Anaerobic treatment of propylene glycol-contaminated domestic wastewater and microbial community profile at threshold ratio

Abstract

An up-flow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) reactor was operated for five months to treat domestic wastewater contaminated by propylene glycol-main component of Type 2 aircraft deicing fluid (ADF)-at threshold ratio based on optimization study with batch reactors [i.e., operated at externally included ADF ¼ 0.83-4.20%]. Biogas yields up to~0.4 m 3 /kg COD influent was achieved, however drastically reduced along with total chemical oxygen demand (tCOD) removal at ADF>1.20% and indicated strong inhibition. Hence, the UASB reactor was fed at ADF ¼ 1.05% [tCOD influent ¼ 8930 AE 2100 mg/L] and yielded >80% tCOD removal on average. Next generation sequencing (NGS) findings also revealed that Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes had the highest ratios of relative abundances in biomass sample taken at the last operating day; hence coexistence of these phyla played significant role in glycol removal with Synergistetes and Thermotogae bacteria whereas Methanobacterium and Methanoculleus archaea increased remarkably.

Applications of Up-Flow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) and Characteristics of Its Microbial Community: A Review of Bibliometric Trend and Recent Findings

“…Yangin-Gomec and Engiz [ 95 ] evaluated the effect on the microbial community of propylene glycol in urban wastewater. They proved that a high concentration of this substance can inhibit the biomass and change the microbiota.…”

“…They proved that a high concentration of this substance can inhibit the biomass and change the microbiota. Specifically, increasing initial glycol concentration, Firmicutes replaced Proteobacteria and Methanoculleus replaced Methanocarcina [ 95 ].…”

“…The study of the microbiota and microbiome of the granular biomass of UASB reactors has been the subject of intense research. Studies have confirmed that the microbiota is able to change its structure to better adapt to external stimuli such as conditions of temperature, feed, and pollutants (e.g., [ 95 , 96 , 97 , 98 , 99 ]). These works could be the starting point for future studies aimed at better exploiting this biomass “adaptation” capacity by optimizing the operation of UASB reactors and increasing their performance.…”