Sludge pre-treatments change performance and microbiome in methanogenic sludge digesters by releasing different sludge organic matter

Qihong Lu; Zehui Yu; Li Wang; Zhiwei Liang; Haocong Li; Lianpeng Sun; Hojae Shim; Rongliang Qiu; Shanquan Wang

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123909

Sludge pre-treatments change performance and microbiome in methanogenic sludge digesters by releasing different sludge organic matter

Bioresour Technol. 2020 Nov:316:123909. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123909. Epub 2020 Jul 27.

Authors

Qihong Lu¹, Zehui Yu², Li Wang¹, Zhiwei Liang¹, Haocong Li¹, Lianpeng Sun¹, Hojae Shim³, Rongliang Qiu⁴, Shanquan Wang⁵

Affiliations

¹ Environmental Microbiomics Research Center, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
² Beijing Enterprises Water Group (China) Investment Limited, Beijing 100102, China.
³ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Macau, Macau SAR 999078, China.
⁴ Environmental Microbiomics Research Center, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.
⁵ Environmental Microbiomics Research Center, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China. Electronic address: wangshanquan@mail.sysu.edu.cn.

PMID: 32739582
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123909

Abstract

In this study, temporal impacts of thermal, alkaline/acid and thermal-alkaline sludge pre-treatments on digestion performance and microbiome were investigated and compared in methanogenic sludge digesters. Results showed that thermal and alkaline/acid pre-treatments were efficient in releasing intracellular and EPS organic matter, respectively. The thermal-alkaline pre-treatment showed synergistic impacts of both thermal and alkaline/acid pre-treatments by releasing the major portion of sludge organic matter from solid- to liquid-phase, which result in 60-65% organic carbon removal in subsequent sludge digestion and further optimizing digestion temperature had negligible improvement. The 16S rRNA gene-based analyses suggested that organic matter released from sludge pre-treatments is a major deterministic parameter in shaping sludge microbiome. Pre-treatment specific lineages were identified in different sludge digesters, whereas several taxa were identified as common functionally active populations in sludge digestion. This study provided mechanistic insights into impacts of pre-treatments on digestion performance and microbiome in methanogenic sludge digesters.

Keywords: EPS; Methanogenic sludge digestion; Sludge microbiome; Sludge pre-treatment; Waste activated sludge.

MeSH terms

Anaerobiosis
Bioreactors
Euryarchaeota*
Methane
Microbiota*
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / genetics
Sewage
Waste Disposal, Fluid

Substances

RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
Sewage
Methane