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Degradation and mineralization of 2-chlorophenol in a single-stage anaerobic fixed-bed bioreactor

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Abstract

Chlorophenols (CPs) have drawn great attention due to their high toxicity and ubiquitous presence in the environment. However, the practical application of anaerobic biodegradation to remove CPs is limited by low degradation rate and incomplete mineralization. This work aims to apply a single-stage anaerobic fixed-bed bioreactor (AnFBR) for complete anaerobic dechlorination and mineralization of CPs. Results showed that 2-CP removal efficiency of 99.4%, chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency of 93.0%, and methane yield of 0.22 L-CH4/g-COD could be obtained for a wide range of 2-CP loading rates (3.6–18.2 mmol L−1 d−1). Nearly complete anaerobic mineralization of 2-CP was achieved even in the absence of co-substrates, thereby greatly reducing the operation cost. This may be partly related to the attached-growth microorganisms in AnFBR, allowing a higher biomass concentration and longer biomass retention time for enhanced 2-CP removal. Moreover, 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis suggests that the AnFBR harbored the potential dechlorinators (e.g., Anaeromyxobacter), phenol-degrading microbes (e.g., Comamonas and Syntrophobacter), and methanogens (e.g., Methanobacterium and Methanosaeta) after acclimation, which could cooperate effectively for 2-CP dechlorination and mineralization. Based on the identified intermediates, the possible mineralization pathway of 2-CP was proposed. These findings should be valuable to facilitate the engineering applications of AnFBRs for removing CPs from wastewater.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Department of Applied Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China

    YiKun Geng, ZhengHao Li, Li Yuan, XinRong Pan & GuoPing Sheng

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  1. YiKun Geng
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  2. ZhengHao Li
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  3. Li Yuan
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  4. XinRong Pan
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  5. GuoPing Sheng
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Li Yuan or GuoPing Sheng.

Additional information

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2016YFC0401101), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51738012, 51708533, and 51821006), the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences, CAS (Grant No. QYZDB-SSWQDC020), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. WK2060190079).

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Geng, Y., Li, Z., Yuan, L. et al. Degradation and mineralization of 2-chlorophenol in a single-stage anaerobic fixed-bed bioreactor. Sci. China Technol. Sci. 63, 86–95 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-019-9538-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-019-9538-2

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