Characterization of soluble microbial products (SMPs) in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) treating municipal wastewater containing pharmaceutical compounds
Article
Article Title | Characterization of soluble microbial products (SMPs) in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) treating municipal wastewater containing pharmaceutical compounds |
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ERA Journal ID | 4694 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | Zhang, Dongqing (Author), Trzcinski, Antoine Prandota (Author), Kunacheva, Chinagarn (Author), Stuckey, David C. (Author), Liu, Yu (Author), Tan, Soon Keat (Author) and Ng, Wun Jern (Author) |
Journal Title | Water Research |
Journal Citation | 102, pp. 594-606 |
Number of Pages | 13 |
Year | 2016 |
Place of Publication | United Kingdom |
ISSN | 0043-1354 |
1879-2448 | |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2016.06.059 |
Web Address (URL) | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0043135416304973 |
Abstract | This study investigated the behaviour and characteristics of soluble microbial products (SMP) in two anoxic-aerobic membrane bioreactors (MBRs): MBRcontrol and MBRpharma, for treating municipal wastewater. Both protein and polysaccharides measured exhibited higher concentrations in the MBRpharma than the MBRcontrol. Molecular weight (MW) distribution analysis revealed that the presence of pharmaceuticals enhanced the accumulation of SMPs with macro- (13,091 kDa and 1,587 kDa) and intermediate-MW (189 kDa) compounds in the anoxic MBRpharma, while a substantial decrease was observed in both MBR effluents. Excitation emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence contours indicated that the exposure to pharmaceuticals seemed to stimulate the production of aromatic proteins containing tyrosine (10.1-32.6%) and tryptophan (14.7-43.1%), compared to MBRcontrol (9.9-29.1% for tyrosine; 11.8-42.5% for tryptophan). Gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis revealed aromatics, long-chain alkanes and esters were the predominant SMPs in the MBRs. More peaks were present in the aerobic MBRpharma (196) than anoxic MBRpharma (133). The SMPs identified exhibited both biodegradability and recalcitrance in the MBR treatment processes. Only 8 compounds in the MBRpharma were the same as in the MBRcontrol. Alkanes were the most dominant SMPs (51%) in the MBRcontrol, while aromatics were dominant (40%) in the MBRpharma. A significant decrease in aromatics (from 16 to 7) in the MBRpharma permeate was observed, compared to the aerobic MBRpharma. Approximately 21% of compounds in the aerobic MBRcontrol were rejected by membrane filtration, while this increased to 28% in the MBRpharma. |
Keywords | soluble microbial products (SMP); pharmaceutical compounds; membrane bioreactor (MBR); anoxic-aerobic; wastewater treatment |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 400410. Wastewater treatment processes |
400409. Separation technologies | |
410404. Environmental management | |
401102. Environmentally sustainable engineering | |
Public Notes | First prize winner for the USQ School-Specific 2016 Publication Excellence Awards for Journal Articles - School of Civil Engineering and Surveying. Submitted version deposited in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. |
Byline Affiliations | Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute, Singapore |
Imperial College London, United Kingdom | |
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore | |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q381x/characterization-of-soluble-microbial-products-smps-in-a-membrane-bioreactor-mbr-treating-municipal-wastewater-containing-pharmaceutical-compounds
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