Performance and bacterial community of moving bed biofilm reactors with various biocarriers treating primary wastewater effluent with a low organic strength and low C/N ratio

Xuechao Guo; Bing Li; Renxin Zhao; Jiayu Zhang; Lin Lin; Guijuan Zhang; Ruo-Hong Li; Jie Liu; Pu Li; Yingyu Li; Xiao-Yan Li

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2019.121424

Performance and bacterial community of moving bed biofilm reactors with various biocarriers treating primary wastewater effluent with a low organic strength and low C/N ratio

Bioresour Technol. 2019 Sep:287:121424. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.121424. Epub 2019 May 4.

Authors

Xuechao Guo¹, Bing Li², Renxin Zhao¹, Jiayu Zhang¹, Lin Lin³, Guijuan Zhang¹, Ruo-Hong Li³, Jie Liu¹, Pu Li⁴, Yingyu Li⁴, Xiao-Yan Li⁵

Affiliations

¹ Shenzhen Engineering Research Laboratory for Sludge and Food Waste Treatment and Resource Recovery, Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, China; Guangdong Provincial Engineering Research Center for Urban Water Recycling and Environmental Safety, Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, China.
² Shenzhen Engineering Research Laboratory for Sludge and Food Waste Treatment and Resource Recovery, Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, China; Guangdong Provincial Engineering Research Center for Urban Water Recycling and Environmental Safety, Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, China. Electronic address: bingli@sz.tsinghua.edu.cn.
³ Shenzhen Engineering Research Laboratory for Sludge and Food Waste Treatment and Resource Recovery, Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, China; Shenzhen Environmental Science and New Energy Laboratory, Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute, Tsinghua University, China.
⁴ Environmental Engineering Research Centre, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China.
⁵ Shenzhen Engineering Research Laboratory for Sludge and Food Waste Treatment and Resource Recovery, Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, China; Shenzhen Environmental Science and New Energy Laboratory, Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute, Tsinghua University, China; Environmental Engineering Research Centre, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China.

PMID: 31082673
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.121424

Abstract

A laboratory-scale sequencing batch reactor (SBR) and two moving bed biofilm reactors (MBBRs) with different types of biocarriers were operated to treat the effluent of chemically enhanced primary sedimentation (CEPS). Due to the low organic strength and low carbon/nitrogen ratio of the CEPS effluent, COD and NH₄⁺-N were effectively removed by the MBBRs but not by the SBR. Of the two MBBRs, MBBR2 filled with LEVAPOR biocarrier cubes performed even better than MBBR1 filled with K3 polystyrene biocarriers. The continuous decline of the sludge concentration in the SBR and the high and stable biomass content in MBBR2 contributed to their performances. High-throughput sequencing analysis showed that the reactors had selective effects on the bacterial community structure. Principal coordinate analysis indicated the different dynamic successions in the three reactors. Network analysis showed different community composition and diversity that were highly suggestive of different bacterial interactions among the three bioreactors.

Keywords: Bacterial community; Low C/N ratio; Moving bed biofilm reactor; Nitrification; Wastewater treatment.

MeSH terms

Biofilms
Bioreactors*
Nitrogen
Sewage
Waste Disposal, Fluid
Wastewater*

Substances

Sewage
Waste Water
Nitrogen