|
|
Cabrera, F., Torres-Aravena, A., Pinto-Ibieta, F., Campos, J. L., & Jeison, D. (2021). On-Line Control of Feast/Famine Cycles to Improve PHB Accumulation during Cultivation of Mixed Microbial Cultures in Sequential Batch Reactors. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 18(23), 12611.
Abstract: Production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) has generated great interest as building blocks for bioplastic production. Their production using mixed microbial cultures represents an interesting alternative, since it enables the use of organic wastes as a carbon source. Feast/famine strategy is a common way to promote selection of microorganisms with PHA accumulation capacity. However, when using waste sources, changes in substrate concentration are expected, that may affect performance and efficiency of the process. This study showed how the dissolved oxygen level can be used for online control of the cycle time, ensuring that the desired feast/famine ratio is effectively applied. An operation strategy is presented and validated, using sequential batch reactors fed with acetate as the carbon source. Production of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) was studied, which is the expected type of PHA to be synthetized when using acetate as substrate. Two reactors were operated by applying the proposed control strategy, to provide F/F ratios of 0.2 and 0.6, respectively. A third reactor was operated with a fixed cycle time, for comparison purposes. Results showed that the reactor that operated at an F/F ratio of 0.6 promoted higher biomass productivity and PHB content, as a result of a better use of available time, preventing unnecessary long famine times. The application of the tested strategy is a simple a reliable way to promote a better performance of feast/famine-based bioreactors involving mixed microbial cultures for PHB production.
|
|
|
|
Diaz, C., Belmonte, M., Campos, J. L., Franchi, O., Faundez, M., Vidal, G., et al. (2020). Limits of the anammox process in granular systems to remove nitrogen at low temperature and nitrogen concentration. Process Saf. Environ. Protect., 138, 349–355.
Abstract: When partial nitritation-anammox (PN-AMX) processes are applied to treat the mainstream in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), it is difficult to fulfil the total nitrogen (TN) quality requirements established by the European Union (<10g TN/m(3)). The operation of the anammox process was evaluated here in a continuous stirred tank reactor operated at 15 degrees C and fed with concentrations of 50 g TN/m(3) (1.30 +/- 0.23 g NO2- -N/g NH4+-N). Two different aspects were identified as crucial, limiting nitrogen removal efficiency. On the one hand, the oxygen transferred from the air in contact with the mixed liquor surface favoured the nitrite oxidation to nitrate (up to 75 %) and this nitrate, in addition to the amount produced from the anammox reaction itself, worsened the effluent quality. On the other hand, the mass transfer of ammonium and nitrite to be converted inside the anammox granules involves relatively large values of apparent affinity constants (k(NH4+app) : 0.50 g NH4+-N/m(3) ; k(NO2-app) 0.17 g NO2--N/m(3)) that favour the presence of these nitrogen compounds in the produced effluent. The careful isolation of the reactor from air seeping and the fixation of right hydraulic and solids retention times are expected to help the maintenance of stability and effluent quality. (C) 2020 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
|
|
|
|
Jara-Munoz, P., Guzman-Fierro, V., Arriagada, C., Campos, V., Campos, J. L., Gallardo-Rodriguez, J. J., et al. (2019). Low oxygen start-up of partial nitrification-anammox process: mechanical or gas agitation? J. Chem. Technol. Biotechnol., 94(2), 475–483.
Abstract: BACKGROUND Partial nitrification-anammox (PN-A) is a widely recognized technology to remove nitrogen from different types of wastewater. Low oxygen concentration is the most used strategy for PN-A start-up, but stability problems arise during the operation; thus, in the present study the effects of the type of agitation, oxygenation and shear stress on the sensitivity, energy consumption and performance were evaluated. Recognition of these parameters allows considered choice of the design of an industrial process for nitrogen abatement. RESULTS A mechanically agitated reactor (MAR) was compared to a stable, long-term operation period bubble column reactor (BCR), both started under low dissolved oxygen concentration conditions. MAR microbial assays confirmed the destruction of the nitrifying layer and an imbalance of the entire process when the oxygen to nitrogen loading ratio (O-2:N) decreased by 25%. The granule sedimentation rate and specific anammox activity were 17% and 87% higher (respectively) in BCR. Economic analysis determined that the cost of aeration for the MAR and for the BCR were 23.8% and 1% of the total PN-A energy consumption, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The BCR showed better results than the MAR. This study highlights the importance of type of agitation, oxygenation and shear stress for industrial-scale PN-A designs. (c) 2018 Society of Chemical Industry
|
|
|
|
Morales, N., del Rio, A. V., Vazquez-Padin, J. R., Gutierrez, R., Fernandez-Gonzalez, R., Icaram, P., et al. (2015). Influence of dissolved oxygen concentration on the start-up of the anammox-based process: ELAN (R). Water Sci. Technol., 72(4), 520–527.
Abstract: The anammox-based process ELAN (R) was started-up in two different sequencing batch reactor (SBR) pilot plant reactors treating municipal anaerobic digester supernatant. The main difference in the operation of both reactors was the dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration in the bulk liquid. SBR-1 was started at a DO value of 0.4 mg O-2/L whereas SBR-2 was started at DO values of 3.0 mg O-2/L. Despite both reactors working at a nitrogen removal rate of around 0.6 g N/(L d), in SBR-1, granules represented only a small fraction of the total biomass and reached a diameter of 1.1 mm after 7 months of operation, while in SBR-2 the biomass was mainly composed of granules with an average diameter of 3.2 mm after the same operational period. Oxygen microelectrode profiling revealed that granules from SBR-2 where only fully penetrated by oxygen with DO concentrations of 8 mg O2/L while granules from SBR-1 were already oxygen penetrated at DO concentrations of 1 mg O2/L. In this way granules from SBR-2 performed better due to the thick layer of ammonia oxidizing bacteria, which accounted for up to 20% of all the microbial populations, which protected the anammox bacteria from non-suitable liquid media conditions.
|
|
|
|
Pichel, A., Moreno, R., Figueroa, M., Campos, J. L., Mendez, R., Mosquera-Corral, A., et al. (2019). How to cope with NOB activity and pig manure inhibition in a partial nitritation-anammox process? Sep. Purif. Technol., 212, 396–404.
Abstract: The treatment of pig manure can be performed by anaerobic digestion to diminish the organic matter content and produce biogas, and the resulting digestate has to be subsequently treated for the removal of nitrogenous compounds. The partial nitritation-anammox (PN-AMX) process constitutes an interesting alternative. In the present study, three different short experiments were initially performed to study the influence of nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) present in the inoculum and the pig manure composition over the start-up of the PN-AMX process. The presence of NOB in the inoculum showed to be more crucial than the available anammox activity for a good performance of the PN-AMX process. Batch activity experiments showed a reduction of at least 44.4% in the maximum specific anammox activity due to the pig manure, probably owed to its conductivity (between 6 and 8 mS/cm). In the subsequent long-term operation of the PN-AMX process with non-diluted pre-treated pig manure, the NOB were successfully limited for DO concentrations of 0.1 mg O-2/L, and a nitrogen removal rate (NRR) of 0.1 g N/(L.d) was achieved despite the presence of significant NOB activity in the start-up. A strict control of the DO concentration, with an optimal range of 0.07-0.10 mg O-2/L, was fundamental to balance the removal of nitrogen by PN-AMX and prevent NOB activity. The presence of organic matter, with a ratio sCOD/N in the influent between 0.18 and 1.14 g/g, did not hinder the PN-AMX process, and the contribution of heterotrophic denitrification to the removal of nitrogen was less than 10%.
|
|
