Methanol‐driven enhanced biological phosphorus removal with a syntrophic consortium

Abstract

This is the accepted version of the following article: Tayà Cristellys, Carlota et al. "Methanol-driven enhanced biological phosphorus removal with a syntrophic consortium" in Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Vol. 110, Issue 2 (February 2013), p.391 -400, which has been published in final form at 10.1002/bit.24625. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving. 2 ABSTRACTThe presence of suitable carbon sources for enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) plays a key role in phosphorus removal from wastewater in urban WWTP. For wastewaters with low VFAs content, an external carbon addition is necessary. As methanol is the most commonly external carbon source used for denitrification it could be a priori a promising alternative, but previous attempts to use it for EBPR have failed. This study is the first successful report of methanol utilization as external carbon source for EBPR. Since a direct replacement strategy (i.e. supply of methanol as a sole carbon source to a propionic-fed PAOenriched sludge) failed, a novel process was designed and implemented successfully: development of a consortium with anaerobic biomass and PAOs. Methanol-degrading acetogens were i) selected against other anaerobic methanol degraders from an anaerobic sludge, ii) subjected to conventional EBPR conditions (anaerobic + aerobic) and iii) bioaugmented with PAOs. EBPR with methanol as a sole carbon source was sustained in a mid-term basis with this procedure.

Assessment of crude glycerol for Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal: Stability and role of long chain fatty acids

“…Methanol could be a good example of such fermentable components since it is present in crude glycerol in non-negligible concentrations (i.e. it is used during biodiesel production) and it could be fermented to acetic acid under specific conditions (Tayà et al, 2013). According to Pijuan et al (2005), PHB is mostly produced when acetic acid is used as carbon source.…”

“…Methanol is the most common external carbon source used for denitrification, but its utilization for EBPR has conducted to numerous failures (Puig et al, 2008;Randall et al, 1997b) before being successfully reported in a recent work (Tayà et al, 2013). PAO-enriched biomass in a conventional anaerobic-aerobic sequencing batch reactor (SBR) was unable to survive using methanol as sole carbon source when a direct replacement for propionic acid in the work of Tayà et al (2013).…”

“…PAO-enriched biomass in a conventional anaerobic-aerobic sequencing batch reactor (SBR) was unable to survive using methanol as sole carbon source when a direct replacement for propionic acid in the work of Tayà et al (2013). However, methanol-driven EBPR (P-removal using methanol as sole carbon source) was obtained when using a syntrophic consortium between methanol-degrading acetogens and PAO.…”

“…However, methanol-driven EBPR (P-removal using methanol as sole carbon source) was obtained when using a syntrophic consortium between methanol-degrading acetogens and PAO. The first would be in charge of converting methanol to by-products (mainly VFA), which could be used by PAO as carbon source (Tayà et al, 2013).…”

Development and economic assessment of different WWTP control strategies for optimal simultaneous removal of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus

“…Several external carbon sources have been studied to balance the COD deficiency in wastewaters (Gerber et al, 1986;Jones, et al, 1987;Winter, 1989;Appeldoorm, et al, 1992;Isaacs et al, 1994;Hallin. et al, 1996;Guerrero et al, 2012;Tayà et al, 2012). Among those, acetic and propionic acids were suggested as the most effective carbon sources for improving BNR.…”