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Effects of different carbon sources on 2,4,6-trichlorophenol degradation in the activated sludge process

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Abstract

The effects of different carbon sources on the enrichment of 2,4,6TCP-degrading microbes and on reactor stability were was investigated using a lab-scale sequencing batch reactor (SBR). Glucose, sucrose, and starch were selected as different carbon sources because of the different molecular weights. The sucrose-fed activated sludge (AS) exhibited faster adaption and higher degradation rates for 2,4,6-TCP in long-term operation and typical cycles compared to that fed with glucose and starch. Large amounts of extracellular polymeric substance (EPS; 117.54 mg/gVSS) were induced from AS after adding starch, leading to a high SVI (191 mL/g) and poor sludge settling. This suggests that macromolecular carbon sources might have a detrimental effect on the reactor operation. Moreover, the high removal efficiency for TOC and chloride ions was achieved in a typical cycle of all SBRs, indicating that AS could completely mineralize 2,4,6-TCP. On average, more than 90% of the COD could be removed in all SBRs during long-term operation. Glucose, sucrose, and starch facilitated the development of a different microbial community compared to the seeding sludge, making Chloroflexi, Actinobacteria, and Proteobacteria the dominant phylum in the corresponding SBR. The microbial abundance associated with the metabolism of 2,4,6-TCP reached 81.02% due to the addition of sucrose. The results of this study could provide a potential guide for the effective selection of carbon sources in the treatment of chlorophenol wastewater.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (51778013) and Beijing Natural Science Foundation (8192005).

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  1. National Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Technology, Beijing University of Technology, 100 Ping Le Yuan, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100124, People’s Republic of China

    Jianguang Wang & Zhirong Sun

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  1. Jianguang Wang
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JW: Conceptualization, methodology, investigation, data curation, writing-original draft preparation, visualization, validation, writing-reviewing and editing. ZS: Supervision.

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Correspondence to Zhirong Sun.

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Wang, J., Sun, Z. Effects of different carbon sources on 2,4,6-trichlorophenol degradation in the activated sludge process. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 43, 2143–2152 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-020-02400-x

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