Abstract
This study investigated the acidogenic and microbiological perspectives in the anaerobic co-fermentation of waste-activated sludge (WAS) mixed with corn stalk (CS) and pig manure (PM). The volatile fatty acids (VFAs) increased dramatically to over 5000 mg COD/L accumulation just within 4–5 days with the feedstock carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratio regulation of 20/1. The CS and PM addition enhanced the compressibility of fermentation residuals by increasing the particle distribution spread index (DSI). Moreover, the external carbon addition conduced to bacterial consortia diversity rising and uneven population distribution in the co-fermentation, which contributed to VFAs accumulation potentially. The organic loading rate (OLR) correlated with bacterial community closely at the early stage (days 1–5), while the oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) and pH played more important roles on bacterial consortia at the terminal stage (days 6–10). The C/N ratio adjustment by CS and PM and proper optimizations of OLR, pH, and ORP at various running stages facilitated VFA accumulation during the co-fermentation operation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alqaralleh RM (2016) Thermophilic and hyper-thermophilic co-digestion of waste activated sludge and fat, oil and grease: evaluating and modeling methane production. J Environ Manag 183(Pt 3):551–561. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.09.003
APHA (1998) Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 20th edn. American Public Health Association, Washington, DC, USA
Barber WPF (2016) Thermal hydrolysis for sewage treatment: a critical review. Water Res 104:53–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2016.07.069
Bruce ER, Perry LM (2001) Environmental biotechnology: principles and applications. McGrawHill, New York, p 400
Chen W, Weaterhoff P, Leenheer JA, Booksh K (2003) Fluorescence excitation-emission matrix regional integration to quantify spectra for dissolved organic matter. Environ Sci Technol 37(24):5701–5710. https://doi.org/10.1021/es034354c
Chen X, Yuan HR, Zou DX, Liu YP, Zhu BN, Chufo A, Jaffar M, Li XJ (2015) Improving biomethane yield by controlling fermentation type of acidogenic phase in two-phase anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and rice straw. Chem Eng J 273:254–260. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2015.03.067
Chen YG, Luo JY, Yan YY, Feng LY (2013) Enhanced production of short-chain fatty acid by co-fermentation of waste activated sludge and kitchen waste under alkaline conditions and its application to microbial fuel cells. Appl Energy 102:1197–1204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.06.056
Dai XH, Li XS, Zhang D, Chen YG, Dai LL (2016) Simultaneous enhancement of methane production and methane content in biogas from waste activated sludge and perennial ryegrass anaerobic co-digestion: the effects of pH and C/N ratio. Bioresour Technol 216:323–330. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2016.05.100
Feng LY, Chen YG, Zheng X (2009) Enhancement of waste activated sludge protein conversion and volatile fatty acids accumulation during waste activated sludge anaerobic fermentation by carbohydrate substrate addition: the effect of pH. Environ Sci Technol 43(12):4373–4380. https://doi.org/10.1021/es8037142
Guo XH, Wang C, Sun FQ, Zhu WJ, WX W (2014) A comparison of microbial characteristics between the thermophilic and mesophilic anaerobic digesters exposed to elevated food waste loadings. Bioresour Technol 152:420–428. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2013.11.012
Hai R, Wang YL, Wang XH, Li Y, ZZ D (2014) Bacterial community dynamics and taxa-time relationships within two activated sludge bioreactors. PLoS One 9:1–8
He XS, Xi BD, Wei ZM, Jiang YH, Yang Y, An D, Cao JL, Liu HL (2011) Fluorescence excitation–emission matrix spectroscopy with regional integration analysis for characterizing composition and transformation of dissolved organic matter in landfill leachates. J Hazard Mater 190(1-3):293–299. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2011.03.047
Hillebrand H, Bennett DM, Cadotte MW (2008) Consequences of dominance: a review of evenness effects on local and regional ecosystem processes. Ecology 89(6):1510–1520. https://doi.org/10.1890/07-1053.1
Jang HM, Ha JH, Kim M-S, Kim J-O, Kim YM, Park JM (2016) Effect of increased load of high-strength food wastewater in thermophilic and mesophilic anaerobic co-digestion of waste activated sludge on bacterial community structure. Water Res 99:140–148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2016.04.051
Jia ST, Dai XH, Zhang D, Dai LL, Wang RC, Zhao JF (2013) Improved bioproduction of short-chain fatty acids from waste activated sludge by perennial ryegrass addition. Water Res 47(13):4576–4584. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2013.05.012
Jiang D, Zhuang D, Fu J, Huang Y, Wen K (2012) Bioenergy potential from crop residues in China: availability and distribution. Renew Sust Energ Rev 16(3):1377–1382. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2011.12.012
Jiang Y, Chen YG, Zheng X (2009) Efficient polyhydroxyalkanoates production from a waste-activated sludge alkaline fermentation liquid by activated sludge submitted to the aerobic feeding and discharge process. Environ Sci Technol 43(20):7734–7741. https://doi.org/10.1021/es9014458
Kondusamy D, Kalamdhad AS (2014) Pre-treatment and anaerobic digestion of food waste for high rate methane production—a review. J Environ Chem Eng 2(3):1821–1830. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2014.07.024
Lee DJ, Show KY, Su A (2011) Dark fermentation on biohydrogen production: pure culture. Bioresour Technol 102(18):8393–8402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2011.03.041
Li X, Chen H, LF H, Yu L, Chen YG, GW G (2011) Pilot-scale waste activated sludge alkaline fermentation, fermentation liquid separation, and application of fermentation liquid to improve biological nutrient removal. Environ Sci Technol 45(5):1834–1839. https://doi.org/10.1021/es1031882
Li YM, Wang J, Zhang A, Wang L (2015) Enhancing the quantity and quality of short-chain fatty acids production from waste activated sludge using CaO2 as an additive. Water Res 83:84–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2015.06.021
Lo KV, Liao PH, Srinivasan A (2016) Continuous-flow microwave enhanced oxidation process for treating sewage sludge. Can J Chem Eng 94(7):1285–1294. https://doi.org/10.1002/cjce.22510
Loreau M, Naeem S, Inchausti P, Bengtsson J, Grime JP (2001) Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: current knowledge and future challenges. Science 294(5543):804–808. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1064088
Lu JB, Zhu L, GL H, JG W (2010) Integrating animal manure-based bioenergy production with invasive species control: a case study at Tongren pig farm in China. Biomass Bioenergy 34:821–827
Luo JY, Feng LY, Zhang W, Li X, Chen H, Wang DB, Chen YG (2014) Improved production of short-chain fatty acids from waste activated sludge driven by carbohydrate addition in continuous-flow reactors: influence of SRT and temperature. Appl Energy 113:51–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2013.07.006
Mahdad F, Younesi H, Bahramifar N, Hadavifar M (2016) Optimization of Fenton and photo-Fenton-based advanced oxidation processes for post-treatment of composting leachate of municipal solid waste by an activated sludge process. KSCE J Civ Eng 20(6):2177–2188. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-015-1045-1
Marzorati M, Wittebolle L, Boon N, Daffonchio D, Verstraete W (2008) How to get more out of molecular fingerprints: practical tools for microbial ecology. Environ Microbiol 10(6):1571–1581. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1462-2920.2008.01572.x
Michel D, Gilles KA, Hamilton JK, Rebers PA, Smith F (1956) Colorimetric method for determination of sugars and related substances. Anal Chem 28:350–356
Mohamed B (2008) Filtration characteristics of a mineral mud with regard to turbulent shearing. J Membr Sci 320(1–2):533–540
Morowitz MJ, Denef VJ, Costello EK, Thomas BC, Poroyko V, Relman DA, Banfield JF (2011) Strain-resolved community genomic analysis of gut microbial colonization in a premature infant. Proc Natl Acad Sci 108(3):1128–1133. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1010992108
Nielsen HB, Angelidaki I (2008) Strategies for optimizing recovery of the biogas process following ammonia inhibition. Bioresour Technol 99(17):7995–8001. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2008.03.049
Parmar N, Singh A, Ward OP (2001) Enzyme treatment to reduce solids and improve settling of sewage sludge. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 26(6):383–386. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jim.7000150
Saikaly PE, Strood PG, Oerther DB (2005) Use of 16S rRNA gene terminal restriction fragment analysis to assess the impact of solids retention time on the bacterial diversity of activated sludge. Appl Environ Microbiol 71(10):5814–5822. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.71.10.5814-5822.2005
Salsabil MR, Prorot A, Casellas M, Dagot C (2009) Pre-treatment of activated sludge: effect of sonication on aerobic and anaerobic digestibility. Chem Eng J 148(2-3):327–335. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2008.09.003
Song JX, An D, Ren NQ, Zhang YM, Chen Y (2011) Effects of pH and ORP on microbial ecology and kinetics for hydrogen production in continuously dark fermentation. Bioresour Technol 102(23):10875–10880. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2011.09.024
Su HF, Tan FR, YJ X (2016) Enhancement of biogas and methanization of citrus waste via biodegradation pretreatment and subsequent optimized fermentation. Fuel 181:843–851
Su XY, Tian Y, Li H, Wang CN (2013) New insights into membrane fouling based on characterization of cake sludge and bulk sludge: an especial attention to sludge aggregation. Bioresour Technol 128:586–592
Teo CW, Wong PCY (2014) Enzyme augmentation of an anaerobic membrane bioreactor treating sewage containing organic particulates. Water Res 48:335–344. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2013.09.041
Turner S, Pryer KM, Miao VPW, Palmer JD (1999) Investigating deep phylogenetic relationships among cyanobacteria and plastids by small subunit rRNA sequence analysis. J Eukaryol Microbiol 46(4):327–338. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1550-7408.1999.tb04612.x
Wittebolle L, Marzorati M, Clement L, Balloi A, Daffonchio D (2009) Initial community evenness favours functionality under selective stress. Nature 458(7238):623–626. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07840
Wittebolle L, Vervaeren H, Verstraete W, Boon N (2008) Quantifying community dynamics of Nitrifiers in functionally stable reactors. Appl Environ Microbiol 74(1):286–293. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.01006-07
Xin XD, He JG, Feng JH, Li L, Wen ZD, Hu Q, Qiu W, Zhang J (2016) Solubilization augmentation and bacterial community responses triggered by co-digestion of a hydrolytic enzymes blend for facilitating waste activated sludge hydrolysis process. Chem Eng J 284:979–988. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2015.09.060
Xin XD, He JG, Li L, Qiu W (2017) Enzymes catalyzing pre-hydrolysis facilitated the anaerobic fermentation of waste activated sludge with acidogenic and microbiological perspectives. Bioresour Technol 250:69–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2017.09.211
Yan YY, Feng LY, Zhang CJ, Wisniewski C, Zhou Q (2010) Ultrasonic enhancement of waste activated sludge hydrolysis and volatile fatty acids accumulation at pH 10.0. Water Res 44(11):3329–3336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2010.03.015
Yang G, Zhang GM, Wang HC (2015) Current state of sludge production, management, treatment and disposal in China. Water Res 78:60–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2015.04.002
Yang Q, Luo K, Li XM, Wang DB, Zheng W, Zeng GM, Liu JJ (2010) Enhanced efficiency of biological excess sludge hydrolysis under anaerobic digestion by additional enzymes. Bioresour Technol 101(9):2924–2930. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2009.11.012
Yu H, Zheng X, Hu Z, Gu G (2003) High-rate anaerobic hydrolysis and acidogenesis of sewage sludge in a modified upflow reactor. Water Sci Technol 48(4):69–75
Yu SY, Zhang GM, Li JZ, Zhao ZW, Kang XR (2013) Effect of endogenous hydrolytic enzymes pretreatment on the anaerobic digestion of sludge. Bioresour Technol 146:758–761
Zheng HZ, Li DW, Stanislaus MS, Zhang N, Zhu Q, XH H, Yang YN (2015) Development of a bio-zeolite fixed-bed bioreactor for mitigating ammonia inhibition of anaerobic digestion with extremely high ammonium concentration livestock waste. Chem Eng J 280:106–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2015.06.024
Ziels RM, Karlsson A, Beck DAC, Ejlertsson J, Yekta SS, Bjorn A, Stensel HD, Svensson BH (2016) Microbial community adaptation influences long-chain fatty acid conversion during anaerobic codigestion of fats, oils, and grease with municipal sludge. Water Res 103:372–382. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2016.07.043
Funding
This research was supported financially by the Program of International S&T Cooperation (2016YFE0123400), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.51778179), China Scholarship Council (CSC, 201606120198), State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment (Harbin Institute of Technology) (No. 2016TS02), and Heilongjiang Province Science Foundation for General Program (E201427).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Responsible editor: Gerald Thouand
Electronic supplementary material
ESM 1
(PDF 1235 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Xin, X., He, J. & Qiu, W. Volatile fatty acid augmentation and microbial community responses in anaerobic co-fermentation process of waste-activated sludge mixed with corn stalk and livestock manure. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 4846–4857 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-0834-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-0834-0