Enhanced proteins and amino acids production based on ammonia nitrogen assimilation and sludge increment by the integration of bioadsorption with anaerobic-anoxic-oxic (AAO) process

Kaikai Zheng; Huaibo Li; Shuo Wang; Yan Wang; Aimin Li; Xuan Feng; Ji Li

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130721

Enhanced proteins and amino acids production based on ammonia nitrogen assimilation and sludge increment by the integration of bioadsorption with anaerobic-anoxic-oxic (AAO) process

Chemosphere. 2021 Oct:280:130721. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130721. Epub 2021 Apr 30.

Authors

Kaikai Zheng¹, Huaibo Li¹, Shuo Wang², Yan Wang¹, Aimin Li¹, Xuan Feng¹, Ji Li³

Affiliations

¹ Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Anaerobic Biotechnology, School of Environment and Civil Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, China.
² Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Anaerobic Biotechnology, School of Environment and Civil Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, China; Jiangsu College of Water Treatment Technology and Material Collaborative Innovation Center, Suzhou, 215009, China. Electronic address: shuowang@jiangnan.edu.cn.
³ Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Anaerobic Biotechnology, School of Environment and Civil Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, China; Jiangsu College of Water Treatment Technology and Material Collaborative Innovation Center, Suzhou, 215009, China. Electronic address: liji@jiangnan.edu.cn.

PMID: 33962293
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130721

Abstract

Poor effect of contaminants removal efficiency and low organic matter content of activated sludge are common in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in China due to the low-strength wastewater. An anaerobic-anoxic-oxic (AAO) and an adsorption/AAO (A/AAO) combined system were established simultaneously to conduct a comparative study for realizing the conversion of carbon source in influent and the enrichment and recovery of proteins and amino acids through the assimilation of ammonia nitrogen. The experimental results showed that 63.5% of the organic matter in influent was adsorbed and flocculated in adsorption process, and the removal rates of chemical oxygen demand, total nitrogen and total phosphorus in A/AAO process were 88.7%, 77.1%, and 93.0% respectively, which were remarkably better than those in AAO process owing to the addition of improved carbon source. Ammonia assimilation rate of A/AAO process was 26.7% higher than that of AAO process, which implied that the ammonia used to synthesize sludge protein was prominently increased. Furthermore, intracellular proteins and amino acids in A/AAO process were 20% higher than those of AAO process, and the quality was equivalent with fish meal or soybean meal as feed. In addition, the microbial community analysis based on 16S rDNA was conducted. Dechloromonas, Zoogloea, Nitrospira, and Flavobacterium were the main genera, and played important roles in nutrient removal and ammonia nitrogen assimilation. The integration of adsorption process was significant to low-strength wastewater treatment and the improvement of excess sludge quality, which is a prospective inspiration for the resource recovery-based wastewater treatment process.

Keywords: Ammonia assimilation; Bioadsorption; Extracellular proteins and amino acids; Intracellular proteins and amino acids; Microbial community; Sludge increment.

MeSH terms

Amino Acids
Ammonia*
Anaerobiosis
Bioreactors
China
Nitrogen
Phosphorus
Prospective Studies
Sewage*
Waste Disposal, Fluid
Wastewater

Substances

Amino Acids
Sewage
Waste Water
Phosphorus
Ammonia
Nitrogen