Article
Environmental Sciences
S. Nivedhita, P. Shyni Jasmin, M. Sarvajith, Y. V. Nancharaiah
Summary: The formation, performance, and microbial community structure of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) were investigated in the presence and absence of oxytetracycline (OTC). The results showed that the addition of OTC promoted the formation of well-settling AGS, but decreased the removal rates of nitrogen and phosphorus. This study is important for understanding the impact of antibiotics on AGS and designing treatment methods for antibiotic-laden wastewaters.
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Kun Wang, Chuanting Zhou, Hua Zhou, Ming Jiang, Guang Chen, Cong Wang, Zhenjian Zhang, Xiaodan Zhao, Lu-Man Jiang, Zhen Zhou
Summary: A comparative study was conducted on the AAO process and its two upgrading processes, five-stage Bardenpho and AAO + MBBR, using long-term operation data of six full-scale wastewater treatment plants. The three processes showed good performance in COD and phosphorus removal. The Bardenpho process was advantageous in nitrogen removal, while the AAO + MBBR had higher microbial richness and diversity. Both processes had specific bacteria enrichment and were suitable for different upgrading purposes.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Y. Nancharaiah, M. Sarvajith
Summary: The study showed that aerobic granular sludge (AGS) can efficiently remove selenite and tellurite, as well as COD, nitrogen, and phosphorus simultaneously. It also demonstrated that AGS can effectively remove ammonia, total nitrogen, and phosphorus stably in the presence of toxic Se-IV and Te-IV concentrations.
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
M. Sarvajith, Y. V. Nancharaiah
Summary: This study investigated the metabolic potential of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) for simultaneous removal of tellurite, COD, ammonium-nitrogen and phosphorus. The results showed that AGS could efficiently convert tellurite to biogenic elemental tellurium and had good pollutant removal and metal immobilization capabilities. The findings have important implications for metal-laden waste management and metal recovery applications.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Ruby Diaz, Soklida Hong, Ramesh Goel
Summary: Different ratios of VFAs as the primary feed were used in a biological nutrient reactor, which exhibited efficient removal of dissolved phosphorus and ammonium-nitrogen. The relative abundance of Candidatus Accumulibacter and Defluviicoccus genus increased and decreased, respectively, indicating the impact of VFAs on microbial communities. However, the high abundance of Defluviicoccus did not affect the stability and performance of the BNR process.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Ali Elahinik, Linghang Li, Martin Pabst, Ben Abbas, Dimitrios Xevgenos, Mark C. M. van Loosdrecht, Mario Pronk
Summary: This study investigated the conversion of glucose and its impact on phosphate removal by aerobic granular sludge. The results demonstrated that glucose could be used as a suitable substrate for achieving phosphate removal and that a microbial community consisting of fermentative organisms and polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAO) developed.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Varun N. Srinivasan, Guangyu Li, Dongqi Wang, Nicholas B. Tooker, Zihan Dai, Annalisa Onnis-Hayden, Charles Bott, Paul Dombrowski, Peter Schauer, Ameet Pinto, April Z. Gu
Summary: This study compared the microbial ecology of CAP between a side-stream EBPR and a conventional A2O EBPR process, revealing differences in microdiversity that likely contribute to the improved performance of S2EBPR. It also identified previously uncharacterized clades of CAP and demonstrated the temporally increasing predominance of certain CAP clades during the implementation of the S2EBPR configuration in full-scale EBPR systems.
Article
Environmental Sciences
M. Sarvajith, Y. Nancharaiah
Summary: This study found that the addition of GAC to AGS reactors can promote the enrichment of PAOs, shorten the start-up period for EBPR, and increase phosphorus removal efficiencies.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Fabrizio Sabba, Patrick McNamara, Eric Redmond, Caitlin Ruff, Mike Young, Leon Downing
Summary: This study investigates the mechanism of nitrogen removal and microbial community in post-aerobic digestion (PAD). The results show that nitrite is the dominant nitrogen removal mechanism and ammonia oxidizing bacteria are more abundant in the microbial community.
WATER ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Hemamalathi Kubendiran, Sruthi Ann Alex, Mrudula Pulimi, N. Chandrasekaran, Y. Nancharaiah, V. P. Venugopalan, Amitava Mukherjee
Summary: The study developed bimetallic core-shell Pd/Fe nanoparticles for dye removal on the surface of aerobic microbial granules, catalyzed by Bio-H2 gas; optimization of reaction parameters using response surface methodology showed high removal efficiency of Bio-Pd/Fe for methyl orange; further investigation into the removal mechanism and toxicity analysis of degradation products demonstrated transformation of MO into less toxic forms after treatment with Bio-Pd/Fe.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Srdana Kolakovic, Ricardo Salgado, Elisabete B. Freitas, Maria R. Bronze, Maja Turk Sekulic, Gilda Carvalho, Maria A. M. Reis, Adrian Oehmen
Summary: This study focused on the biodegradation of diclofenac in the enhanced biological phosphorus removal process, showing that polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs) can contribute to the transformation of diclofenac into less toxic products. The study identified 23 transformation products and elucidated multiple metabolic pathways for diclofenac biotransformation, suggesting PAOs can complement the biodegradation carried out by other organisms in activated sludge.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Liping Chen, Gengrui Wei, Yushen Zhang, Kaiying Wang, Cenchao Wang, Xuhan Deng, Yaqian Li, Xiaojing Xie, Jinling Chen, Fu Huang, Hang Chen, Bin Zhang, Chaohai Wei, Guanglei Qiu
Summary: Previous research has shown that Ca. Accumulibacter and Tetrasphaera play cooperative roles in enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR). However, the utilization of fermentation products released by Tetrasphaera and their potential effects on Ca. Accumulibacter metabolism were unknown. This study investigated the metabolic details of Ca. Accumulibacter in using fermentation products for EBPR, providing insights into their interactions.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Phiak Kim Poh, Ying Hui Ong, Krithika Arumugam, Tadashi Nittami, Hak Koon Yeoh, Irina Bessarab, Rohan William, Adeline Seak May Chua
Summary: This study investigated the effect of temperature on tropical inoculated EBPR systems, concluding that the system remained stable at 30 degrees Celsius with high P-removal efficiency. However, the system deteriorated at 40 degrees Celsius and the threshold temperature for tropical EBPR failure was found to be between 35 and 40 degrees Celsius.
WATER ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Y. V. Nancharaiah, M. Sarvajith, T. V. Krishna Mohan
Summary: Aerobic granular sludge (AGS) is an innovative biotechnology for wastewater treatment. Addition of nucleating agents can improve AGS development while treating low-strength wastewaters. This study investigated AGS formation and biological nutrient removal (BNR) pathways in the presence of nucleating agents during treatment of real domestic wastewater.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Stephany P. Wei, Bao Nguyen Quoc, Madelyn Shapiro, Pin Hsuan Chang, Jason Calhoun, Mari K. H. Winkler
Summary: The study successfully integrated an all-organic media carrier made of porous kenaf plant stalks into existing continuous-flow activated sludge systems, achieving stable biological treatment performance with aerobic granules.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Jing Zhao, Tao Liu, Jia Meng, Zhetai Hu, Xuanyu Lu, Shihu Hu, Zhiguo Yuan, Min Zheng
Summary: The significance of residual ammonium concentration to the mainstream PN/A biofilm system was systematically investigated. The study found that a residual NH4+ concentration of -50 mg N/L was essential to stable nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) suppression, while a lower concentration of -5 mg N/L caused NOB proliferation. High NH4+ concentration promoted the activity of ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and reduced oxygen penetration depth. These findings provide important knowledge for process control and expand the understanding of microbial interactions in mainstream PN/A biofilm systems.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2023)
Review
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Yizhu Kuang, Hesamoddin Rabiee, Lei Ge, Thomas E. Rufford, Zhiguo Yuan, John Bell, Hao Wang
Summary: This paper provides an overview of recent strategies for highly concentrated formic acid/formate products in electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR). Novel electrolyzers and design of planar and gas diffusion electrodes are introduced as engineering strategies to improve the concentration of formic acid/formate and reduce the cost of downstream separations. The existing technological challenges are highlighted, and recommendations for further research are provided.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Zhuan Khai Lim, Tao Liu, Min Zheng, Maxime Rattier, Jurg Keller, Zhiguo Yuan, Jianhua Guo, Shihu Hu
Summary: Anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) with membrane reciprocation as fouling control method showed a higher energy recovery and more energy-efficient performance compared to conventional biogas sparging in treating domestic wastewater. The carbon balance calculation and energy evaluation demonstrated that membrane reciprocation consumed 62% less energy (0.59 kWh/m3) than biogas sparging (1.56 kWh/m3) at the same operational conditions. With high biogas recovery and energy-efficient fouling control, a positive net energy balance (0.55-0.74 kWh/m3) was achieved, indicating the potential of AnMBR with membrane reciprocation as an energy-positive A-stage in domestic sewage treatment.
RESOURCES CONSERVATION AND RECYCLING
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Zhetai Hu, Shihu Hu, Pei-Ying Hong, Xueqin Zhang, Veljko Prodanovic, Kefeng Zhang, Liu Ye, Ana Deletic, Zhiguo Yuan, Min Zheng
Summary: Anaerobic treatment of domestic wastewater has advantages over conventional aerobic treatment in terms of lower biomass yield, lower energy demand and higher energy recovery. However, it faces issues of excessive phosphate and sulfide in effluent, as well as excess H2S and CO2 in biogas. This study proposes an electrochemical method that generates Fe2+ in the anode and hydroxide ion (OH-) and H2 in the cathode to overcome these challenges. The results show that dosing of the electrochemically generated iron significantly improves the performance of anaerobic wastewater treatment, increasing COD removal efficiency, CH4 production rate, dissolved sulfide reduction, and phosphate removal efficiency, while upgrading the quality of biogas by reducing CO2 and H2S contents.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Veljko Prodanovic, Kefeng Zhang, Min Zheng, Shihu Hu, Pei-Ying Hong, Zhiguo Yuan, Ana Deletic
Summary: Vegetated biofiltration systems are widely used for urban stormwater and greywater treatment, but the impact of high ammonium strength wastewater on nitrification process is not well understood. A laboratory-based column study was conducted to investigate dominant nitrification mechanisms. The results showed that appropriate aerobic contact time, oxygenation and alkalinity buffering are necessary for effective nitrification.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Mengxiong Wu, Chun -Yu Lai, Yulu Wang, Zhiguo Yuan, Jianhua Guo
Summary: Nitrate contamination is a common problem in water environments and poses health risks. This study investigates the feasibility of using propane and butane as electron donors for nitrate reduction. The results showed that propane and butane could continuously remove nitrate under oxygen-limiting conditions, and certain microorganisms were responsible for the oxidation of these gases and the reduction of nitrate.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Jiuling Li, Nur Nabilah Naina Mohamad, Keshab Sharma, Zhiguo Yuan
Summary: Establishing efficient boundary conditions is crucial for modeling heat transfer in sewers and recovering heat from wastewater. This study presents a novel approach using Fourier transform and data-driven models to determine the thickness of the soil layer and predict temperatures at the soil-layer boundary. The methodology improves the accuracy and speed of sewer heat transfer modeling.
Review
Engineering, Environmental
Liang Zhang, Yan-Ying Qiu, Keshab R. Sharma, Tao Shi, Yarong Song, Jianliang Sun, Zhensheng Liang, Zhiguo Yuan, Feng Jiang
Summary: This article provides a comprehensive review of sulfide control measures, including chemical additives, ventilation, and pipe material improvements, to prevent sewer corrosion and odor emission caused by sulfate-reducing bacteria. It emphasizes the importance of managing sewer networks as an integral part of an urban water system.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Zhetai Hu, Tao Liu, Zicheng Su, Jing Zhao, Jianhua Guo, Shihu Hu, Zhiguo Yuan, Min Zheng
Summary: Acidic partial nitritation (PN) is a stable method for wastewater treatment that can achieve nitrite accumulation and ammonium reduction. However, directly applying anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) to treat acid PN effluent is problematic. This study demonstrated the adaptation of anammox to acidic pH in a moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR), achieving high nitrogen removal efficiency. The presence of biofilm plays a critical role in protecting anammox bacteria in acidic environments.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Tao Liu, Shihu Hu, Zhiguo Yuan, Jianhua Guo
Summary: This study developed a novel technology using a granule-based sequencing batch reactor (GSBR) to achieve simultaneous removal of dissolved methane and nitrogen. The GSBR demonstrated high-level removal rates and efficiencies for nitrogen and dissolved methane during long-term demonstration. The availability of different electron acceptors significantly affected the removal of ammonium and dissolved methane, as well as the microbial communities and functional genes. These findings expand the applications of novel n-DAMO microorganisms and provide insights into microbial cooperation and competition in granular systems.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Yanchen Liu, Zhiqiang Zuo, He Li, Yaxin Xing, Dong Cheng, Miao Guo, Tao Liu, Min Zheng, Zhiguo Yuan, Xia Huang
Summary: This study proposes a new approach for effective sulfide control in urban sewers. It involves the advanced oxidation of ferrous sulfide in sewer sediment to produce hydroxyl radicals, which can simultaneously oxidize sulfide and reduce microbial sulfate-reducing activity. Experimental results demonstrate that this method can substantially reduce sulfide concentration and save chemical use.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Zhetai Hu, Lanqing Li, Xiaotong Cen, Min Zheng, Shihu Hu, Xiuheng Wang, Yarong Song, Kangning Xu, Zhiguo Yuan
Summary: Integrated urban water management is an effective approach for managing urban water resources, which utilizes integrated technological solutions to achieve system-wide benefits. Research has shown that the process of producing iron salts can improve wastewater treatment in urban water systems and simultaneously recover high-quality bioenergy.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Jibing Qi, Yuliang Li, Youzhi Liu, Tong Yang, Yandong Liu, Zhiguo Yuan, Jianjun Yi
Summary: In this study, the Henry's law constant of volatiles in polymer systems was investigated by measuring the gas phase equilibrium partial pressure. The results show that the gas phase equilibrium partial pressure and Henry's law constant of volatiles increase with the increase of temperature and polymer viscosity.
CHINA PETROLEUM PROCESSING & PETROCHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Haoran Duan, Min Zheng, Jiyun Li, Tao Liu, Zhiyao Wang, Sohan Shrestha, Bingzheng Wang, Liu Ye, Shihu Hu, Zhiguo Yuan
Summary: This study investigates the impact of high hydraulic loading rates on partial nitritation and proposes operational strategies to facilitate mainstream partial nitritation and anaerobic ammonium oxidation process.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Xiaotong Cen, Haoran Duan, Zhetai Hu, Xin Huang, Jiaying Li, Zhiguo Yuan, Min Zheng
Summary: The study shows that dosing magnesium hydroxide in sewer systems has various benefits on downstream treatment processes, including increasing sewage pH, reducing sulfide and methane concentrations, and increasing alkalinity and volatile fatty acids concentration in sewer effluent. Dosing magnesium hydroxide can also improve ammonium oxidation and NOx reduction rates in cases with limited alkalinity and carbon sources availability, without detrimental effects on anaerobic sludge digesters. Furthermore, the use of magnesium hydroxide dosing can potentially reduce downstream chemical demand and costs for carbon sources, pH adjustment, and sludge dewatering.
