Effective biofilm control in a membrane biofilm reactor using a quenching bacterium (Rhodococcus sp. BH4).

The biofilm thickness in membrane biofilm reactors (MBfRs) is an important factor affecting system performance because excessive biofilm formation on the membrane surface inhibits gas diffusion to the interior of the biofilm, resulting in a significant reduction in the performance of contaminant removal. This study provides innovative insights into the control of biofilm thickness in O2 -based MBfRs by using the quorum quenching (QQ) method. The study was carried out in MBfRs operated at different gas pressures and hydraulic retention times (HRTs) using QQ beads containing Rhodococcus sp. BH4 at different amounts. The highest performance was observed in reactors operated with 0.21 ml QQ bead/cm2 membrane surface area, 12 HRTs and 1.40 atm. Over this period, the performance increase in chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal was 25%, while the biofilm thickness on the membrane surface was determined to be 250 µm. Moreover, acetate and equivalent oxygen flux results reached 6080 and 10 640 mg·m-2 ·d-1 maximum values, respectively. The extracellular polymeric substances of the biofilm decreased significantly with the increase of gas pressure and QQ beads amount. Polymerase chain reaction denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis results showed that the microbial community in the MBfR system changed depending on operating conditions and bead amount. The results showed that the QQ method was an effective method to control the biofilm thickness in MBfR and provide insights for future research.

Simultaneous oxidation of ammonium and tetracycline in a membrane aerated biofilm reactor.

The membrane aerated biofilms reactor (MABR) is an emerging technology in wastewater treatment with particular advantages including high rate nitrification, and very high oxygen transfer efficiencies. In this study a synthetic feed water incorporating tetracycline (TC) was investigated in a MABR. Simultaneous removal of ammonium and tetracycline (TC) in the reactor, formation of TC transformation products (TPs), and microbial community analysis in the biofilm growing on the membrane were performed. A range of TC and ammonium loading rates and the effect of different intra-membrane oxygen pressures were on treatment performance were systematically investigated. Successful nitrification and TC degradation were achieved with the highest TC removal (63%) obtained at a HRT of 18 h HRT and 0.41 bar gas pressure. It has shown that different operating conditions (HRT and gas pressure) do not cause a significant change in ammonium removal. The concentration of TPs such as ETC, EATC, and ATC was determined to be at the ppb level. Molecular results showed that MABR reactor was mainly dominated by ß-proteobacteria. The relative abundance of this group decreased in parallel with the increasing ammonium and TC loading.

Comprehensive evaluation of autohydrogenotrophic membrane biofilm reactor treating OTC-enriched water medium.

In the recent years, there has been considerable debate about the potential impacts of antibiotics present in various environments on the public health and ecology. Oxytetracycline (OTC) is one of tetracycline antibiotic group used for growth and treatment of animals and humans. In this study, OTC and nitrate (NO3-N) were simultaneously reduced using a hydrogen-based membrane biofilm reactor (H2-MBfR). The system successfully accomplished OTC and nitrate removals. The fluxes of OTC and NO3-N were 8.96 mg OTC/m2 day and 1100 mg N/m2 day, respectively. On the other hand, the fluxes of H2 utilized for OTC and NO3-N reductions were calculated as maximum values of 1.71 and 395 mg H2/m2 day, respectively. The concentrations of transformation products of OTC formed at ppb levels. The dominant species in all the experimental periods with OTC biodegradation referred to Naxibacter sp., Uncultured Beta proteobacterium, Janthinobacterium sp. and Alicycliphilus denitrificans in autotrophic biofilm community degrading OTC.

Degradation of oxytetracycline under autotrophic nitrifying conditions in a membrane aerated biofilm reactor and community fingerprinting.

Pharmaceuticals in waterbodies are a growing concern due to their extensive uses and adverse effects on aquatic life. Oxytetracycline (OTC) is one of tetracycline antibiotic group used for treatment of animals and humans. This study evaluates the simultaneous oxidation of OTC and ammonium under autotrophic nitrifying conditions by using a membrane aerated biofilm reactor (MABR) as it provides an appropriate environment for the antibiotic-degrading bacteria. The results showed that MABR achieved fluxes of 1.62 mg OTC/m2.d and 1117 mg N/m2.d while the fluxes of O2 (JOTC-O2) utilized for OTC and NH4-N (JNH4-N-O2) oxidation were calculated to be 2.94 and 5105 mg O2/m2.d, respectively. Three transformation products, 4-Epi-OTC, α-Apo-OTC and ß-Apo-OTC, were identified and measured at ppb levels. The biofilm community comprised of Bacteria environmental samples, b-proteobacteria, CFB group bacteria, g-proteobacteria, d-proteobacteria and a-proteobacteria.

Performance and microbial shift during acidification of a real pharmaceutical wastewater by using an anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (AnSBR).

In this study, a lab-scale anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (AnSBR) was used for the acidification of a pharmaceutical wastewater sourced from etodolac chemical synthesis tanks. The effects of the organic loading rate (OLR), and etodolac and sulfate concentrations on the acidification rate and microbial community in AnSBR were investigated at 35 °C with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 37 h, a pH of 5, and OLRs up to 5.2 kgCOD/m3·day. The AnSBR accomplished a 60% acidification ratio and 50-60% etodolac removal at OLRs up to 2.6 kgCOD/m3·day. However, at OLR = 3.9 kgCOD/m3·day, acidification was not achieved due to sulfite inhibition; pre-ozonation was applied to overcome this sulfite inhibition. Although etodolac and COD removals were improved, the wastewater was not successfully acidified. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR) and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) analyses revealed that acidification was inhibited by the dominance of sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) over acidification bacteria in the AnSBR. However, increasing the OLR to 5.2 kgCOD/m3·day led to toxicity stress in the SRB due to increased sulfite concentrations. Sulfate load fundamentally affected acidification process and microbial community composition. The presence of etodolac with concentration up to 56 mg/L did not have a significant effect on VFA production and the microbial community.

Hydrogen-based membrane biofilm reactor for tetracycline removal: biodegradation, transformation products, and microbial community.

Tetracycline (TC) in aqueous environment could be reductively degraded by using a hydrogen-based membrane biofilm reactor (H2-MBfR) under denitrifying conditions as it provides an appropriate environment for the antibiotic-degrading bacteria in biofilm communities. This study evaluates the performance of H2-MBfR for simultaneous removal of nitrate and TC, formation of degradation products of TC, and community analysis of the biofilm grown on the gas-permeable hollow fiber membranes. Hence, a H2-MBfR receiving approximately 20 mg N/l nitrate and 0.5 mg/l TC was operated under different H2 pressures, hydraulic retention times (HRTs), and influent TC concentrations in order to provide various nitrate and TC loadings. The results showed that H2-MBfR accomplished successfully the degradation of TC, and it reached TC removal of 80-95 % at 10 h of HRT and 6 psi (0.41 atm) of H2 gas pressure. TC degradation took placed at increased HRT and H2 pressures while nitrate was the preferred electron acceptor for most of the electrons generated from H2 oxidation used for denitrification. The transformation products of TC were found at part per billion levels through all the experiments, and the concentrations decreased with the increasing HRT regardless of H2 pressure. Analyses from clone library showed that the microbial diversity at the optimal conditions was higher than that at the other periods. The dominant species were revealed to be Betaproteobacteria, Acidovorax caeni, and Alicycliphilus denitrificans.

Chlortetracycline removal by using hydrogen based membrane biofilm reactor.

In the last years, increasing attention has been paid on the presence of antibiotics in aqueous environments due to their ecological damage and potential adverse effects on organisms. Membrane biofilm reactors (MBfR) have been gained a significant popularity as an advanced wastewater treatment technology in removing of organic micro-pollutants. In this study, the performance of H2-MBfR for simultaneous removal of nitrate and chlortetracycline, formation of transformation products and community analysis of the biofilm grown on the gas permeable hollow fiber membranes was evaluated by considering effect of the hydraulic retention time, surface loadings of target pollutants and H2 pressure. The results showed that the simultaneous chlortetracycline (96%) and nitrate removal (99%) took placed successfully under the conditions of 5h HRT and 2psi H2 pressure. It has been determined that the main elimination process was biodegradation and Betaproteobacteria species was responsible for chlortetracycline degradation.

Combination of a novel electrode material and artificial mediators to enhance power generation in an MFC.

This study focuses on two main aspects: developing a novel cost-effective electrode material and power production from domestic wastewater using three different mediators. Methylene blue (MB), neutral red (NR) and 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (HNQ) were selected as electrode mediators with different concentrations. A tin-coated copper mesh electrode was tested as anode electrode. Maximum power density of the microbial fuel cell (MFC) with 300 µM MB was 636 mW/m². Optimal mediator concentrations with respect to the achieved maximum power output for MB, NR and HNQ were 300 µM, 200 µM and 50 µM, respectively. The results demonstrate that tin-coated copper mesh showed a higher biocompatibility and electrical conductivity.

Comprehensive comparison of a new tin-coated copper mesh and a graphite plate electrode as an anode material in microbial fuel cell.

This paper summarizes the comparison of a new tin-coated copper (t-coating Cu) mesh electrode with a graphite plate electrode for potential power generation and biocompatibility in a microbial fuel cell (MFC). The study, which used domestic wastewater, demonstrated that t-coating Cu mesh electrode produced a power density (271 mW/m(2)) approximately three times higher than that produced by a graphite electrode (87 mW/m(2)). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results revealed that bacterial morphology on the two electrodes significantly varied. The t-coating Cu mesh electrode surface had higher bacterial diversity because the open three-dimensional macro-mesh structure allowed an excellent electro-biofilm attachment. Kinetic performances evaluated using the Nernst-Monod equation demonstrated that the t-coating Cu mesh electrode had both higher power density and good biocompatibility in a large surface area, high chemical stability, and favorable metallic conductivity.

Bio-reduction of tetrachloroethen using a H2-based membrane biofilm reactor and community fingerprinting.

Chlorinated ethenes in drinking water could be reductively dechlorinated to non-toxic ethene by using a hydrogen based membrane biofilm reactor (H2-MBfR) under denitrifying conditions as it provides an appropriate environment for dechlorinating bacteria in biofilm communities. This study evaluates the reductive dechlorination of perchloroethene (PCE) to non-toxic ethene (ETH) and comparative community analysis of the biofilm grown on the gas permeable membrane fibers. For these purposes, three H2-MBfRs receiving three different chlorinated ethenes (PCE, TCE and DCE) were operated under different hydraulic retention times (HRTs) and H2 pressures. Among these reactors, the H2-MBfR fed with PCE (H2-MBfR 1) accomplished a complete dechlorination, whereas cis-DCE accumulated in the TCE receiving H2-MBfR 2 and no dechlorination was detected in the DCE receiving H2-MBfR 3. The results showed that 95% of PCE dechlorinated to ETH together with over 99.8% dechlorination efficiency. Nitrate was the preferred electron acceptor as the most of electrons generated from H2 oxidation used for denitrification and dechlorination started under nitrate deficient conditions at increased H2 pressures. PCR-DGGE analysis showed that Dehalococcoides were present in autotrophic biofilm community dechlorinating PCE to ethene, and RDase genes analysis revealed that pceA, tceA, bvcA and vcrA, responsible for complete dechlorination step, were available in Dehalococcoides strains.