Abstract
The effect of alcohol ethoxylates on the treatment of municipal wastewater by a submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor was investigated by a 400 days operation including the treatment efficiency, methanogenic activity of sludge and microbial community structure. The results indicated that alcohol ethoxylates (5.0–200 mg/L) was efficiently degraded and converted into methane due to the similar COD removal 95.5–98.8% and rising biogas production rate (2.30–4.25 L/d) compared with control (96.8% and 2.55 L/d). The microbes in sludge could copy with the presence of alcohol ethoxylates in wastewater by releasing more SMP and EPS, which caused a higher membrane fouling rate. Moreover, via long term acclimation, the specific methanogenic activity of sludge was greatly enhanced due to the changes of microbial community structure. Hence, the sludge self-acclimation to alcohol ethoxylates was responsible to the efficient methane recovery in treatment of municipal wastewater.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 181-190 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Bioresource Technology |
| Volume | 226 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2017 |
Keywords
- Alcohol ethoxylates
- Anaerobic membrane bioreactor
- Microbial analysis
- Municipal wastewater
- Treatment
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Bioengineering
- Environmental Engineering
- Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
- Waste Management and Disposal
