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Effects of ultrasonic-assisted thermophilic bacteria pretreatment on hydrolysis, acidification, and microbial communities in waste-activated sludge fermentation process

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Abstract

A novel pretreatment method combining ultrasonic with thermophilic bacteria (Geobacillus sp. G1) was employed to pretreat waste-activated sludge (WAS) for enhancing the WAS hydrolysis and subsequent volatile fatty acids (VFAs) production. The soluble protein and carbohydrate were mostly released from intracellular ultrasonic-assisted Geobacillus sp. G1 pretreatment, and accumulated to 917 ± 70 and 772 ± 89 mg COD/L, respectively, which were 2.53- and 2.62-fold higher than that obtained in control test. Excitation emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy revealed the highest fluorescence intensity (FI) of protein-like substances, indicating the synergistic effect of ultrasonic and Geobacillus sp. G1 pretreatments on WAS hydrolysis. The maximum VFAs accumulation was 4437 ± 15 mg COD/L obtained in ultrasonic-assisted Geobacillus sp. G1 pretreatment test. High-throughput pyrosequencing analysis investigated that the microbial communities were substantial determined by the pretreatment used. The hydrolysis enhancement was caused by an increase in extracellular enzymes, which was produced by one of dominant species Caloramator sp. The positive effect was well explained to the enhancement of WAS hydrolysis and final VFAs accumulation.

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Acknowledgment

This research was supported by the National Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars (Grant No. 51225802), by the Science Fund for Creative Research Groups (Grant No. 51121062), by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51208496), by the National High-tech R&D Program of China (863 Program, Grant No. 2012AA051502), by the “Hundred Talents Program” of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, by the Heilongjiang Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars (Grant No. JC201003), and by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (135 Project, Grant No. YSW2013B06).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology (SKLUWRE, HIT), P.O. Box 2614, 202 Haihe Road, Harbin, 150090, China

    Chunxue Yang, Zhangwei He, Zechong Guo & Aijie Wang

  2. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, China

    Aijuan Zhou

  3. School of Environmental Science, Liaoning University, Shenyang, 110036, China

    Lei Jiang

  4. Key Laboratory of Environmental Biotechnology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 18 Shuangqing Road, Haidian District, Beijing, China

    Aijie Wang & Wenzong Liu

Authors
  1. Chunxue Yang
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  2. Aijuan Zhou
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  3. Zhangwei He
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  4. Lei Jiang
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  5. Zechong Guo
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  6. Aijie Wang
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  7. Wenzong Liu
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Correspondence to Aijie Wang or Wenzong Liu.

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Responsible editor: Gerald Thouand

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Yang, C., Zhou, A., He, Z. et al. Effects of ultrasonic-assisted thermophilic bacteria pretreatment on hydrolysis, acidification, and microbial communities in waste-activated sludge fermentation process. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 9100–9109 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3985-2

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