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Inhibitory effects of long chain fatty acids on anaerobic sludge treatment: Biomass adaptation and microbial community assessment

Szabo Corbacho, M. (author), Sharma, Pragnya (author), Míguez, Diana (author), de la Sovera, Victoria (author), Brdjanovic, Damir (author), Etchebehere, Claudia (author), Garcia, H. (author), van Lier, J.B. (author)

The study investigated the effects of long-chain fatty acids (LCFA) on anaerobic sludge treating lipid-rich wastewater. It involved batch experiments with three sludge samples: two acclimated to lipids and one non-acclimated. The experiments aimed to observe the degradation of LCFA, specifically oleate and palmitate, by dosing them at...

journal article 2024

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Phenolic and petrochemical wastewater treatment in AnMBR under extreme conditions: High salinity, high temperature, and high concentration of toxic compounds

Garcia Rea, V.S. (author)

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a biochemical process in which organic matter is converted into biogas in a series of biochemical reactions. The development of high-rate anaerobic reactors (HRAR) led to the breakthrough of full-scale applications of AD for the treatment of industrial wastewater. HRARs, such as the upflow anaerobic sludge blanket ...

doctoral thesis 2023

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Biogas-Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) Energy System for Rural Energy Supply: A field based study on the role of local materials on operation and capital system cost

Wasajja, H. (author)

Biomass is predominantly the major source of energy in the global south. It is the readily available source of energy in global south and is used in rural energy households in the form of wood, charcoal and agricultural residues. However, biomass energy source is not utilised in the most efficient way and hence there is still a gap in achieving...

doctoral thesis 2023

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Identification and degradation of structural extracellular polymeric substances in waste activated sludge via a polygalacturonate-degrading consortium

Hu, Zhi Yi (author), Lin, Yi Peng (author), Wang, Qing Ting (author), Zhang, Yi Xin (author), Tang, Jie (author), Wang, Shuai (author), van Loosdrecht, Mark C.M. (author), Zeng, Raymond Jianxiong (author), Zhang, Fang (author)

By maintaining the cell integrity of waste activated sludge (WAS), structural extracellular polymeric substances (St-EPS) resist WAS anaerobic fermentation. This study investigates the occurrence of polygalacturonate in WAS St-EPS by combining chemical and metagenomic analyses that identify ∼22% of the bacteria, including Ferruginibacter and...

journal article 2023

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Anaerobic protein degradation: Effects of protein structural complexity, protein concentrations, carbohydrates, and volatile fatty acids

Deng, Z. (author), Ferreira, Ana Lucia Morgado (author), Spanjers, H. (author), van Lier, J.B. (author)

Bovine serum albumin (BSA) and casein (CAS) were used in batch tests to compare the protein degradation in the presence and absence of carbohydrates and volatile fatty acids (VFAs). The modified Gompertz model was applied to estimate reaction rates. The results showed that deamination was the rate-limiting step, with a rate ranging between 2...

journal article 2023

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Effects of thermal and enzymatic pre-treatments on the solubilisation of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and subsequent anaerobic digestion of microalgae-bacterial biomass

Cabeza, Camila (author), van Lier, J.B. (author), van der Steen, Peter (author)

Microalgae-bacteria biomass was digested through anaerobic digestion (AD) to produce biogas. Since microalgae typically have a more resistant cell wall than activated sludge (AS), its anaerobic biodegradability is limited. Therefore, three different pre-treatment techniques were evaluated for their effect on anaerobic biodegradability,...

journal article 2023

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Effect of operational parameters on the performance of an anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (AnSBR) treating protein-rich wastewater

Deng, Z. (author), Muñoz Sierra, Julian (author), Ferreira, Ana Lucia Morgado (author), Cerqueda Garcia, D. (author), Spanjers, H. (author), van Lier, J.B. (author)

Treating protein-rich wastewater using cost-effective and simple-structured single-stage reactors presents several challenges. In this study, we applied an anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (AnSBR) to treat protein-rich wastewater from a slaughterhouse. We focused on identifying the key factors influencing the removal of chemical oxygen...

journal article 2023

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Accumulating ammoniacal nitrogen instead of melanoidins determines the anaerobic digestibility of thermally hydrolyzed waste activated sludge

Pavez Jara, J.A. (author), van Lier, J.B. (author), de Kreuk, M.K. (author)

Full-scale thermal hydrolysis processes (THP) showed an increase in nutrients release and formation of melanoidins, which are considered to negatively impact methanogenesis during mesophilic anaerobic digestion (AD). In this research, fractionation of THP-sludge was performed to elucidate the distribution of nutrients and the formed...

journal article 2023

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Optimising flow and mixing in a full-scale gas-mixed anaerobic digester by integrating sludge rheological data using computational fluid dynamics

Wei, P. (author), Uijttewaal, W.S.J. (author), Spanjers, H. (author), van Lier, J.B. (author), de Kreuk, M.K. (author)

Gas-mixing is commonly applied in anaerobic digesters, yet the resulting flow and hydraulic mixing are difficult to evaluate because of limited full-scale experimental data and uncertainties in integrating sludge rheological data. This study used computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to assess the impact of treated sludge rheology on flow and...

journal article 2023

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Characterization of microbial communities in anaerobic acidification reactors fed with casein and/or lactose

Deng, Z. (author), Ferreira, Ana Lucia Morgado (author), Spanjers, H. (author), van Lier, J.B. (author)

Abstract: Protein-rich agro-industrial waste streams are high in organic load and represent a major environmental problem. Anaerobic digestion is an established technology to treat these streams; however, retardation of protein degradation is frequently observed when carbohydrates are present. This study investigated the mechanism of the...

journal article 2022

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Unravelling key factors controlling vivianite formation during anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge

Hao, Xiaodi (author), Yu, W. (author), Yuan, Tugui (author), Wu, Yuanyuan (author), van Loosdrecht, Mark C.M. (author)

As a product of phosphorous recovery from anaerobic digestion (AD) of waste activated sludge (WAS), vivianite has received increasing attention. However, key factors controlling vivianite formation have not yet been fully addressed. Thus, this study was initiated to ascertain key factors controlling vivianite formation. A simulation of...

journal article 2022

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Recent applications of biological technologies for decontaminating hormones in livestock waste and wastewater

Zhou, Xinyan (author), Zheng, Huabao (author), van der Hoek, J.P. (author), Yu, Kefei (author), Cao, Yucheng (author)

Large quantities of natural and synthetic hormones contained in livestock waste and wastewater (LWW) can cause serious problems in our environment. Composting and anaerobic digestion cannot remove hormones efficiently, so they should be modified to enhance the treatment processes. In addition, constructed wetlands show decent rates for...

review 2021

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Recovery and applications of ammoniacal nitrogen from nitrogen-loaded residual streams: A review

Deng, Z. (author), van Linden, N. (author), Guillen, Elena (author), Spanjers, H. (author), van Lier, J.B. (author)

Total ammoniacal nitrogen (TAN) is considered to be a pollutant, but is also a versatile resource. This review presents an overview of the TAN recovery potentials from nitrogen (N)-loaded residual streams by discussing the sources, recovery technologies and potential applications. The first section of the review addresses the fate of TAN...

review 2021

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The role of growth media on composition, bioconversion and susceptibility for mild thermal pre-treatment of waste activated sludge

Gonzales, A. (author), van Lier, J.B. (author), de Kreuk, M.K. (author)

The highly variable characteristics of waste activated sludge (WAS) hinder the comparison of experimental results on WAS bioconversion between the different studies that use excess sludge from different origin. Sludge grown under laboratory conditions with synthetic wastewater as feed showed high resistance to commonly applied pre-treatment...

journal article 2021

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Occurrence and fate of aromaticity driven recalcitrance in anaerobic treatment of wastewater and organic solid wastes

Aboudi, Kaoutar (author), Ahmed, Banafsha (author), Tyagi, Vinay Kumar (author), van Lier, J.B. (author)

Aromatic compounds such as aromatic amines (AAs) or lignocellulose biomass derivatives are often recalcitrant to biological processes (i.e., anaerobic digestion). The level of recalcitrance is usually explained by the biochemical structure of the compounds, which determines their removal. AAs are present in dye wastewaters mainly originated...

book chapter 2021

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The negative effect of carbohydrates on protein degradation in the acid-phase of anaerobic digestion of protein-rich wastewater: a microbial composition study

Wu, Jiahao (author)

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a promising technology to process protein-rich wastewater. However, incomplete protein degradation during the acidification of organic matter is frequently observed when carbohydrates are present. Literature reports little information to explain the mechanisms behind this phenomenon. This MSc study investigated the...

master thesis 2020

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Biodegradability Assessment of Aniline under Methanogenic and Saline Conditions in Batch and AnMBR

Huisman, Daniël (author)

Aniline, a toxic aromatic amine present in certain wastewaters from the petroleum-, pharmaceutical- , and textile industry is regarded recalcitrant under strict anaerobic conditions. This study assessed the feasibility of methanogenic aniline biodegradation under saline (8 gNa+/L) conditions (1) by performing biodegradability batch assays using...

master thesis 2020

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Novel approaches of flocculant application in sewage treatment

Kooijman, G. (author)

Organic flocculants are typically only applied in the sludge line and sometimes in quaternary treatment of conventional sewage treatment plants (STPs) that aim for enhanced nutrient removal. However, with the ongoing societal changes directing towards a higher degree of circularity of resources and a higher degree of wastewater treatment demands...

doctoral thesis 2020

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Toward achieving sustainable management of municipal wastewater sludge in Egypt: The current status and future prospective

Wahaab, Rifaat Abdel (author), Mahmoud, Mohamed (author), van Lier, J.B. (author)

Over the past 4 decades, the increasing amounts of excess sludge from municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) represent a challenge toward achieving the sustainability of the drinking water and sanitation sector in Egypt, resulting in a serious environmental pollution due to the uncontrolled use of non-stabilized sludge. Here, we report a...

journal article 2020

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Influence of particle size distribution on anaerobic degradation of phenol and analysis of methanogenic microbial community

Wang, Jing (author), Wu, Benteng (author), Muñoz Sierra, Julian (author), He, Chunhua (author), Hu, Zhenhu (author), Wang, Wei (author)

Sludge morphology considerably affects the mechanism underlying microbial anaerobic degradation of phenol. Here, we assessed the phenol degradation rate, specific methanogenic activity, electron transport activity, coenzyme F₄₂₀ concentration, and microbial community structure of five phenol-degrading sludge of varying particle...

journal article 2020