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Optimization of Simultaneous Nutrients and Chemical Oxygen Demand Removal from Anaerobically Digested Liquid Dairy Manure in a Two-Step Fed Sequencing Batch Reactor System Using Taguchi Method and Grey Relational Analysis

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Abstract

The technological development for efficient nutrient removal from liquid dairy manure is critical to a sustainable dairy industry. A nutrient removal process using a two-step fed sequencing batch reactor (SBR) system was developed in this study to achieve the applicability of simultaneous removal of phosphorus, nitrogen, and chemical oxygen demand from anaerobically digested liquid dairy manure (ADLDM). Three operating parameters, namely anaerobic time:aerobic time (min), anaerobic DO:aerobic DO (mg L−1), and hydraulic retention time (days), were systematically investigated and optimized using the Taguchi method and grey relational analysis for maximum removal efficiencies of total phosphorus (TP), ortho-phosphate (OP), ammonia-nitrogen (NH3-N), total nitrogen (TN), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) simultaneously. The results demonstrated that the optimal mean removal efficiencies of 91.21%, 92.63%, 91.82%, 88.61%, and 90.21% were achieved for TP, OP, NH3-N, TN, and COD at operating conditions, i.e., anaerobic:aerobic time of 90:90 min, anaerobic DO:aerobic DO of 0.4:2.4 mg L−1, and HRT of 3 days. Based on analysis of variance, the percentage contributions of these operating parameters towards the mean removal efficiencies of TP and COD were ranked in the order of anaerobic DO:aerobic DO > HRT > anaerobic time:aerobic time, while HRT was the most influential parameter for the mean removal efficiencies of OP, NH3-N, and TN followed by anaerobic time:aerobic time and anaerobic DO:aerobic DO. The optimal conditions obtained in this study are beneficial to the development of pilot and full-scale systems for simultaneous biological removal of phosphorus, nitrogen, and COD from ADLDM.

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All data produced or analyzed during this study are included in this published article (and its supplementary information files).

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thankfully acknowledge the assistance of Dr. Christopher Williams in designing the statistical model and Dr. Arif Reza and Kevin Kruger for their insights and assistance during the experiments.

Funding

This study was financially supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Hatch Project (Project No. IDA01604, Accession No. 1019082), and the USDA NIFA Sustainable Agricultural Systems project (Award No. 2020-69012-31871).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Science Program, College of Natural Resources, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83843, USA

    Sehrish Asghar

  2. Department of Soil and Water Systems, Twin Falls Research and Extension Center, University of Idaho, 315 Falls Avenue, PO Box 1827, Twin Falls, ID, 83303-1827, USA

    Lide Chen

  3. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Idaho, 875 Perimeter Dr. MS 0904, Moscow, ID, 83844, USA

    B. Brian He

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Sehrish Asghar and Dr. Lide Chen have conceptualized and designed the study. Sehrish Asghar has conducted the lab experiments and formal analysis, compiled information, and drafted the first manuscript. Dr. Lide Chen has acquired the funding, revised the manuscript, and supervised the project. Dr. B. Brian He has critically reviewed and edited the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Lide Chen.

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Asghar, S., Chen, L. & He, B.B. Optimization of Simultaneous Nutrients and Chemical Oxygen Demand Removal from Anaerobically Digested Liquid Dairy Manure in a Two-Step Fed Sequencing Batch Reactor System Using Taguchi Method and Grey Relational Analysis. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 196, 537–557 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-023-04562-2

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