dominant microorganisms on the anode were related to the types and the concentrations of substrates.

Magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles induced effects on performance and microbial community of activated sludge from a sequencing batch reactor under long-term exposure

The performance and microbial community of activated sludge from a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) were investigated under long-term exposure of magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles (Fe3O4 NPs). The COD removal showed a slight decrease at 5-60mg/L Fe3O4 NPs compared to 0mg/L Fe3O4 NPs, whereas the NH4+-N removal had no obvious variation at 0-60mg/L Fe3O4 NPs. It was found that 10-60mg/L Fe3O4 NPs improved the denitrification process and phosphorus removal of activated sludge. The microbial enzymatic activities of activated sludge could be affected by Fe3O4 NPs, which had similar variation trends to the nitrogen and phosphorus removal rates of activated sludge. The reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release demonstrated that Fe3O4 NPs led to the toxicity to activated sludge and destroyed the integrity of microbial cytomembrane. High throughput sequencing indicated that Fe3O4 NPs could obviously affect the microbial richness and diversity of activated sludge.

Structural and functional properties of organic matters in extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and dissolved organic matters (DOM) after heat pretreatment with waste sludge.

The effects of heat pretreatment on waste sludge hydrolysis were investigated in this study. Heat pretreatment was conducted at 65°C, 80°C, 100°C and 121°C for 5min, 10min, 15min, 20min, 25min and 30min. Not only analyzed the changes of SCOD (Soluble chemical oxygen demand), carbohydrate and protein, but also evaluated the structural and functional properties of organics in extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and dissolved organic matters (DOM) by using three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix (3D-EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy with fluorescence regional integration (FRI) analysis. The SCOD in DOM increased with pretreated temperatures. The optimal heat hydrolysis temperature and time were selected by further studying the biodegradable and non-biodegradable components. After treated at 80°C for 25min, the fluorescence intensity and percent fluorescence response (Pi,n) of easily biodegradable soluble microbial by-product substance were higher than others, and little non-biodegradable fulvic acid-like substance was accumulated.

Performance and microbial community of a sequencing batch biofilm reactor treating synthetic mariculture wastewater under long-term exposure to norfloxacin.

The performance and microbial community of a sequencing batch biofilm reactor (SBBR) treating synthetic mariculture wastewater were evaluated under long-term exposure to norfloxacin (NFX) due to the overuse of antibiotics during the mariculture. The COD and NH4+-N removals had no distinct change at 0-6mgL-1 NFX and were inhibited at 6-35mgL-1 NFX. The specific oxygen uptake rate (SOUR), specific ammonium oxidation rate (SAOR), specific nitrite oxidation rate (SNOR) and specific nitrate reduction rate (SNRR) of the biofilm kept a decreasing tendency with the increase of NFX concentration from 0 to 35mgL-1. The presence of NFX promoted the microorganisms to secrete more extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and affected the chemical compositions of EPS. The microbial richness and diversity showed some obvious variations at different NFX concentrations. The present results demonstrated that NFX inhibited the SBBR performance and should decrease the NFX dosage in the mariculture.

Performance of a sulfidogenic bioreactor and bacterial community shifts under different alkalinity levels

The performance of a sulfidogenic bioreactor and the response of bacterial populations to influent alkalinity changes were investigated. The bioreactor reached 40% of sulfate removal efficiency (SRE) with 0 mg l(-1) of alkalinity, and single-stranded conformation polymorphism profiles showed that some members of Bacteroides, Dysgonomonas, Sporobacter, Quinella, and Citrobacter became dominant populations. 16S rRNA gene library analysis indicated that the Actinobacteria group increased from 0% in seed to 23% in sludge. An increase in alkalinity to 1300 mg l(-1) led to a rapid increase of SRE to 65% and changes in the bacterial community. Sequences representing Dysgonomonas, Raoultella, Kluyvera, and Phascolarctobacterium were now found. When alkalinity was deceased to 0 mg l(-1), SRE dropped and the bands representing Raoultella, Kluyvera, and Phascolarctobacterium disappeared, while bands representing Clostridium appeared. A second cycle of low/high alkalinity did not result in obvious changes to the bacterial community. These results indicate that the sulfidogenic bioreactor favored higher influent alkalinity and that the different functional microbial populations responded well to the alkalinity changes.

Effects of hydraulic retention time (HRT) on denitrification using waste activated sludge thermal hydrolysis liquid and acidogenic liquid as carbon sources

Waste activated sludge (WAS) internal carbon source can efficiently and economically enhance denitrification, and hydraulic retention time (HRT) is one of the most important operational parameters for denitrification. The effects of HRT on denitrification were investigated with WAS thermal hydrolysis liquid and acidogenic liquid as carbon sources in this study. The optimal HRT was 12h for thermal hydrolysis liquid and 8h for acidogenic liquid, with NO3--N removal efficiency of 91.0% and 97.6%, respectively. In order to investigate the utilization of sludge carbon source by denitrifier, the changes of SCOD (Soluble chemical oxygen demand), proteins, carbohydrates, and VFAs (Volatile fatty acids) during denitrification process were analyzed and three-dimensional fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (EEM) spectroscopy with fluorescence regional integration (FRI) analysis was introduced. The kinetics parameters of denitrification rate (VDN), denitrification potential (PDN) and heterotroph anoxic yield (YH) were also investigated using sludge carbon source at different HRT.