Long-term effect of pH on short-chain fatty acids accumulation and microbial community in sludge fermentation systems

Yue Yuan; Shuying Wang; Ye Liu; Baikun Li; Bo Wang; Yongzhen Peng

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2015.08.025

Long-term effect of pH on short-chain fatty acids accumulation and microbial community in sludge fermentation systems

Bioresour Technol. 2015 Dec:197:56-63. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2015.08.025. Epub 2015 Aug 14.

Authors

Yue Yuan¹, Shuying Wang¹, Ye Liu¹, Baikun Li², Bo Wang¹, Yongzhen Peng³

Affiliations

¹ Engineering Research Center of Beijing, Key Laboratory of Beijing for Water Quality Science and Water Environment Recovery Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, PR China.
² Engineering Research Center of Beijing, Key Laboratory of Beijing for Water Quality Science and Water Environment Recovery Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, PR China; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA.
³ Engineering Research Center of Beijing, Key Laboratory of Beijing for Water Quality Science and Water Environment Recovery Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, PR China. Electronic address: pyz@bjut.edu.cn.

PMID: 26318922
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2015.08.025

Abstract

Long-term effect of pH (4, 10, and uncontrolled) on short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) accumulation, microbial community and sludge reduction were investigated in waste activated sludge (WAS) fermentors for over 90days. The average SCFAs accumulation was 1721.4 (at pH 10), 114.2 (at pH 4), and 58.1 (at uncontrolled pH) mg chemical oxygen demand (COD)/L. About 31.65mgCOD/L was produced at pH 10, accounting for 20% of the influent COD. Illumina MiSeq sequencing revealed that Alcaligenes (hydrolic bacteria) and Erysipelothrix (acidogenic bacteria) were enriched at pH 10, while less acidogenic bacteria existed at pH 4 than pH 10, and no acidogenic bacteria were detected at the uncontrolled pH. The ratios of archaea to bacteria were 1:41, 1:16, and 1:9 at the pH of 10, 4, and uncontrolled. This study elucidated the effects of pH on WAS fermentation, and established the correlation of microbial structure with SCFAs accumulations and sludge reduction.

Keywords: Microbial community; Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs); Sludge fermentation; Sludge reduction; pH.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Fatty Acids, Volatile / metabolism*
Fermentation
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Microbial Consortia*
Sewage / microbiology*

Substances

Fatty Acids, Volatile
Sewage