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Lakshminarasimman N, McKnight MM, Neufeld JD, Parker W. Characterizing biofilm thickness, density, and microbial community composition in a full-scale hybrid membrane aerated biofilm reactor. BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY 2025; 423:132207. [PMID: 39929443 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2025.132207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2024] [Revised: 01/24/2025] [Accepted: 02/07/2025] [Indexed: 02/24/2025]
Abstract
This study examined biofilm thickness, density, and microbial composition in a full-scale MABR treating municipal wastewater, focusing on their spatial and operational variability. The MABR cassette arrangement created a thickness gradient, with biofilms in the front cassettes more than twice as thick as those at the back. Lower scouring intensity due to reduced airflow resulted in thicker biofilms. Microbial communities varied longitudinally and by operational phase, with thicker biofilms having a higher relative abundance of anaerobic microorganisms, such as fermenters and sulfur reducers, and fewer aerobic nitrifiers. Nitrosomonas were the main ammonia oxidizers, while Nitrospira and Ca. Nitrotoga dominated as nitrite oxidizers. The 16S RNA gene profiles showed strong correlations with biofilm thickness (R2 = 0.8) and nitrification rates (R2 = 0.4). Full-scale MABR biofilm characteristics have not been studied before. Study findings have practical implications for better modeling practices and improved design of future MABR facilities.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Michelle M McKnight
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Josh D Neufeld
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Wayne Parker
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 Canada
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Petrilli R, Fabbretti A, Pucci K, Pagliaretta G, Napolioni V, Falconi M. Development and Characterization of Ammonia Removal Moving Bed Biofilms for Landfill Leachate Treatment. Microorganisms 2024; 12:2404. [PMID: 39770607 PMCID: PMC11677484 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms12122404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2024] [Revised: 10/29/2024] [Accepted: 11/20/2024] [Indexed: 01/11/2025] Open
Abstract
Urbanization growth has intensified the challenge of managing and treating increasing amounts of municipal solid waste (MSW). Landfills are commonly utilized for MSW disposal because of their low construction and operation costs. However, this practice produces huge volumes of landfill leachate, a highly polluting liquid rich in ammoniacal nitrogen (NH3-N), organic compounds, and various heavy metals, making it difficult to treat in conventional municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). In recent years, research has shown that microbial biofilms, developed on carriers of different materials and called "moving bed biofilm reactors" (MBBRs), may offer promising solutions for bioremediation. This study explored the biofilm development and the nitrification process of moving bed biofilms (MBBs) obtained from high ammonia-selected microbial communities. Using crystal violet staining and confocal laser-scanning microscopy, we followed the biofilm formation stages correlating nitrogen removal to metagenomic analyses. Our results indicate that MBBs unveiled a 10-fold more enhanced nitrification rate than the dispersed microbial community present in the native sludge of the Porto Sant'Elpidio (Italy) WWTP. Four bacterial families, Chitinophagaceae, Comamonadaceae, Sphingomonadaceae, and Nitrosomonadaceae, accumulate in structured biofilms and significantly contribute to the high ammonium removal rate of 80% in 24 h as estimated in leachate-containing wastewaters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rossana Petrilli
- School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, Via Gentile III Da Varano, 62032 Camerino, MC, Italy; (R.P.); (A.F.); (V.N.)
- Eco Control Laboratorio Ascolano s.r.l., 63900 Fermo, FM, Italy;
| | - Attilio Fabbretti
- School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, Via Gentile III Da Varano, 62032 Camerino, MC, Italy; (R.P.); (A.F.); (V.N.)
| | - Kathleen Pucci
- Eco Elpidiense s.r.l., 63821 Porto Sant’Elpidio, FM, Italy;
| | - Graziella Pagliaretta
- Eco Control Laboratorio Ascolano s.r.l., 63900 Fermo, FM, Italy;
- Eco Elpidiense s.r.l., 63821 Porto Sant’Elpidio, FM, Italy;
| | - Valerio Napolioni
- School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, Via Gentile III Da Varano, 62032 Camerino, MC, Italy; (R.P.); (A.F.); (V.N.)
| | - Maurizio Falconi
- School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, Via Gentile III Da Varano, 62032 Camerino, MC, Italy; (R.P.); (A.F.); (V.N.)
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Li Z, Wang Q, Lei Z, Zheng H, Zhang H, Huang J, Ma Q, Li F. Biofilm formation and microbial interactions in moving bed-biofilm reactors treating wastewater containing pharmaceuticals and personal care products: A review. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2024; 368:122166. [PMID: 39154385 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2024] [Revised: 06/20/2024] [Accepted: 08/07/2024] [Indexed: 08/20/2024]
Abstract
The risk of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) has been paid more attention after the outbreak of COVID-19, threatening the ecology and human health resulted from the massive use of drugs and disinfectants. Wastewater treatment plants are considered the final stop to restrict PPCPs from wide spreading into the environment, but the performance of conventional treatment is limited due to their concentrations and characteristics. Previous studies have shown the unreplaceable capability of moving bed-biofilm reactor (MBBR) as a cost-effective method with layered microbial structure for treating wastewater even with toxic compounds. The biofilm community and microbial interactions are essential for the MBBR process in completely degrading or converting types of PPCPs to secondary metabolites, which still need further investigation. This review starts with discussing the initiation of MBBR formation and its influencing parameters according to the research on MBBRs in the recent years. Then the efficiency of MBBRs and the response of biofilm after exposure to PPCPs are further addressed, followed by the bottlenecks proposed in this field. Some critical approaches are also recommended for mitigating the deficiencies of MBBRs based on the recently published publications to reduce the environmental risk of PPCPs. Finally, this review provides fundamental information on PPCPs removal by MBBRs with the main focus on microbial interactions, promoting the MBBRs to practical application in the real world of wastewater treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhichen Li
- Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Qingdao, 266003, China; College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China
| | - Qian Wang
- Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Qingdao, 266003, China; College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China.
| | - Zhongfang Lei
- Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8572, Japan
| | - Hao Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Qingdao, 266003, China; College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China; Sanya Oceanographic Institution, Ocean University of China, Sanya, 572000, China
| | - Haoshuang Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Qingdao, 266003, China; College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China; Sanya Oceanographic Institution, Ocean University of China, Sanya, 572000, China
| | - Jiale Huang
- Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Qingdao, 266003, China; College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China
| | - Qihao Ma
- Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Qingdao, 266003, China; College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China
| | - Fengmin Li
- Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Qingdao, 266003, China; College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China; Sanya Oceanographic Institution, Ocean University of China, Sanya, 572000, China.
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Niu C, Ying Y, Zhao J, Zheng M, Guo J, Yuan Z, Hu S, Liu T. Superior mainstream partial nitritation in an acidic membrane-aerated biofilm reactor. WATER RESEARCH 2024; 257:121692. [PMID: 38713935 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.121692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2024] [Revised: 04/22/2024] [Accepted: 04/28/2024] [Indexed: 05/09/2024]
Abstract
Shortcut nitrogen removal holds significant economic appeal for mainstream wastewater treatment. Nevertheless, it is too difficult to achieve the stable suppression of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB), and simultaneously maintain the activity of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB). This study proposes to overcome this challenge by employing the novel acid-tolerant AOB, namely "Candidatus Nitrosoglobus", in a membrane-aerated biofilm reactor (MABR). Superior partial nitritation was demonstrated in low-strength wastewater from two aspects. First, the long-term operation (256 days) under the acidic pH range of 5.0 to 5.2 showed the successful NOB washout by the in situ free nitrous acid (FNA) of approximately 1 mg N/L. This was evidenced by the stable nitrite accumulation ratio (NAR) close to 100 % and the disappearance of NOB shown by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and fluorescence in situ hybridization. Second, oxygen was sufficiently supplied in the MABR, leading to an unprecedentedly high ammonia oxidation rate (AOR) at 2.4 ± 0.1 kg N/(m3 d) at a short hydraulic retention time (HRT) of a mere 30 min. Due to the counter diffusion of substrates, the present acidic MABR displayed a significantly higher apparent oxygen affinity (0.36 ± 0.03 mg O2/L), a marginally lower apparent ammonia affinity (14.9 ± 1.9 mg N/L), and a heightened sensitivity to FNA and pH variations, compared with counterparts determined by flocculant acid-tolerant AOB. Beyond supporting the potential application of shortcut nitrogen removal in mainstream wastewater, this study also offers the attractive prospect of intensifying wastewater treatment by markedly reducing the HRT of the aerobic unit.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenkai Niu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Yifeng Ying
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Jing Zhao
- Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI), The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Min Zheng
- Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Zhiguo Yuan
- School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Shihu Hu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Tao Liu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong 999077, China.
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Wang P, Lu B, Chai X. Rapid start-up and long-term stable operation of the anammox reactor based on biofilm process: Status, challenges, and perspectives. CHEMOSPHERE 2023:139166. [PMID: 37295685 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Revised: 05/16/2023] [Accepted: 06/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Anammox-biofilm processes have great potential for wastewater nitrogen removal, as it overcomes the slow growth and easy loss of AnAOB (anaerobic ammonium oxidation bacteria). Biofilm carrier is the core part of the Anammox-biofilm reactor and plays a key role in the start-up and long-term operation of the process. Therefore, the research on the biofilm carrier of Anammox-based process was summarized and discussed in terms of configurations and types. In the Anammox-biofilm process, fixed bed biofilm reactor is a relatively mature biofilm carrier configuration and has advantages in terms of nitrogen removal and long-term operational stability, while moving bed biofilm reactor has advantages in terms of start-up time. Although the long-term operational stability of fluidized bed biofilm reactor is good, its nitrogen removal performance needs to be improved. Among the different biofilm carrier categories, the inorganic biofilm carrier has an advantage in start-up time, due to the enhancement of the growth and metabolic of AnAOB by inorganic materials (such as carbon and iron). Anammox-based reactors using organic biofilm carriers, especially suspension carriers, are well-established and more stable in long-term operation. Composite biofilm carriers combine the advantages of several materials, but their complex preparation procedures lead to high costs. In addition, possible research directions for accelerating the start-up and keeping the long-term stable operation of Anammox reactor by biofilm process were highlighted. It is hoped to provide a possible pathway for the rapid start-up of Anammox-based process, and references for the optimization and promotion of process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pengcheng Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai, 200092, China.
| | - Bin Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai, 200092, China.
| | - Xiaoli Chai
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai, 200092, China; Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai, 200092, China.
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