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AbstractMethane is a highly potent greenhouse gas and contributes significantly to climate change. Recent studies have shown significant methane production in sewers. The studies conducted so far have relied on manual sampling followed by off-line laboratory-based chromatography analysis. These methods are labor-intensive when measuring methane emissions from a large number of sewers and do not capture the dynamic variations in methane production. In this study, we investigated the suitability of infrared spectroscopy-based on-line methane sensors for measuring methane in humid and condensing sewer air. Two such sensors were comprehensively tested in the laboratory. Both sensors displayed high linearity (R2 > 0.999), with a detection limit of 0.023% and 0.110% by volume, respectively. Both sensors were robust against ambient temperature variations in the range of 5 to 35°C. While one sensor was robust against humidity variations, the other was found to be significantly affected by humidity. However, the problem was solved by equipping the sensor with a heating unit to increase the sensor surface temperature to 35°C. Field studies at three sites confirmed the performance and accuracy of the sensors when applied to actual sewer conditions and revealed substantial and highly dynamic methane concentrations in sewer air.

To improve enzymatic digestibility and sugar concentration, sweet sorghum bagasse was pretreated with alkali and liquid hot water, and then subjected to fed-batch enzymatic hydrolysis. Scanning electron microscopy assay suggested that different pretreatment methods resulted in different composition and structure of residues; these changes had a significant influence on cellulose hydrolysis. Fresh substrate was pretreated and then added at different amounts during the first 48 h to yield a final dry matter content of 30% (w/v). For liquid hot water pretreatment, a maximal glucose concentration of 95.71 g/L, corresponding to 52.85% xylan removal, was obtained with the sweet sorghum bagasse pretreated at 184°C for 18 min. NaOH soaking at ambient conditions removed lignin up to 60%, and the subsequent hydrolysis with cellulase loading of less than 10 FPU/g DM, and substrate supplementation every few hours yield the high glucose and xylose concentrations of 114.89L and 29.93 g/L, respectively after 144 h.

One of the main challenging issues for the aerobic granular sludge technology is the long startup time when dealing with real wastewaters. This study presents a novel strategy to reduce the time required for granulation while ensuring a high level of nutrient removal. This new approach consists of seeding the reactor with a mixture of crushed aerobic granules and floccular sludge. The effectiveness of the strategy was demonstrated using abattoir wastewater, containing nitrogen and phosphorus at approximately 250 mgN/L and 30 mgP/L, respectively. Seven different mixtures of crushed granules and floccular sludge at granular sludge fractions (w/w in dry mass) of 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 25%, 30% and 50% were used to start eight granulation processes. The granulation time (defined as the time when the 10th percentile bacterial aggregate size is larger than 200 μm) displayed a strong dependency on the fraction of granular sludge. The shortest granulation time of 18 days was obtained with 50% crushed granules, in comparison with 133 days with 5% crushed granules. Full granulation was not achieved in the two trials without seeding with crushed granules. In contrast to the 100% floccular sludge cases, where a substantial loss of biomass occurred during granulation, the biomass concentration in all other trails did not decrease during granulation. This allowed that good nitrogen removal was maintained in all the reactors during the granulation process. However, enhanced biological phosphorus removal was achieved in only one of the eight trials. This was likely due to the temporary accumulation of nitrite, a strong inhibitor of polyphosphate accumulating organisms.

AbstractA method for detailed investigation of aerobic carbon degradation processes by microorganisms is presented. The method relies on an integrated use of the respirometric, titrimetric, and off‐gas CO2 measurements. The oxygen uptake rate (OUR), hydrogen ion production rate (HPR), and the carbon dioxide transfer rate (CTR) resulting from the biological as well as physicochemical processes, coupled with a metabolic model characterizing both the growth and carbon storage processes, enables the comprehensive study of the carbon degradation processes. The method allows the formation of carbon storage products and the biomass growth rates to be estimated without requiring any off‐line biomass or liquid‐phase measurements, although the practical identifiability of the system could be improved with additional measurements. Furthermore, the combined yield for biomass growth and carbon storage is identifiable, along with the affinity constant with respect to the carbon substrate. However, the individual yields for growth and carbon storage are not identifiable without further knowledge about the metabolic pathways employed by the microorganisms in the carbon conversion. This is true even when more process variables are measured. The method is applied to the aerobic carbon substrate degradation by a full‐scale sludge using acetate as an example carbon source. The sludge was able to quickly take up the substrate and store it as poly‐β‐hydroxybutyrate (PHB). The PHB formation rate was a few times faster than the biomass growth rate, which was confirmed by off‐line liquid‐ and solid‐phase analysis. The estimated combined yield for biomass growth and carbon storage compared closely to that determined from the theoretical yields reported in literature based on thermodynamics. This suggests that the theoretical yields may be used as default parameters for modeling purposes. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge (WAS) is currently enjoying renewed interest due to the potential for methane production. However, methane production is often limited by the slow hydrolysis rate and/or poor methane potential of WAS. This study presents a novel pretreatment strategy based on free nitrous acid (FNA or HNO2) to enhance methane production from WAS. Pretreatment of WAS for 24 h at FNA concentrations up to 2.13 mg N/L substantially enhanced WAS solubilization, with the highest solubilization (0.16 mg chemical oxygen demand (COD)/mg volatile solids (VS), at 2.13 mg HNO2-N/L) being six times that without FNA pretreatment (0.025 mg COD/mg VS, at 0 mg HNO2-N/L). Biochemical methane potential tests demonstrated methane production increased with increased FNA concentration used in the pretreatment step. Model-based analysis indicated FNA pretreatment improved both hydrolysis rate and methane potential, with the highest improvement being approximately 50% (from 0.16 to 0.25 d(-1)) and 27% (from 201 to 255 L CH4/kg VS added), respectively, achieved at 1.78-2.13 mg HNO2-N/L. Further analysis indicated that increased hydrolysis rate and methane potential were related to an increase in rapidly biodegradable substrates, which increased with increased FNA dose, while the slowly biodegradable substrates remained relatively static.

The inhibitory effect of free ammonia (FA;NH(3)) on the metabolism of Nitrobacter is investigated using a method that allows decoupling energy generation from growth processes. A lab-scale sequencing batch reactor (SBR) was operated for the enrichment of Nitrobacter. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis showed that 73% of the bacterial population in the reactor was Nitrobacter, while no Nitrospira was detected. Batch tests were carried out to measure the oxygen uptake rate (OUR) by the culture at various FA levels, in the presence (OUR with CO(2)) or absence (OUR without CO(2)) of inorganic carbon (CO(2), HCO(3)(-) and CO(3)(2-)). The FA inhibition on the respiration initiated at below 1mgNH(3)-NL(-1) in both cases. OUR without CO(2) gradually decreased by 12% when the FA concentration increased from 0 to approximately 4mgNH(3)-NL(-1) and remained at the same level till an FA level of 9mgNH(3)-NL(-1) (the highest FA concentration applied in this study). This indicates that FA has a limited inhibitory effect on the respiratory capability of Nitrobacter. Starting from a level that is 15% higher than OUR without CO(2) when no FA was present, OUR with CO(2)decreased more rapidly than OUR without CO(2) reaching the same level as OUR without CO(2) when FA was between 6-9mgNH(3)-NL(-1). This implies that in this range of FA the presence of inorganic carbon did not cause any increase in the respiration activity of Nitrobacter. The results suggest that, while still oxidizing nitrite at approximately 75% of the non-inhibited rate, Nitrobacter likely ceased to grow at an FA level of above 6mgNH(3)-NL(-1). While the real mechanisms remain to be identified, this study indicates that the FA inhibition on Nitrobacter is likely much more serious than suggested by previous studies where OUR with CO(2) (or the equivalent nitrite oxidation rate) was used as the sole measure of the inhibitory effects.

Most of the existing sulfide removal processes from wastewaters and waste gases require substantial amounts of energy inputs. Here we present an electrochemical method by means of a fuel cell that removes sulfide while producing energy. A lab scale fuel cell was operated at ambient temperature and neutral pH, which was capable of removing aqueous sulfide continuously for 2 months at a rate of 0.62+/-0.1 kg S m(-3)d(-1) of net anodic compartment (NAC) (0.28+/-0.05 kg S m(-3)d(-1) of total anodic compartment, TAC). During continuous operation, on average, the power generated was 12+/-2 W m(-3) NAC (5+/-1 W m(-3) TAC), with a maximum capacity of the cell of 166 W m(-3) NAC (74 W m(-3) TAC). Potassium ferricyanide was used as cathodic electron acceptor. Elemental sulfur was identified as the predominant final oxidation product that was deposited on the anode. In this abiotic fuel cell, the sulfide oxidation rate was not diminished by the presence of an organic electron donor (acetate) during batch experiments while the acetate concentration remained unchanged. This is particularly important for selective sulfide removal from wastewater where organics are essential for downstream nutrient removal. Elemental sulfur deposited on the anode appeared to limit the operation of the fuel cell after 3 months of operation, necessitating periodic removal of the accumulated sulfur from the electrode.

Simultaneous nitrification and denitrification (SND) via the nitrite pathway and anaerobic–anoxic enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) are two processes that can significantly reduce the COD demand for nitrogen and phosphorus removal. The combination of these two processes has the potential of achieving simultaneous nitrogen and phosphorus removal with a minimal requirement for COD. A lab-scale sequencing batch reactor (SBR) was operated in alternating anaerobic–aerobic mode with a low dissolved oxygen concentration (DO, 0.5 mg/L) during the aerobic period, and was demonstrated to accomplish nitrification, denitrification and phosphorus removal. Under anaerobic conditions, COD was taken up and converted to polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), accompanied with phosphorus release. In the subsequent aerobic stage, PHA was oxidized and phosphorus was taken up to less than 0.5 mg/L at the end of the cycle. Ammonia was also oxidised during the aerobic period, but without accumulation of nitrite or nitrate in the system, indicating the occurrence of simultaneous nitrification and denitrification. However, off-gas analysis found that the final denitrification product was mainly nitrous oxide (N2O) not N2. Further experimental results demonstrated that nitrogen removal was via nitrite, not nitrate. These experiments also showed that denitrifying glycogen-accumulating organisms rather than denitrifying polyphosphate-accumulating organisms were responsible for the denitrification activity.