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Enhanced dewatering of waste-activated sludge by composite hydrolysis enzymes

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Abstract

The feasibility of composite hydrolysis enzymes in enhanced dewatering of waste-activated sludge (WAS) was verified in this study. A Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to explore the roles of different extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) fractions on WAS dewaterability. The results indicated that tightly bound EPS (TB-EPS) was released into the liquid phase consistently during enzymatic hydrolysis to form soluble EPS (S-EPS) and loosely bound EPS and that the TB-EPS content was positively correlated with the capillary suction time of WAS. A kinetic analysis was carried out to gain further insights into the kinetic variation in TB-EPS removal. It was found that TB-EPS reduction fit a first-order kinetic model and that mild temperature (25–30 °C) and a slightly acidic condition were favorable for the improvement of enzyme activity. Solid phase extraction combined with UV–Vis spectroscopy analysis was used to characterize the processes of migration and transformation of the hydrophobic (HPO), transphilic and hydrophilic (HPI) fractions in EPS during the enzymatic process. The results revealed that HPO and HPI were mainly composed of PN and PS, respectively, and that the enzymatic hydrolysis could enhance the transformation of HPI from TB-EPS to S-EPS, which was the dominant mechanism of improving WAS dewaterability.

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Abbreviations

WAS:

Waste-activated sludge

CST:

Capillary suction time

EPS:

Extracellular polymeric substances

S-EPS:

Soluble EPS

LB-EPS:

Loosely bound EPS

TB-EPS:

Tightly bound EPS

PS:

Polysaccharide

PN:

Protein

SPE:

Solid phase extraction

HPO:

Hydrophobic

TPI:

Transphilic

HPI:

Hydrophilic

UV–Vis spectra:

Ultraviolet–visible spectra

EEM:

Three-dimensional excitation–emission matrix

PAM:

Polyacrylamide

COD:

Chemical oxygen demand

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the Major Science and Technology Program for Water Pollution Control and Treatment (2013ZX07315-002) for their financial support of this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Tongji Universiy, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai, 200092, China

    Boran Wu, Xiaoli Chai & Youcai Zhao

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  1. Boran Wu
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  2. Xiaoli Chai
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  3. Youcai Zhao
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Correspondence to Xiaoli Chai.

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Wu, B., Chai, X. & Zhao, Y. Enhanced dewatering of waste-activated sludge by composite hydrolysis enzymes. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 39, 627–639 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-016-1544-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-016-1544-6

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