TY - JOUR
T1 - Differences in microbial communities and performance between suspended and attached growth anaerobic membrane bioreactors treating synthetic municipal wastewater
AU - Harb, Moustapha
AU - Xiong, Yanghui
AU - Guest, Jeremy
AU - Amy, Gary
AU - Hong, Pei Ying
N1 - The authors would like to thank Dr. Chun-Hai Wei for providing the seed sludge for both AnMBR reactors and Dr. Yuejian Mao for providing the Perl script used for OTU sequence analysis. This study was partially funded by the KAUST Academic Partnership Program grant (PID 7000000105) and by the KAUST Center Competitive Funding Program grant (FCC/1/ 1971-06-01) awarded to P.-Y. Hong.
The authors would like to thank Dr. Chun-Hai Wei for providing the seed sludge for both AnMBR reactors and Dr. Yuejian Mao for providing the Perl script used for OTU sequence analysis. This study was partially funded by the KAUST Academic Partnership Program grant (PID 7000000105) and by the KAUST Center Competitive Funding Program grant (FCC/1/1971-06-01) awarded to P.-Y. Hong.
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Two lab-scale anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs), one up-flow attached-growth (UA) and another continuously stirred (CSTR), were operated under mesophilic conditions (35 °C) while treating synthetic municipal wastewater (800 mg L-1 COD). Each reactor was attached to both polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and polyethersulfone (PES) microfiltration (MF) membranes in an external cross-flow configuration. Both reactors were started up and run under the same operating conditions for multiple steady-state experiments. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rates were similar for both reactors (90-96%), but captured methane was found to be 11-18% higher for the CSTR than the UA reactor. Ion Torrent sequencing targeting 16S rRNA genes showed that several operational taxonomic units (OTUs) most closely related to fermentative bacteria (e.g., Microbacter margulisiae) were dominant in the suspended biomass of the CSTR, accounting for 30% of the microbial community. Conversely, methanogenic archaea (e.g., Methanosaeta) and syntrophic bacteria (e.g., Smithella propionica) were found in significantly higher relative abundances in the UA AnMBR as compared to the CSTR due to their affinity for surface attachment. Of the methanogens that were present in the CSTR sludge, hydrogenotrophic methanogens dominated (e.g., Methanobacterium). Measured EPS (both proteins and carbohydrates), which has been broadly linked to fouling, was determined to be consistently lower in the UA AnMBR membrane samples than in CSTR AnMBR membrane samples. Principal component analysis (PCA) based on HPLC profiles of soluble microbial products (SMPs) further demonstrated these differences between reactor types in replicate runs. The results of this study showed that reactor configuration can significantly impact the development of the microbial communities of AnMBRs that are responsible for both membrane and reactor performance.
AB - Two lab-scale anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs), one up-flow attached-growth (UA) and another continuously stirred (CSTR), were operated under mesophilic conditions (35 °C) while treating synthetic municipal wastewater (800 mg L-1 COD). Each reactor was attached to both polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and polyethersulfone (PES) microfiltration (MF) membranes in an external cross-flow configuration. Both reactors were started up and run under the same operating conditions for multiple steady-state experiments. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rates were similar for both reactors (90-96%), but captured methane was found to be 11-18% higher for the CSTR than the UA reactor. Ion Torrent sequencing targeting 16S rRNA genes showed that several operational taxonomic units (OTUs) most closely related to fermentative bacteria (e.g., Microbacter margulisiae) were dominant in the suspended biomass of the CSTR, accounting for 30% of the microbial community. Conversely, methanogenic archaea (e.g., Methanosaeta) and syntrophic bacteria (e.g., Smithella propionica) were found in significantly higher relative abundances in the UA AnMBR as compared to the CSTR due to their affinity for surface attachment. Of the methanogens that were present in the CSTR sludge, hydrogenotrophic methanogens dominated (e.g., Methanobacterium). Measured EPS (both proteins and carbohydrates), which has been broadly linked to fouling, was determined to be consistently lower in the UA AnMBR membrane samples than in CSTR AnMBR membrane samples. Principal component analysis (PCA) based on HPLC profiles of soluble microbial products (SMPs) further demonstrated these differences between reactor types in replicate runs. The results of this study showed that reactor configuration can significantly impact the development of the microbial communities of AnMBRs that are responsible for both membrane and reactor performance.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84984996472
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84984996472#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.1039/c5ew00162e
DO - 10.1039/c5ew00162e
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84984996472
SN - 2053-1400
VL - 1
SP - 800
EP - 813
JO - Environmental Science: Water Research and Technology
JF - Environmental Science: Water Research and Technology
IS - 6
ER -