Chemical characterization and anaerobic treatment of bitumen fume condensate using a membrane bioreactor

Bitumen fume condensate (BFC) is a hazardous wastewater generated at asphalt reclamation and production sites. BFC contains a wide variety of potentially toxic organic pollutants that negatively affect anaerobic processes. In this study, we chemically characterized BFC produced at an industrial site and evaluated its degradation under...

New insights on the estimation of the anaerobic biodegradability of plant material: Identifying valuable plants for sustainable energy production

Based on fifteen European plant species, a statistical model for the estimation of the anaerobic biodegradability of plant material was developed. We show that this new approach represents an accurate and cost-eective method to identify valuable energy plants for sustainable energy production. In particular, anaerobic biodegradability (B<sub...

The biodegradability of aquatic worm predated waste activated sludge: A sequential aerobic and anaerobic treatment approach

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of waste activated sludge (WAS) predation by the aquatic worm Tubifex tubifex (T. tubifex) on the overall biodegradability of WAS. The initial WAS biodegradability potential was determined in 80 days sequential batch-fed anaerobic and aerobic treatment combinations. These treatment...

Bioremoval of humic acid from water by white rot fungi: exploring the removal mechanisms

Physical and biochemical changes in sludge upon Tubifex tubifex predation

Worm predation (WP) on activated sludge leads to increased sludge degradation rates, irrespective of the type of worm used or reactor conditions employed. However, the cause of the increased sludge degradation rates remains unknown. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the physical and biochemical aspects of predated sludge,...