Bioelectromethanogenesis reaction in a tubular Microbial Electrolysis Cell (MEC) for biogas upgrading

The utilization of a pilot scale tubular Microbial Electrolysis Cell (MEC), has been tested as an innovative biogas upgrading technology. The bioelectromethanogenesis reaction permits the reduction of the CO2 into CH4 by using a biocathode as electrons donor, while the electroactive oxidation of organic matter in the bioanode partially sustains the energy demand of the process. The MEC has been tested with a synthetic wastewater and biogas by using two different polarization strategies, i.e. the three-electrode configuration, in which a reference electrode is utilized to set the potential at a chosen value, and a two-electrode configuration in which a fixed potential difference is applied between the anode and the cathode. The tubular MEC showed that the utilization of a simple two electrode configuration does not allow to control the electrodic reaction in the anodic chamber, which causes the increase of the energy consumption of the process. Indeed, the most promising performances regarding the COD and CO2 removal have been obtained by controlling the anode potential at +0.2 V vs SHE with a three electrode configuration, with an energy consumption of 0.47 kWh/kgCOD and 0.33 kWh/Nm3 of CO2 removed, which is a comparable energy consumption with respect the available technologies on the market

Effect of the temperature in a mixed culture pilot scale aerobic process for food waste and sewage sludge conversion into polyhydroxyalkanoates

The utilisation of urban organic waste as feedstock for polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) production is growing since it allows to solve the main concerns about their disposal and simultaneously to recover added-value products. A pilot scale platform has been designed for this purpose. The VFA-rich fermentation liquid coming from the anaerobic treatment of both source-sorted organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) and waste activated sludge (WAS) has been used as substrate for the aerobic process steps: a first sequencing batch reactor (SBR, 100 L) for the selection of a PHA-producing biomass, and a second fed-batch reactor (70 L) for PHA accumulation inside the cells. The SBR was operated at 2.0-4.4 kg COD/(m3 d) as OLR, under dynamic feeding regime (feast-famine) and short hydraulic retention time (HRT; 1 day). The selected biomass was able to accumulate up to 48% g PHA/g VSS. Both steps were performed without temperature (T) control, avoiding additional consumption of energy. In this regard, the applied OLR was tuned based on environmental T and, as a consequence, on biomass kinetic, in order to have a constant selective pressure. The latter was mainly quantified by the PHA storage yield (YP/Sfeast 0.34-0.45 CODP/CODS), which has been recognized as the main parameters affecting the global PHA productivity [1.02-1.82 g PHA/(L d)] of the process

Bioelectrochemical hydrogen production with hydrogenophilic dechlorinating bacteria as electrocatalytic agents

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An urban biorefinery for food waste and biological sludge conversion into polyhydroxyalkanoates and biogas

This study focuses on the application of the concept of circular economy, with the creation of added-value marketable products and energy from organic waste while minimizing environmental impacts. Within this purpose, an urban biorefinery technology chain has been developed at pilot scale in the territorial context of the Treviso municipality (northeast Italy) for the production of biopolymers (polyhydroxyalkanoates, PHAs) and biogas from waste of urban origin. The piloting system (100\u2013380 L) comprised the following units: a) acidogenic fermentation of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) and biological sludge; b) two solid/liquid separation steps consisting of a coaxial centrifuge and a tubular membrane (0.2 \u3bcm porosity); c) a Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) for aerobic PHA-storing biomass production; d) aerobic fed-batch PHA accumulation reactor and e) Anaerobic co-digestion (ACoD). The thermal pre-treatment (72 \ub0C, 48 h) of the feedstock enhanced the solubilization of the organic matter, which was converted into volatile fatty acids (VFAs) in batch mode under mesophilic fermentation conditions (37 \ub0C). The VFA content increased up to 30 \ub1 3 g COD/L (overall yield 0.65 \ub1 0.04 g CODVFA/g VS(0)), with high CODVFA/CODSOL (0.86 \ub1 0.05). The high CODVFA/CODSOL ratio enhanced the PHA-storing biomass selection in the SBR by limiting the growth of the non-storing microbial population. Under fully aerobic feast-famine regime, the selection reactor was continuously operated for 6 months at an average organic loading rate (OLR) of 4.4 \ub1 0.6 g COD/L d and hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 1 day (equal to SRT). The ACoD process (HRT 15 days, OLR 3.0\u20133.5 kg VS/m3 d) allowed to recover the residual solid-rich overflows generated by the two solid/liquid separation units with the production of biogas (SGP 0.44\u20130.51 m3/kg VS) and digestate. An overall yield of 7.6% wt PHA/VS(0) has been estimated from the mass balance. In addition, a preliminary insight into potential social acceptance and barriers regarding organic waste-derived products was obtained

Effects of the feeding solution composition on a reductive/oxidative sequential bioelectrochemical process for perchloroethylene removal

Chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons (CAHs) are common groundwater contaminants due to their improper use in several industrial activities. Specialized microorganisms are able to perform the reductive dechlorination (RD) of high-chlorinated CAHs such as perchloroethylene (PCE), while the low-chlorinated ethenes such as vinyl chloride (VC) are more susceptible to oxidative mechanisms performed by aerobic dechlorinating microorganisms. Bioelectrochemical systems can be used as an effective strategy for the stimulation of both anaerobic and aerobic microbial dechlorination, i.e., a biocathode can be used as an electron donor to perform the RD, while a bioanode can provide the oxygen necessary for the aerobic dechlorination reaction. In this study, a sequential bioelectrochemical process constituted by two membrane-less microbial electrolysis cells connected in series has been, for the first time, operated with synthetic groundwater, also containing sulphate and nitrate, to simulate more realistic process conditions due to the possible establishment of competitive processes for the reducing power, with respect to previous research made with a PCE-contaminated mineral medium (with neither sulphate nor nitrate). The shift from mineral medium to synthetic groundwater showed the establishment of sulphate and nitrate reduction and caused the temporary decrease of the PCE removal efficiency from 100% to 85%. The analysis of the RD biomarkers (i.e., Dehalococcoides mccartyi 16S rRNA and tceA, bvcA, vcrA genes) confirmed the decrement of reductive dechlorination performances after the introduction of the synthetic groundwater, also characterized by a lower ionic strength and nutrients content. On the other hand, the system self-adapted the flowing current to the increased demand for the sulphate and nitrate reduction, so that reducing power was not in defect for the RD, although RD coulombic efficiency was less

Start up of biological sequencing batch reactor (SBR) and short-term biomass acclimation for polyhydroxyalkanoates production

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Karışık karbon kaynağı ortamının nişasta giderim performansı ve bakteriyel kompozisyon üzerine etkisi

The microbial processes have been extensively investigated for the efficiently design and operation of the activated sludge systems. The experimental studies have often focused on the single representative carbon source, although, microorganisms have to remove wastewater which is the mixture of several different type carbon sources. Under such conditions, bacteria often utilize one carbon source preferentially and other carbon sources are consumed only, when the preferred one is exhausted. The carbon source providing the best growth rate and/or growth yield is preferred, and the successive utilization of the substrates is often represented (Monod, 1942). In the environmental engineering point of view, it is important to understand the interaction between the removal mechanisms of different carbon sources which have a different degree of complexity. Although, recent studies have mainly focused on the biodegradation kinetics of the industrially produced starch as the only pollutant in wastewater, the simultaneous use of multiple substrates, such as the co-treatment of the industrially produced wastewater with the domestic wastewater produced in the facility, can lead to differences in biodegradation kinetics of any individual organic constituent as well as in the bacterial community. The researches with bacteria and higher organisms have revealed that selective carbon source utilization is common and that glucose is the preferred carbon source by many organisms. Moreover, the presence of glucose often prevents the use of other, secondary, carbon sources (Gorke and Stülke, 2008). In a study carried out under aerobic conditions with a mixture of similar type substrates (i.e. a mixture of acetic, lactic and propionic acid), a strong decrease in the removal rates of acetic and lactic acid was observed when treated in the presence of another substrate (Dionisi et al., 2004). This strong interaction among different substrates was explained with the interconnected pathways utilized by microorganisms for the removal of these substrates. Less clear evidences are available when dealing with mixtures of different type substrates, like volatile fatty acids and carbohydrates. Carta et al. (2001) reported that there were no differences in the uptake rate of acetate and glucose under mixed substrate environment compared to single substrate environment. In addition to the substrate uptake rates, the degradation kinetics and rates of the storage compounds were also reported as the same. In another study, when starch and acetate were treated together, slightly lower rates were observed in terms of individual carbon removal of acetate and starch, as well as respective storage of PHA and glycogen compared to treatment of substrate alone (Karahan et al., 2008). The fate of slowly biodegradable carbon source was evaluated in a SBR acclimated to starch as the sole carbon source and mixture of starch and acetate. The SBRs were operated with the same organic loading rate at two different sludge ages. Acetate, which is the one of the volatile fatty acid, was used as secondary pollutant as the volatile fatty acids have been reported as the main constituents of the domestic wastewaters. Although, the carbon source was fed to the SBRs in continuous mode throughout the cycle, the production of the storage polymer, namely glycogen, was observed in all SBRs. The relatively constant storage ratios were observed in SBRs fed with different carbon sources. The COD removal efficiency of the SBRs operated at the sludge ages of 8 days was significantly affected from the presence of acetate in the environment, although the COD removal efficiencies were constant at the sludge ages of 2 days independently from the presence of the secondary substrate. The bacterial characterization studies performed with fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) showed the decrease in the Actinobacteria phylum which was reported as the main starch consumer when the starch removal was performed in the multiple substrate environments at the sludge ages of 8 days. On the other hand, the detection of different groups at different sludge ages indicated the importance of the sludge age for evaluating treatment performance in activated sludge systems.  Keywords: Starch; dual substrate; substrate removal kinetic; FISH, activated sludge system. Evsel atıksuların arıtımında yaygın olarak kullanılan aktif çamur sistemlerinin başlıca kirletici parametre olan karbon kaynağının giderim performansı açısından değerlendirilmesi, sistemin en uygun tasarım kriterlerinin belirlenmesi açısından büyük önem taşımaktadır. Bu konuda yürütülen çalışmalarda, evsel atıksuların içeriğini yansıtacak şekilde seçilen tek bir karbon kaynağı model substrat olarak kullanılmaktadır. Fakat farklı karbon kaynaklarının bir arada veya ayrı ayrı arıtılmaları mikrobiyal dinamikler doğrultusunda farklı giderim performansları elde edilmesine neden olabilmektedir. Bu kapsamda, çalışmanın amacı evsel atıksuların karbonhidrat içeriğini yansıtan ve hedef karbon kaynağı olarak ele alınan nişastanın, başka bir karbon kaynağı ile beraber aktif çamur sisteminde arıtılması durumunda, giderim veriminde ve bakteriyel komposizyonda oluşabilecek farklılıkların tespit edilmesidir. 2 farklı çamur yaşında işletilen sistemde, ikincil karbon kaynağı olarak evsel atıksu kompozisyonun büyük bir kısmını oluşturan uçucu yağ asitlerini temsilen asetat seçilmiş ve bu sayede farklı giderim mekanizmaları ile giderilen farklı yapıdaki karbon kaynaklarının birbirlerine etkileri araştırılmıştır. Elde edilen veriler, 8 gün çamur yaşında nişasta giderim performansının, ortamda asetatın bulunmasından etkilendiğini ancak, 2 gün çamur yaşında karışık karbon kaynağı ortamının nişasta giderim performansı bakımında önemli bir etkisi olmadığını göstermiştir. Farklı koşullarda işletilen reaktörlerde bulunan baskın türlerin Flüoresanlı yerinde hibritleşme tekniği (FISH) yöntemi ile analizi sonucunda, 8 gün çamur yaşında karışık karbon kaynağı ortamının sadece mikrobiyal aktivite üzerinde değil aynı zamanda mikrobiyal seleksiyon üzerinde de etkisi olduğunu göstermiştir. Ayrıca, deneysel sonuçlar, çamur yaşının sistem performansı ve bakteriyel kompozisyon üzerinde etkili bir parametre olduğunu ve bu nedenle aktif çamur tesislerinin tasarımında öncelikli olarak ele alınması gerektiğini ortaya koymuştur.  Anahtar Kelimeler: Nişasta; karışık karbon kaynağı; karbon kaynağı giderim kinetiği; FISH; Aktif Çamur Sistemi.&nbsp

Simplified Reactor Design for Mixed Culture-Based Electrofermentation toward Butyric Acid Production

Mixed microbial culture (MMC) electrofermentation (EF) represents a promising tool to drive metabolic pathways toward the production of a specific compound. Here, the MMC-EF process has been exploited to obtain butyric acid in simplified membrane-less reactors operated by applying a difference of potential between two low-cost graphite electrodes. Ten values of voltage difference, from -0.60 V to -1.5 V, have been tested and compared with the experiment under open circuit potential (OCP). In all the tested conditions, an enhancement in the production rate of butyric acid (from a synthetic mixture of glucose, acetate, and ethanol) was observed, ranging from 1.3- to 2.7-fold relative to the OCP. Smaller enhancements in the production rate resulted in higher values of the calculated specific energy consumption. However, at all applied voltages, a low flow of current was detected in the one-chamber reactors, accounting for an average value of approximately -100 µA. These results hold a substantial potential with respect to the scalability of the electrofermentation technology, since they pinpoint the possibility to control MMC-based bioprocesses by simply inserting polarized electrodes into traditional fermenters

Sludge minimization in municipal wastewater treatment by polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production

An innovative approach has been recently proposed in order to link polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) production with sludge minimization in municipal wastewater treatment, where (1) a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) is used for the simultaneous municipal wastewater treatment and the selection/enrichment of biomass with storage ability and (2) the acidogenic fermentation of the primary sludge is used to produce a stream rich in volatile fatty acids (VFAs) as the carbon source for the following PHA accumulation stage. The reliability of the proposed process has been evaluated at lab scale by using substrate synthetic mixtures for both stages, simulating a low-strength municipal wastewater and the effluent from primary sludge fermentation, respectively. Six SBR runs were performed under the same operating conditions, each time starting from a new activated sludge inoculum. In every SBR run, despite the low VFA content (10% chemical oxygen demand, COD basis) of the substrate synthetic mixture, a stable feast–famine regime was established, ensuring the necessary selection/enrichment of the sludge and soluble COD removal to 89 %. A good process reproducibility was observed, as also confirmed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis of the microbial community, which showed that a high similarity after SBR steady-state had been reached. The main variation factors of the storage properties among different runs were uncontrolled changes of settling properties which in turn caused variations of both sludge retention time and specific organic loading rate. In the following accumulation batch tests, the selected/enriched consortium was able to accumulate PHA with good rate (63 mg CODPHA g CODXa −1h−1) and yield (0.23 CODPHA CODΔS −1) in spite that the feeding solution was different from the acclimation one. Even though the PHA production performance still requires optimization, the proposed process has a good potential especially if coupled to minimization of both primary sludge (by its use as the VFA source for the PHA accumulation, via previous fermentation) and excess secondary sludge (by its use as the biomass source for the PHA accumulation)