Effect of Substrate Concentration & Elevated CO2 Partial Pressure on the Odd & Even Carboxylate Formation

Of all the greenhouse gases (GHGs), carbon dioxide (CO2) has been the target of most climate recovery efforts as it is the most abundantly emitted GHG by mass. In fact, in 2015 a legally binding international treaty was adopted by 196 parties in Paris, France to constrain the anthropogenic warming to 1.5-2.0˚C above the pre-industrial level. In...

Magnetite as a Game-Changer: Exploring its potential for enhancing anaerobic degradation of phenolic wastewater in AnMBR while tackling membrane fouling challenges

Aromatic compounds have always been of concern regarding their toxicity to living organisms, including microorganisms. With more anthropogenic activities (e.g. coal gasification), the need for feasible treatment of industrial effluents is highly prioritised. With the anaerobic degradation process being a competitive solution, these compounds’...

Evaluating toxicity in the anaerobic treatment of paper pulping effluents and the biological performance of EGSB reactor

Pulp and paper industries are water-intensive industries and composed of complex production processes. Untreated pulping wastewater is very toxic and lethal to aquatic life if discharged untreated. Anaerobic treatment technology has gained interest in treating these types of wastewater by reducing organic compounds. This thesis research aimed to...

Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactors under Extreme Conditions: Mesophilic and Thermophilic Degradation of Phenol at High Salinity

Industrial wastewaters generated in chemical industries are often characterized by extreme conditions, such as the presence of complex, recalcitrant, and toxic aromatic compounds, high temperature, and high salinity. The mentioned conditions predominantly occur when chemical industries reduce process water use or strive for closing water loops....

Looking for lipases and lipolytic organisms in low-temperature anaerobic reactors treating domestic wastewater

Poor lipid degradation limits low-temperature anaerobic treatment of domestic wastewater even when psychrophiles are used. We combined metagenomics and metaproteomics to find lipolytic bacteria and their potential, and actual, cold-adapted extracellular lipases in anaerobic membrane bioreactors treating domestic wastewater at 4 and 15 °C. Of...

Vivianite Precipitation: a Novel Concept to Remove Iron from Groundwater: From waste to value

The removal of iron from groundwater is essential to avoid aesthetic issues of the produced drinking water and to reduce maintenance cost of the system. The most applied iron removal method of oxidation and filtration produces large volumes of aqueous iron sludge of little value and the method is more likely to fail at high iron concentrations....

Anaerobic treatment of 'acid water' (methane production in a sulfate-rich environment)