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Mulone S, Corsino SF, Capodici M, Torregrossa M. The anaerobic exposure time (AET) as a novel process parameter in the anaerobic side-stream reactor (ASSR)-based process for excess sludge minimization. Water Res 2024; 254:121380. [PMID: 38412561 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.121380] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2023] [Revised: 02/14/2024] [Accepted: 02/24/2024] [Indexed: 02/29/2024]
Abstract
Minimization of excess sludge produced by wastewater treatment plants has become a topical theme nowadays. One of the most used approaches to achieve this aim is the anaerobic side-stream reactor (ASSR) process. This is considered affected by the hydraulic retention time (HRT) of the anaerobic reactor, the anaerobic sludge loading rate (ASLR) and the sludge interchange ratio (SIR), although, studies available in the literature did not reflect a clear relationship with the sludge minimization yields. To overcome this, a novel parameter namely anaerobic exposure time (AET) was defined and related to reduction of the observed yield coefficient (Yobs) in a lab-scale plant implementing the ASSR process. Furthermore, the AET was validated by performing a detailed and thorough review of previous literature. Excess sludge production was successfully reduced (10-60 %) with the increase of the AET (7.9-13 h/d), although maintaining the same HRT in the ASSR and a constant sludge interchange ratio (SIR) (100 %). A strong correlation (Pearson = 0.763) was found between the AET, and the Yobs reduction reported in previous studies, also indicating a linear relationship (R2 = 0.92) between these parameters. Contrarily, the correlation between the Yobs with the ASLR and the ASSR-HRT resulted moderate (Pearson = 0.186) or weak (Pearson=-0.346), respectively. Overall, while operating at low AET (< 6 h), maintenance and uncoupling metabolism were found the main sludge reduction mechanisms. Increasing the AET (>8 h) favoured the occurrence of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) hydrolysis and endogenous decay mechanisms, which improved excess sludge reduction. To conclude, the AET could be considered a reliable parameter to be used for design or control purposes for the ASSR-based process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Mulone
- Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Building 8, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Santo Fabio Corsino
- Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Building 8, 90128 Palermo, Italy.
| | - Marco Capodici
- Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Building 8, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Michele Torregrossa
- Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Building 8, 90128 Palermo, Italy
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Traina F, Capodici M, Torregrossa M, Viviani G, Corsino SF. PHA and EPS production from industrial wastewater by conventional activated sludge, membrane bioreactor and aerobic granular sludge technologies: A comprehensive comparison. Chemosphere 2024; 355:141768. [PMID: 38537712 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.141768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2023] [Revised: 03/19/2024] [Accepted: 03/20/2024] [Indexed: 04/01/2024]
Abstract
The present study has focused on the mainstream integration of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production with industrial wastewater treatment by exploiting three different technologies all operating in sequencing batch reactors (SBR): conventional activated sludge (AS-SBR), membrane bioreactor (AS-MBR) and aerobic granular sludge (AGS). A full aerobic feast/famine strategy was adopted to obtain enrichment of biomass with PHA-storing bacteria. All the systems were operated at different organic loading (OLR) rate equal to 1-2-3 kgCOD/m3∙d in three respective experimental periods. The AS-MBR showed the better and stable carbon removal performance, whereas the effluent quality of the AS-SBR and AGS deteriorated at high OLR. Biomass enrichment with PHA-storing bacteria was successfully obtained in all the systems. The AS-MBR improved the PHA productivity with increasing OLR (max 35% w/w), whereas the AS-SBR reduced the PHA content (max 20% w/w) above an OLR threshold of 2 kgCOD/m3∙d. In contrast, in the AGS the increase of OLR resulted in a significant decrease in PHA productivity (max 14% w/w) and a concomitant increase of extracellular polymers (EPS) production (max 75% w/w). Results demonstrated that organic carbon was mainly driven towards the intracellular storage pathway in the AS-SBR (max yield 51%) and MBR (max yield 61%), whereas additional stressors in AGS (e.g., hydraulic selection pressure, shear forces) induced bacteria to channel the COD into extracellular storage compounds (max yield 50%) necessary to maintain the granule's structure. The results of the present study indicated that full-aerobic feast/famine strategy was more suitable for flocculent sludge-based technologies, although biofilm-like systems could open new scenarios for other biopolymers recovery (e.g., EPS). Moreover, the AS-MBR resulted the most suitable technology for the integration of PHA production in a mainstream industrial wastewater treatment plant, considering the greater process stability and the potential reclamation of the treated wastewater.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Traina
- Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90128, Palermo, Italy
| | - Marco Capodici
- Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90128, Palermo, Italy
| | - Michele Torregrossa
- Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90128, Palermo, Italy
| | - Gaspare Viviani
- Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90128, Palermo, Italy
| | - Santo Fabio Corsino
- Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90128, Palermo, Italy.
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Traina F, Corsino SF, Capodici M, Licitra E, Di Bella G, Torregrossa M, Viviani G. Combined recovery of polyhydroxyalkanoates and reclaimed water in the mainstream of a WWTP for agro-food industrial wastewater valorisation by membrane bioreactor technology. J Environ Manage 2024; 351:119836. [PMID: 38141345 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119836] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2023] [Revised: 11/14/2023] [Accepted: 11/30/2023] [Indexed: 12/25/2023]
Abstract
The present study investigated the combined production of reclaimed water for reuse purposes and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) from an agro-food industrial wastewater. A pilot plant implementing a two-stage process for PHA production was studied. It consisted of a mainstream sequencing batch membrane bioreactor (SBMBR) in which selection of PHA-accumulating organisms and wastewater treatment were carried out in, and a side-stream fed-batch reactor (FBR) where the excess sludge from the SBMBR was used for PHA accumulation. The performance of the SBMBR was compared with that of a conventional sequencing batch reactor (SBR) treating the same wastewater under different food to microorganisms' ratios (F/M) ranging between 0.125 and 0.650 kgCOD kgTSS-3 d-1. The SBMBR enabled to obtain very high-quality effluent in compliance with the relevant national (Italy) and European regulations (Italian DM 185/03 and EU, 2020/741) in the field of wastewater reclamation, whereas the performances in the SBR collapsed at F/M higher than 0.50 kgCOD kgTSS-1d-1. A maximum intracellular storage of 45% (w/w) and a production yield of 0.63 gPHA L-1h-1 were achieved when the SBMBR system was operated with a F/M ratio close to 0.50 kgCOD kgTSS-1d-1. This resulted approximately 35% higher than those observed in the SBR, since the ultrafiltration membrane avoided the washout of dispersed and filamentous bacteria capable of storing PHA. Furthermore, while maximizing PHA productivity in conventional SBR systems led to process dysfunctions, in the SBMBR system it helped mitigate these issues by reducing membrane fouling behaviour. The results of this study supported the possibility to achieve combined recovery of reclaimed water and high-value added bioproducts using membrane technology, leading the way for agro-food industrial wastewater valorization in the frame of a circular economy model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Traina
- Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale Delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90128, Palermo, Italy.
| | - Santo Fabio Corsino
- Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale Delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90128, Palermo, Italy.
| | - Marco Capodici
- Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale Delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90128, Palermo, Italy
| | - Enrico Licitra
- Facoltà di Ingegneria e Architettura, Università Degli Studi di Enna ''Kore'', Cittadella Universitaria, 94100, Enna, Italy
| | - Gaetano Di Bella
- Facoltà di Ingegneria e Architettura, Università Degli Studi di Enna ''Kore'', Cittadella Universitaria, 94100, Enna, Italy
| | - Michele Torregrossa
- Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale Delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90128, Palermo, Italy
| | - Gaspare Viviani
- Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale Delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90128, Palermo, Italy
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Avona A, Capodici M, Di Trapani D, Giustra MG, Greco Lucchina P, Lumia L, Di Bella G, Rossetti S, Tonanzi B, Viviani G. Hydrocarbons removal from real marine sediments: Analysis of degradation pathways and microbial community development during bioslurry treatment. Sci Total Environ 2022; 838:156458. [PMID: 35660624 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2022] [Revised: 05/30/2022] [Accepted: 05/31/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
In this study, real marine sediments polluted by petroleum compounds were treated by means of a bioslurry pilot scale reactor. The treatment performance was evaluated by measuring the removal of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH), coupled to further analyses required to understand the mechanisms involved in the biodegradation process. The maximum TPH-removal efficiency reached 86 % at the end of experiments. Moreover, high throughput 16S RNA gene sequencing was used to describe the microbiome composition in sediment prior to, and after, bioslurry treatment, in order to identify the taxa mostly entailed in the TPH removal process. The raw sediment was mostly colonized by members of Sulfurimonas genus; after bioslurry treatment, it was noticed a shift in the microbial community composition, with Proteobacteria phylum dominating the remediation environment (high increase in terms of growth for Hydrogenophaga and Sphingorhabdus genera) along with the Phaeodactylibacter genus (Bacteroidetes). Furthermore, the assessment of gaseous emissions from the system allowed to quantify the volatile hydrocarbon component and, consequently, to obtain a more accurate evaluation of TPH-removal pathway by the bioslurry system. Finally, phytotoxicity tests on sediment samples highlighted an increase of the treated sample quality status compared to the untreated one.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Avona
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze ed.8, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - M Capodici
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze ed.8, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - D Di Trapani
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze ed.8, 90128 Palermo, Italy.
| | - M G Giustra
- Facoltà di Ingegneria e Architettura, Università Kore di Enna, Cittadella Universitaria, 94100 Enna, Italy
| | - P Greco Lucchina
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze ed.8, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - L Lumia
- Facoltà di Ingegneria e Architettura, Università Kore di Enna, Cittadella Universitaria, 94100 Enna, Italy
| | - G Di Bella
- Facoltà di Ingegneria e Architettura, Università Kore di Enna, Cittadella Universitaria, 94100 Enna, Italy
| | - S Rossetti
- Istituto di Ricerca sulle Acque (IRSA), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Via Salaria km 29.300, Monterotondo, 00015, Roma, Italy
| | - B Tonanzi
- Istituto di Ricerca sulle Acque (IRSA), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Via Salaria km 29.300, Monterotondo, 00015, Roma, Italy
| | - G Viviani
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze ed.8, 90128 Palermo, Italy
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Avona A, Capodici M, Di Trapani D, Giustra MG, Greco Lucchina P, Lumia L, Di Bella G, Viviani G. Preliminary insights about the treatment of contaminated marine sediments by means of bioslurry reactor: Process evaluation and microbiological characterization. Sci Total Environ 2022; 806:150708. [PMID: 34600982 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2021] [Revised: 09/04/2021] [Accepted: 09/27/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Contaminated marine sediments represent a critical threat towards human health and ecosystems, since they constitute a potential reservoir of toxic compounds release. In the present study, a bioslurry reactor was studied for the treatment of real marine sediments contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons. The experimental campaign was divided in two periods: in the first period, microcosm trials were carried out to achieve useful indicators for biological hydrocarbon removal from sediments. The microcosm trials highlighted that the inoculum of halotolerant allochthonous bacteria provided the highest performance followed by autochthonous biomass. Based on the achieved results, in the second experimental period a bioslurry reactor was started up, based on a semisolid stirred tank reactor (STR) operated in batch mode. The process performances have been evaluated in terms of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) removal, coupled with the characterization of microbial community through a Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) and phytotoxicity tests through the Germination Index (GI) with Lepidium Sativum seeds. The achieved results showed good hydrocarbons removal, equal to 40%, with a maximum removal rate of 220 mgTPH kg-1 d-1, but highlighting that high contaminant concentrations might affect negatively the overall removal performance. In general, the observed results were encouraging towards the feasibility of biological treatment of marine sediments contaminated by hydrocarbons. The microbiological analysis allowed the identification of taxa most involved in the degradation of TPH, highlighting after the treatment a shift in the microbial community from that of the raw sediment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessia Avona
- Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed 8, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Marco Capodici
- Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed 8, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Daniele Di Trapani
- Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed 8, 90128 Palermo, Italy.
| | - Maria Gabriella Giustra
- University of Enna Kore, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Cittadella Universitaria, 94100 Enna, Italy
| | - Pietro Greco Lucchina
- Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed 8, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Lucia Lumia
- University of Enna Kore, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Cittadella Universitaria, 94100 Enna, Italy
| | - Gaetano Di Bella
- University of Enna Kore, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Cittadella Universitaria, 94100 Enna, Italy
| | - Gaspare Viviani
- Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed 8, 90128 Palermo, Italy
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6
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Mannina G, Capodici M, Cosenza A, Di Trapani D, Zhu Z, Li Y. Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge (IFAS) membrane BioReactor: The influence of the operational parameters. Bioresour Technol 2020; 301:122752. [PMID: 31954970 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.122752] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2019] [Revised: 01/02/2020] [Accepted: 01/03/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The present paper investigated an Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge (IFAS) Membrane BioReactor (MBR) system monitored for 340 days. In particular, the short-term effects of some operational parameters variation was evaluated. Results showed a decrease of the removal rates under low C/N values. Respirometry results highlighted that activated sludge was more active in the organic carbon removal. Conversely, biofilm has a key role during nitrification. The major fouling mechanism was represented by the cake deposition (irreversible).
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgio Mannina
- Engineering Department, Palermo University, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90128 Palermo, Italy; College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai 200092, China.
| | - Marco Capodici
- Engineering Department, Palermo University, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Alida Cosenza
- Engineering Department, Palermo University, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Daniele Di Trapani
- Engineering Department, Palermo University, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Zhengyu Zhu
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai 200092, China
| | - Yongmei Li
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai 200092, China
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Corsino SF, Capodici M, Di Trapani D, Torregrossa M, Viviani G. Assessment of landfill leachate biodegradability and treatability by means of allochthonous and autochthonous biomasses. N Biotechnol 2020; 55:91-97. [DOI: 10.1016/j.nbt.2019.10.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2019] [Revised: 10/07/2019] [Accepted: 10/10/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Corsino SF, Capodici M, Di Trapani D, Torregrossa M, Viviani G. Combination of the OSA process with thermal treatment at moderate temperature for excess sludge minimization. Bioresour Technol 2020; 300:122679. [PMID: 31901778 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.122679] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2019] [Revised: 12/20/2019] [Accepted: 12/22/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
This study investigated the chance to couple the conventional Oxic Settling Anaerobic (OSA) process with a thermic treatment at moderate temperature (35 °C). The maximum excess sludge reduction rate (80%) was achieved when the plant was operated under 3 h of hydraulic retention time (HRT). Compared with the conventional OSA system, the thermic treatment enabled a further improvement in excess sludge minimization of 35%. The observed yield coefficient decreased from 0.25 gTSS gCOD-1 to 0.10 gTSS gCOD-1 when the temperature in the anaerobic reactor was increased to 35 °C, despite the lower HRT (3 h vs 6 h). Moreover, the thermic treatment enabled the decrease of filamentous bacteria, thereby improving the sludge settling properties. The thermic treatment enhanced the destruction of extracellular polymeric substances and the increase of endogenous decay rate (from 0.64 d-1 to 1.16 d-1) that reduced the biomass active fraction (from 22% to 4%).
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Affiliation(s)
- Santo Fabio Corsino
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy.
| | - Marco Capodici
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Daniele Di Trapani
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Michele Torregrossa
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Gaspare Viviani
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy
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Mannina G, Capodici M, Cosenza A, Di Trapani D, Viviani G. The influence of solid retention time on IFAS-MBR systems: analysis of system behavior. Environ Technol 2019; 40:1840-1852. [PMID: 29350114 DOI: 10.1080/09593330.2018.1430855] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2017] [Accepted: 01/15/2018] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
A University of Cape Town Integrated Fixed-Film Activated Sludge Membrane Bioreactor (UCT-IFAS-MBR) pilot plant was operated at different values of the sludge retention time (SRT). Three SRTs were investigated at different durations: indefinitely, 30 and 15 days. The organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus removal, kinetic/stoichiometric parameters, membrane fouling tendency and sludge filtration properties were assessed. The findings showed that by decreasing the SRT, the pilot plant could maintain excellent carbon removal efficiencies throughout the experiments. In contrast, the biological carbon removal showed a slight nitrification and was slightly affected by the decrease of the SRT, showing high performance (approximately 91%, on average). Thus, the biofilm might have helped sustain the nitrification throughout the experiments. The average phosphorus removal performance increased slightly with a decrease in SRT, achieving the maximum efficiency (61.5%) at a SRT of 15 days. After a 30-day SRT, an increase in resistance due to pore blocking and a general worsening of the membrane filtration properties occurred.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgio Mannina
- a Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali , Università di Palermo , Palermo , Italy
| | - Marco Capodici
- a Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali , Università di Palermo , Palermo , Italy
| | - Alida Cosenza
- a Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali , Università di Palermo , Palermo , Italy
| | - Daniele Di Trapani
- a Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali , Università di Palermo , Palermo , Italy
| | - Gaspare Viviani
- a Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali , Università di Palermo , Palermo , Italy
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Corsino SF, Capodici M, Di Pippo F, Tandoi V, Torregrossa M. Comparison between kinetics of autochthonous marine bacteria in activated sludge and granular sludge systems at different salinity and SRTs. Water Res 2019; 148:425-437. [PMID: 30399557 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2018.10.086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2018] [Revised: 09/18/2018] [Accepted: 10/26/2018] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Biological nutrient removal performances and kinetics of autochthonous marine biomass in forms of activated sludge and aerobic granular sludge were investigated under different salinity and sludge retention time (SRT). Both the biomasses, cultivated from a fish-canning wastewater, were subjected to stepwise increases in salinity (+2 gNaCl L-1), from 30 gNaCl L-1 up to 50 gNaCl L-1 with the aim to evaluate the maximum potential in withstanding salinity by the autochthonous marine biomass. Microbial marine species belonging to the genus of Cryomorphaceae and of Rhodobacteraceae were found dominant in both the systems at the maximum salinity tested (50 gNaCl L-1). The organic carbon was removed with a yield of approximately 98%, irrespective of the salinity. Similarly, nitrogen removal occurred via nitritation-denitritation and was not affected by salinity. The ammonium utilization rate and the nitrite utilization rate were approximately of 3.60 mgNH4-N gVSS-1h-1 and 10.0 mgNO2-N gVSS-1h-1, respectively, indicating a high activity of nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria. The granulation process did not provide significant improvements in the nutrients removal process likely due to the stepwise salinity increase strategy. Biomass activity and performances resulted affected by long SRT (27 days) due to salt accumulation within the activated sludge flocs and granules. In contrast, a lower SRT (14 days) favoured the discharge of the granules and flocs with higher inert content, thereby enhancing the biomass renewing. The obtained results demonstrated that the use of autochthonous-halophilic bacteria represents a valuable solution for the treatment of high-strength carbon and nitrogen saline wastewater in a wide range of salinity. Besides, the stepwise increase in salinity and the operation at low SRT enabled high metabolic activity and to avoid excessive accumulation of salt within the biomass aggregates, limiting their physical destructuration due to the increase in loosely-bound exopolymers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Santo Fabio Corsino
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed. 8, 90128, Palermo, Italy.
| | - Marco Capodici
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed. 8, 90128, Palermo, Italy
| | - Francesca Di Pippo
- IRSA-CNR Water Research Institute, National Research Council, Via Salaria km 29.300, CP10 00015, Monterotondo, Rome, Italy
| | - Valter Tandoi
- IRSA-CNR Water Research Institute, National Research Council, Via Salaria km 29.300, CP10 00015, Monterotondo, Rome, Italy
| | - Michele Torregrossa
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed. 8, 90128, Palermo, Italy
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11
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Mannina G, Ekama GA, Capodici M, Cosenza A, Di Trapani D, Ødegaard H. Integrated fixed-film activated sludge membrane bioreactors versus membrane bioreactors for nutrient removal: A comprehensive comparison. J Environ Manage 2018; 226:347-357. [PMID: 30130704 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2018] [Revised: 07/04/2018] [Accepted: 08/02/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
This research elucidates the pollutants (nutrients and carbon) removal performance and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions of two pilot plants. Specifically, a University of Cape Town (UCT) Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) plant and an Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge (IFAS)-UCT-MBR plant were investigated. The plants were fed with real wastewater augmented with acetate and glycerol in order to control the influent carbon nitrogen ratio (C/N). The short-term effect of the inlet C/N ratio variation (C/N = 5 mgCOD/mgN and C/N = 10 mgCOD/mgN) on the behaviour of both plants was investigated. The results showed that the IFAS-UCT-MBR configuration provided the best performance in terms of pollutants removal at the two investigated C/N ratios. Furthermore, the lowest N2O emission (with respect to the influent nitrogen) was observed in the IFAS-UCT-MBR configuration, thus suggesting a potential beneficial effect of the biofilm in the emission reduction. However, the membrane of the IFAS-UCT-MBR showed a greater fouling tendency compared to the UCT-MBR configuration. This result, likely related to the biofilm detached from carriers, could seriously affect the indirect GreenHouse Gas emissions due to the increase of the energy requirement for permeate extraction with the increase of membrane fouling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgio Mannina
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90100, Palermo, Italy; Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University, 500 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, USA.
| | - George A Ekama
- Water Research Group, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7700, Cape, South Africa
| | - Marco Capodici
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90100, Palermo, Italy
| | - Alida Cosenza
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90100, Palermo, Italy
| | - Daniele Di Trapani
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90100, Palermo, Italy
| | - Hallvard Ødegaard
- NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Department of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering, 7491, Trondheim, Norway
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Mannina G, Chandran K, Capodici M, Cosenza A, Di Trapani D, van Loosdrecht MCM. Greenhouse gas emissions from membrane bioreactors: analysis of a two-year survey on different MBR configurations. Water Sci Technol 2018; 78:896-903. [PMID: 30252667 DOI: 10.2166/wst.2018.366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
This study aimed at evaluating the nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from membrane bioreactors (MBRs) for wastewater treatment. The study investigated the N2O emissions considering multiple influential factors over a two-year period: (i) different MBR based process configurations; (ii) wastewater composition (municipal or industrial); (iii) operational conditions (i.e. sludge retention time, carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, C/N, hydraulic retention time); (iv) membrane modules. Among the overall analysed configurations, the highest N2O emission occurred from the aerated reactors. The treatment of industrial wastewater, contaminated with salt and hydrocarbons, provided the highest N2O emission factor (EF): 16% of the influent nitrogen for the denitrification/nitrification-MBR plant. The lowest N2O emission (EF = 0.5% of the influent nitrogen) was obtained in the biological phosphorus removal-moving bed-MBR plant likely due to an improvement in biological performances exerted by the co-presence of both suspended and attached biomass. The influent C/N ratio has been identified as a key factor affecting the N2O production. Indeed, a decrease of the C/N ratio (from 10 to 2) promoted the increase of N2O emissions in both gaseous and dissolved phases, mainly related to a decreased efficiency of the denitrification processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgio Mannina
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90128, Palermo, Italy E-mail: ; Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University, 500 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Kartik Chandran
- Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University, 500 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Marco Capodici
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90128, Palermo, Italy E-mail:
| | - Alida Cosenza
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90128, Palermo, Italy E-mail:
| | - Daniele Di Trapani
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90128, Palermo, Italy E-mail:
| | - Mark C M van Loosdrecht
- Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, Van der Maasweg 9, 2629 HZ, Delft, The Netherlands
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Capodici M, Avona A, Laudicina VA, Viviani G. Biological groundwater denitrification systems: Lab-scale trials aimed at nitrous oxide production and emission assessment. Sci Total Environ 2018; 630:462-468. [PMID: 29486440 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.02.260] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2017] [Revised: 02/20/2018] [Accepted: 02/21/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Bio-trenches are a sustainable option for treating nitrate contamination in groundwater. However, a possible side effect of this technology is the production of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that can be found both dissolved in the liquid effluent as well as emitted as off gas. The aim of this study was to analyze NO3- removal and N2O production in lab-scale column trials. The column contained olive nut as organic carbon media. The experimental study was divided into three phases (I, II and III) each characterized by different inlet NO3- concentrations (30, 50, 75mgNO3-NL-1 respectively). Sampling ports deployed along the length of the column allowed to observe the denitrification process as well as the formation and consumption of intermediate products, such as nitrite (NO2-) and nitrous oxide (N2O). In particular, it was observed that N2O production represent only a small fraction of removed NO3- during Phase I and II, both for dissolved (0.007%) and emitted (0.003%) phase, and it was recorded a high denitrification efficiency, over 99%. Nevertheless, significantly higher values were recorded for Phase 3 concerning emitted phase (0.018%). This fact is due to increased inlet concentration which resulted in a carbon limitation and in a consequent decrease in denitrification efficiency (76%).
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Capodici
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze ed. 8, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Alessia Avona
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze ed. 8, 90128 Palermo, Italy.
| | - Vito Armando Laudicina
- Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Forestali, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze ed. 4, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Gaspare Viviani
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze ed. 8, 90128 Palermo, Italy
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Mannina G, Capodici M, Cosenza A, Di Trapani D, Ekama GA. Solids and Hydraulic Retention Time Effect on N 2
O Emission from Moving-Bed Membrane Bioreactors. Chem Eng Technol 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/ceat.201700377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Giorgio Mannina
- Università di Palermo; Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali; Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8 90100 Palermo Italy
| | - Marco Capodici
- Università di Palermo; Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali; Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8 90100 Palermo Italy
| | - Alida Cosenza
- Università di Palermo; Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali; Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8 90100 Palermo Italy
| | - Daniele Di Trapani
- Università di Palermo; Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali; Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8 90100 Palermo Italy
| | - George A. Ekama
- University of Cape Town; Department of Civil Engineering, Water Research Group; Rondebosch 7700 Cape Town South Africa
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Capodici M, Corsino SF, Torregrossa M, Viviani G. Shortcut nitrification-denitrification by means of autochthonous halophilic biomass in an SBR treating fish-canning wastewater. J Environ Manage 2018; 208:142-148. [PMID: 29257990 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.11.055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2017] [Revised: 10/20/2017] [Accepted: 11/21/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Autochthonous halophilic biomass was cultivated in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) aimed at analyzing the potential use of autochthonous halophilic activated sludge in treating saline industrial wastewater. Despite the high salt concentration (30 g NaCl L-1), biological oxygen demand (BOD) and total suspended solids (TSS), removal efficiencies were higher than 90%. More than 95% of the nitrogen was removed via a shortcut nitrification-denitrification process. Both the autotrophic and heterotrophic biomass samples exhibited high biological activity. The use of autochthonous halophilic biomass led to high-quality effluent and helped to manage the issues related to nitrogen removal in saline wastewater treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Capodici
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy.
| | - Santo Fabio Corsino
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Michele Torregrossa
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Gaspare Viviani
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy
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Mannina G, Capodici M, Cosenza A, Di Trapani D. Nitrous oxide from integrated fixed-film activated sludge membrane bioreactor: Assessing the influence of operational variables. Bioresour Technol 2018; 247:1221-1227. [PMID: 28951133 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2017.09.083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2017] [Revised: 09/11/2017] [Accepted: 09/13/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The influence of the main operational variables on N2O emissions from an Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge University of Cape Town membrane Bioreactor pilot plant was studied. Nine operational cycles (total duration: 340days) were investigated by varying the value of the mixed liquor sludge retention time (SRT) (Cycles 1-3), the feeding ratio between carbon and nitrogen (C/N) (Cycles 4-6) and simultaneously the hydraulic retention time (HRT) and the SRT (Cycles 7-9). Results show a huge variability of the N2O concentration in liquid and off-gas samples (ranged from 10-1μgN2O-NL-1 to 103μgN2O-NL-1). The maximum N2O concentration (1228μgN2O-NL-1) in the off-gas samples occurred in the anoxic reactor at the lowest C/N value confirming that unbalanced C/N promotes the N2O emission during denitrification. The aerated reactors (aerobic and MBR) have been the major N2O emitters during all the three Phases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgio Mannina
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90100 Palermo, Italy
| | - Marco Capodici
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90100 Palermo, Italy
| | - Alida Cosenza
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90100 Palermo, Italy
| | - Daniele Di Trapani
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90100 Palermo, Italy.
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Mannina G, Capodici M, Cosenza A, Laudicina VA, Di Trapani D. The influence of solid retention time on IFAS-MBR systems: Assessment of nitrous oxide emission. J Environ Manage 2017; 203:391-399. [PMID: 28818711 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.08.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2017] [Revised: 07/21/2017] [Accepted: 08/05/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to investigate the nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from a moving bed based Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge (IFAS) - membrane bioreactor (MBR) pilot plant, designed according to the University of Cape Town (UCT) layout. The experimental campaign had a duration of 110 days and was characterized by three different sludge retention time (SRT) values (∞, 30 d and 15 d). Results highlighted that N2O concentrations decreased when the biofilm concentrations increased within the aerobic reactor. Results have shown an increase of N2O with the decrease of SRT. Specifically, an increase of N2O-N emission factor occurred with the decrease of the SRT (0.13%, 0.21% and 0.76% of influent nitrogen for SRT = ∞, SRT = 30 d and SRT = 15 d, respectively). Moreover, the MBR tank resulted the key emission source (up to 70% of the total N2O emission during SRT = ∞ period) whereas the highest N2O production occurred in the anoxic reactor. Moreover, N2O concentrations measured in the permeate flow were not negligible, thus highlighting its potential detrimental contribution for the receiving water body. The role of each plant reactor as N2O-N producer/consumer varies with the SRT variation, indeed the aerobic reactor was a N2O consumer at SRT = ∞ and a producer at SRT = 30 d.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgio Mannina
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90128, Palermo, Italy
| | - Marco Capodici
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90128, Palermo, Italy
| | - Alida Cosenza
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90128, Palermo, Italy.
| | - Vito Armando Laudicina
- Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Forestali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 4, 90128, Palermo, Italy
| | - Daniele Di Trapani
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90128, Palermo, Italy
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Mannina G, Capodici M, Cosenza A, Di Trapani D, Olsson G. Greenhouse gas emissions and the links to plant performance in a fixed-film activated sludge membrane bioreactor - Pilot plant experimental evidence. Bioresour Technol 2017; 241:1145-1151. [PMID: 28579177 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2017.05.043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2017] [Revised: 05/05/2017] [Accepted: 05/07/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The present study explores the interlinkages among the operational variables of a University of Cape Town (UCT) Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge (IFAS) membrane bioreactor (MBR) pilot plant. Specifically, dedicated experimental tests were carried out with the final aim to find-out a constitutive relationship among operational costs (OCs), effluent quality index (EQI), effluent fines (EF). Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were also included in the study. Results showed that the EQI increases at low flow rate likely due to the dissolved oxygen (DO) limitation in the biological processes. Direct GHGs increase with the increasing of the air flow due to the anoxic N2O contribution. Irreversible membrane fouling reduce from 98% to 85% at the air flow rate of 0.57m3h-1 and 2.56m3h-1, respectively. However, the increase of the air flow rate leads to the increase of the N2O-N flux emitted from the MBR (from 40% to 80%).
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgio Mannina
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Marco Capodici
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Alida Cosenza
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Daniele Di Trapani
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90128 Palermo, Italy.
| | - Gustaf Olsson
- Department of Industrial Electrical Engineering and Automation (IEA), Lund University, Box 118, SE-22100Ole Römers väg 1, Lund, Sweden
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Mannina G, Capodici M, Cosenza A, Cinà P, Di Trapani D, Puglia AM, Ekama GA. Bacterial community structure and removal performances in IFAS-MBRs: A pilot plant case study. J Environ Manage 2017; 198:122-131. [PMID: 28456028 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.04.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2017] [Revised: 03/21/2017] [Accepted: 04/09/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The paper reports the results of an experimental campaign carried out on a University of Cape Town (UCT) integrated fixed-film activated sludge (IFAS) membrane bioreactor (MBR) pilot plant. The pilot plant was analysed in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and nutrients removal, kinetic/stoichiometric parameters, membrane fouling and sludge dewaterability. Moreover, the cultivable bacterial community structure was also analysed. The pilot plant showed excellent COD removal efficiency throughout experiments, with average value higher than 98%, despite the slight variations of the influent wastewater. The achieved nitrification efficiency was close to 98% for most of the experiments, suggesting that the biofilm in the aerobic compartment might have sustained the complete nitrification of the influent ammonia, even for concentrations higher than 100 mg L-1. The irreversible resistance due to superficial cake deposition was the mechanism that mostly affected the membrane fouling. Moreover, it was noticed an increase of the resistance due pore blocking likely due to the increase of the EPSBound fraction that could derive by biofilm detachment. The bacterial strains isolated from aerobic tank are wastewater bacteria known for exhibiting efficient heterotrophic nitrification-aerobic denitrification and producing biofilm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgio Mannina
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90100, Palermo, Italy
| | - Marco Capodici
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90100, Palermo, Italy
| | - Alida Cosenza
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90100, Palermo, Italy
| | - Paolo Cinà
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche Chimiche e Farmaceutiche, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 16, 90100, Palermo, Italy
| | - Daniele Di Trapani
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90100, Palermo, Italy.
| | - Anna Maria Puglia
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche Chimiche e Farmaceutiche, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 16, 90100, Palermo, Italy
| | - George A Ekama
- Water Research Group, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7700, Cape, South Africa
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Corsino SF, Capodici M, Torregrossa M, Viviani G. Physical properties and Extracellular Polymeric Substances pattern of aerobic granular sludge treating hypersaline wastewater. Bioresour Technol 2017; 229:152-159. [PMID: 28110232 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2017.01.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2016] [Revised: 01/09/2017] [Accepted: 01/11/2017] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
The modification of the physical properties of aerobic granular sludge treating fish-canning wastewater is discussed in this paper. The structure and composition of the Extracellular Polymeric Substances (EPSs) were analyzed at different salinity levels and related to granules stability. Results outlined that the total EPSs content increased with salinity, despite the EPSs increment was not proportional to the salt concentration. Moreover, the EPSs structure was significantly modified by salinity, leading to a gradual increase of the not-bound EPSs fraction, which was close to the 50% of the total EPSs content at 75gNaClL-1. The increasing salt concentration modified also the EPSs composition, causing the gradual reduction of protein content resulting in a decrease of granule hydrophobicity. The results pointed out that the granules stability significantly reduced above 50gNaClL-1, suggesting the existence of a salinity threshold above which granules stability is compromised.
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Affiliation(s)
- Santo Fabio Corsino
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Marco Capodici
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy.
| | - Michele Torregrossa
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Gaspare Viviani
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy
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Mannina G, Capodici M, Cosenza A, Di Trapani D, Laudicina VA, Ødegaard H. Nitrous oxide from moving bed based integrated fixed film activated sludge membrane bioreactors. J Environ Manage 2017; 187:96-102. [PMID: 27886586 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.11.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2016] [Revised: 11/08/2016] [Accepted: 11/12/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
The present paper reports the results of a nitrous oxide (N2O) production investigation in a moving bed based integrated fixed film activated sludge (IFAS) membrane bioreactor (MBR) pilot plant designed in accordance with the University of Cape Town layout for biological phosphorous removal. Gaseous and liquid samples were collected in order to measure the gaseous as well as the dissolved concentration of N2O. Furthermore, the gas flow rate from each reactor was measured and the gas flux was estimated. The results confirmed that the anoxic reactor represents the main source of nitrous oxide production. A significant production of N2O was, however, also found in the anaerobic reactor, thus indicating a probable occurrence of the denitrifying phosphate accumulating organism activity. The highest N2O fluxes were emitted from the aerated reactors (3.09 g N2ON m-2 h-1 and 9.87 g N2ON m-2 h-1, aerobic and MBR tank, respectively). The emission factor highlighted that only 1% of the total treated nitrogen was emitted from the pilot plant. Furthermore, the measured N2O concentrations in the permeate flow were comparable with other reactors. Nitrous oxide mass balances outlined a moderate production also in the MBR reactor despite the low hydraulic retention time. On the other hand, the mass balance showed that in the aerobic reactor a constant consumption of nitrous oxide (up to almost 15 mg N2O h-1) took place, due to the high amount of stripped gas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgio Mannina
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90100, Palermo, Italy
| | - Marco Capodici
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90100, Palermo, Italy.
| | - Alida Cosenza
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90100, Palermo, Italy
| | - Daniele Di Trapani
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8, 90100, Palermo, Italy
| | - Vito Armando Laudicina
- Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Forestali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 4, 90128, Palermo, Italy
| | - Hallvard Ødegaard
- Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Department of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
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Campo R, Capodici M, Di Bella G, Torregrossa M. The role of EPS in the foaming and fouling for a MBR operated in intermittent aeration conditions. Biochem Eng J 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bej.2016.11.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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Corsino SF, Capodici M, Torregrossa M, Viviani G. Fate of aerobic granular sludge in the long-term: The role of EPSs on the clogging of granular sludge porosity. J Environ Manage 2016; 183:541-550. [PMID: 27623364 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.09.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2016] [Revised: 08/30/2016] [Accepted: 09/01/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
This work aims to investigate the stability of aerobic granular sludge in the long term, focusing on the clogging of the granular sludge porosity exerted by the extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs). The effects of different cycle lengths (short and long-term cycle) on the granular sludge stability were investigated. Results obtained outlined that during the short duration cycle, the formation and breakage of the aerobic granules were continuously observed. During this period, the excess of EPS production contributed to the clogging of the granules porosity, causing their breakage in the long run. During the long-duration cycle, the extended famine period entailed a greater EPSs consumption by bacteria, thus limiting the clogging of the porosity, and allowed obtaining stable aerobic granules. Reported results demonstrated that an excess in EPSs content could be detrimental to the stability of aerobic granular sludge in the long-term.
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Affiliation(s)
- Santo Fabio Corsino
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128, Palermo, Italy.
| | - Marco Capodici
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128, Palermo, Italy
| | - Michele Torregrossa
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128, Palermo, Italy
| | - Gaspare Viviani
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128, Palermo, Italy
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Mannina G, Capodici M, Cosenza A, Di Trapani D, Viviani G. Sequential batch membrane bio-reactor for wastewater treatment: The effect of increased salinity. Bioresour Technol 2016; 209:205-212. [PMID: 26970923 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2016.02.122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2015] [Revised: 02/25/2016] [Accepted: 02/26/2016] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
In this work, a sequential batch membrane bioreactor pilot plant is investigated to analyze the effect of a gradual increase in salinity on carbon and nutrient removal, membrane fouling and biomass kinetic parameters. The salinity was increased by 2gNaClL(-1) per week up to 10gNaClL(-1). The total COD removal efficiency was quite high (93%) throughout the experiment. A gradual biomass acclimation to the salinity level was observed during the experiment, highlighting the good recovery capabilities of the system. Nitrification was also influenced by the increase in salinity, with a slight decrease in nitrification efficiency (the lowest value was obtained at 10gNaClL(-1) due to lower nitrifier activity). Irreversible cake deposition was the predominant fouling mechanism observed during the experiment. Respirometric tests exhibited a stress effect due to salinity, with a reduction in the respiration rates observed (from 8.85mgO2L(-1)h(-1) to 4mgO2L(-1)h(-1)).
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgio Mannina
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Marco Capodici
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy.
| | - Alida Cosenza
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Daniele Di Trapani
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Gaspare Viviani
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy
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Corsino SF, Capodici M, Morici C, Torregrossa M, Viviani G. Simultaneous nitritation-denitritation for the treatment of high-strength nitrogen in hypersaline wastewater by aerobic granular sludge. Water Res 2016; 88:329-336. [PMID: 26512811 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2015.10.041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2015] [Revised: 10/05/2015] [Accepted: 10/19/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Fish processing industries produce wastewater containing high amounts of salt, organic matter and nitrogen. Biological treatment of such wastewaters could be problematic due to inhibitory effects exerted by high salinity levels. In detail, high salt concentrations lead to the accumulation of nitrite due to the inhibition of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria. The feasibility of performing simultaneous nitritation and denitritation in the treatment of fish canning wastewater by aerobic granular sludge was evaluated, and simultaneous nitritation-denitritation was successfully sustained at salinities up to 50 gNaCl L(-1), with a yield of over 90%. The total nitrogen concentration in the effluent was less than 10 mg L(-1) at salinities up to 50 gNaCl L(-1). Nitritation collapsed above 50 gNaCl L(-1), and then, the only nitrogen removal mechanism was represented by heterotrophic synthesis. In contrast, organic matter removal was not affected by salinity but was instead affected by the organic loading rate (OLR). Both COD and BOD removal efficiencies were over 90%. The COD fractionation analysis indicated that aerobic granules were able to remove more than 95% of the particulate organic matter. Finally, results obtained in this work noted that aerobic granular sludge had an excellent ability to adapt under adverse environmental conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Santo Fabio Corsino
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy.
| | - Marco Capodici
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Claudia Morici
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Michele Torregrossa
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Gaspare Viviani
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy
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Capodici M, Di Bella G, Nicosia S, Torregrossa M. Effect of chemical and biological surfactants on activated sludge of MBR system: microscopic analysis and foam test. Bioresour Technol 2015; 177:80-6. [PMID: 25479397 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2014.11.064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2014] [Revised: 11/13/2014] [Accepted: 11/15/2014] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
A bench-scale MBR unit was operated, under stressing condition, with the aim of stimulating the onset of foaming in the activated sludge. Possible synergies between synthetic surfactants in the wastewater and biological surfactants (Extra-Cellular Polymeric Substances, EPSs) were investigated by changing C/N ratio. The growth of filamentous bacteria was also discussed. The MBR unit provided satisfactory overall carbon removal overall efficiencies: in particular, synthetic surfactants were removed with efficiency higher than 90% and 95% for non-ionic and ionic surfactants, respectively. Lab investigation suggested also the importance to reduce synthetic surfactants presence entering into mixed liquor: otherwise, their presence can significantly worsen the natural foaming caused by biological surfactants (EPSs) produced by bacteria. Finally, a new analytic method based on "ink test" has been proposed as a useful tool to achieve a valuation of EPSs bound fraction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Capodici
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali - Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Gaetano Di Bella
- Facoltà di Ingegneria e Architettura - Università di Enna "Kore", Cittadella Universitaria, 94100 Enna, Italy.
| | - Salvatore Nicosia
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali - Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Michele Torregrossa
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali - Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy
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Capodici M, Di Bella G, Di Trapani D, Torregrossa M. Pilot scale experiment with MBR operated in intermittent aeration condition: analysis of biological performance. Bioresour Technol 2015; 177:398-405. [PMID: 25483989 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2014.11.075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2014] [Revised: 11/13/2014] [Accepted: 11/15/2014] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
The effect of intermittent aeration (IA) on a MBR system was investigated. The study was aimed at analyzing different working conditions and the influence of different IA cycles on the biological performance of the MBR pilot plant, in terms of organic carbon and ammonium removal as well as extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs) production. The membrane modules were placed in a separate compartment, continuously aerated. This configuration allowed to disconnect from the filtration stage the biological phenomena occurring into the IA bioreactor. The observed results highlighted good efficiencies, in terms of organic carbon and ammonium removal. It was noticed a significant soluble microbial products (SMPs) release, likely related to the higher metabolic stress that anoxic conditions exerted on the biomass. However, the proposed configuration, with the membranes in a separate compartment, allowed to reduce the EPSs in the membrane tank even during the non-aerated phase, thus lowering fouling development.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Capodici
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy.
| | - G Di Bella
- Facoltà di Ingegneria e Architettura - Università degli Studi di Enna "Kore", Cittadella universitaria, 94100 Enna, Italy
| | - D Di Trapani
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - M Torregrossa
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy
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Capodici M, Di Trapani D, Viviani G. Co-treatment of landfill leachate in laboratory-scale sequencing batch reactors: analysis of system performance and biomass activity by means of respirometric techniques. Water Sci Technol 2014; 69:1267-1274. [PMID: 24647193 DOI: 10.2166/wst.2014.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Aged or mature leachate, produced by old landfills, can be very refractory; for this reason mature leachate is difficult to treat alone, but it can be co-treated with sewage or domestic wastewater. The aim of the study was to investigate the feasibility of leachate co-treatment with synthetic wastewater, in terms of process performance and biomass activity, by means of respirometric techniques. Two sequencing batch reactors (SBRs), named SBR1 and SBR2, were fed with synthetic wastewater and two different percentages of landfill leachate (respectively 10% and 50% v v(-1) in SBR1 and SBR2). The results showed good chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency for both reactors, with average COD removals equal to 91.64 and 89.04% respectively for SBR1 and SBR2. Furthermore, both SBRs showed good ammonia-nitrogen (AN) removal efficiencies, higher than 60%, thus confirming the feasibility of leachate co-treatment with a readily biodegradable wastewater. Significant respiration rates were obtained for the heterotrophic population (average values of maximum oxygen uptake rate equal to 37.30 and 56.68 mg O2 L(-1) h(-1) respectively for SBR1 and SBR2), thus suggesting the feasibility of leachate co-treatment with synthetic wastewater.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Capodici
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy E-mail:
| | - D Di Trapani
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy E-mail:
| | - G Viviani
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy E-mail:
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