Reducing sewer corrosion through integrated urban water management

Pikaar, Ilje; Sharma, Keshab; Hu, Shihu; Gernjak, Wolfgang; Keller, Jürg; Yuan, Zhiguo

doi:10.1126/science.1251418

Cited by 232 publications

(107 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Higher contribution is expected if using a recent higher global warming potential of methane (1 kg CH 4 is equivalent to 34 kg CO 2 in terms of global warming potential (IPCC, 2013)). It should be noted that this particular sewer is only a small part of a much larger network, and hence more methane production is expected when the wastewater is transported through the remaining parts of the network before reaching the WWTP (Pikaar et al, 2014). Therefore, methane production from sewers plays an important role in contributing to overall methane emissions over the entire wastewater systems.…”

Section: Conclusion On Online Methane Quantification In Actual Sewersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Scenario I, the bulk sulfate concentrations were increased from 5 to 30 mg S/L (Pikaar et al, 2014) at a constant fermentable COD concentration of 150 mg/L. In Scenario II, bulk fermentable COD concentrations were raised from 150 to 400 mg/L with a fixed sulfate concentration of 20 mg S/L.…”

Section: An Empirical Model For Predicting Sulfide and Methane Producmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Through collecting and transporting domestic and industrial wastewaters to treatment plants for pollutant removal before environmental discharge, sewers protect our society against sewage-borne diseases, unhygienic conditions, and noxious odors (Pikaar et al, 2014). However, sewers are biologically active systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sewer networks collect and transport wastewater through underground pipelines to wastewater treatment plants for pollutant removal prior to environmental discharge. They protect our urban society against sewage-born diseases, unhygienic conditions and obnoxious odours, allowing us to live in ever larger and more densely populated cities (Pikaar et al, 2014). However, sewer emissions are a notorious problem that water utilities have to deal with (Ganigue et al, 2011, USEPA, 1974.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sewer systems protect our urban society against sewage-born diseases, unhygienic conditions and obnoxious odours, allowing us to live in ever larger and more densely populated cities (Pikaar et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Measurement and understanding of methane emission from sewers

Liu¹

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Sewer emissions are a notorious problem that water utilities have to deal with. The production and emission of hydrogen sulfide is a well-known problem for decades, which is the primary cause of sewer odors and corrosion. However, hydrogen sulfide is not the only harmful emission from sewer networks. Methane can also be generated in sewers through methanogenesis. Methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas, which is significantly contributing to climate change. Over a 100-year horizon, 1 ton of CH 4 will induce a warming effect equivalent to 34 tons of CO 2 . It is also explosive with a lower explosive limit (LEL) of approximately 5% by volume, and thus poses a serious safety issue. Currently, very little attention has been paid to methane formation in sewer networks.Therefore, the overall aim of this thesis is to measure and understand methane emission from sewers.The limited studies conducted so far on methane measurement in both gas and liquid phases in sewers have relied on manual sampling followed by off-line laboratory-based chromatography analysis. These methods are labor-intensive when measuring methane emissions from a large number of sewers, and do not capture the dynamic variations in methane production.Therefore, the suitability of infrared (IR) spectroscopy-based online methane gas sensors for measuring methane in humid sewer air was investigated in both laboratory and field conditions. Under certain circumstances, humidity could become an issue, however, this can be solved by removing the humidity on the sensor probe surface. Also, IR sensors exhibit excellent linearity and can be applied with factory calibration. Furthermore, the detection limit of sensors is suitable for measuring methane gas in sewers. Field application of the sensors revealed that methane concentrations in sewer air are 3 -4 orders of magnitude higher than in the atmosphere, confirming that sewers are a source of methane. The continuous measurement also revealed that methane concentrations in sewer are highly dynamic.Complementary to the gas phase sensors, a new dissolved methane sensor was developed in this thesis. This device uses an online IR gas-phase methane sensor to measure methane under equilibrium conditions in a stripping chamber. The measured gaseous methane levels were then II converted to liquid-phase methane concentrations according to Henry's Law. The detection limit and range was noted to be suitable for sewer applications. Good linearity was also obtained during Contributions of sediments in gravity sewers to overall sewer emissions are poorly understood at present. Sediments collected from a gravity sewer were cultivated in a laboratory reactor fed with real wastewater for more than one year to obtain intact sediments for the study. Batch test results clearly showed significant sulfide and methane production from sewer sediments. Microsensor and pore water measurements of sulfide, sulfate and methane in the sediments, microbial community profiling along the depth of the sediments and mathematical modelli...

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Section: Conclusion On Online Methane Quantification In Actual Sewersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: An Empirical Model For Predicting Sulfide and Methane Producmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Measurement and understanding of methane emission from sewers

Liu¹

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Physical Integration

2017

Water Resources

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Comparative metabolic modeling of multiple sulfate‐reducing prokaryotes reveals versatile energy conservation mechanisms

Tang

Hao

Chen

2021

Biotech & Bioengineering

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Sulfate-reducing prokaryotes (SRPs) are crucial participants in the cycling of sulfur, carbon, and various metals in the natural environment and in engineered systems.Despite recent advances in genetics and molecular biology bringing a huge amount of information about the energy metabolism of SRPs, little effort has been made to link this important information with their biotechnological studies. This study aims to construct multiple metabolic models of SRPs that systematically compile genomic, genetic, biochemical, and molecular information about SRPs to study their energy metabolism. Pan-genome analysis was conducted to compare the genomes of SRPs, from which a list of orthologous genes related to central and energy metabolism was obtained. Twenty-four SRP metabolic models via the inference of pan-genome analysis were efficiently constructed. The metabolic model of the well-studied model SRP Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough (DvH) was validated via flux balance analysis (FBA). The DvH model predictions matched reported experimental growth and energy yields, which demonstrated that the core metabolic model worked successfully.Further, steady-state simulation of SRP metabolic models under different growth conditions showed how the use of different electron transfer pathways leads to energy generation. Three energy conservation mechanisms were identified, including menaquinone-based redox loop, hydrogen cycling, and proton pumping. Flavin-based electron bifurcation (FBEB) was also demonstrated to be an essential mechanism for supporting energy conservation. The developed models can be easily extended to other species of SRPs not examined in this study. More importantly, the present work develops an accurate and efficient approach for constructing metabolic models of multiple organisms, which can be applied to other critical microbes in environmental and industrial systems, thereby enabling the quantitative prediction of their metabolic behaviors to benefit relevant applications.

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Reducing sewer corrosion through integrated urban water management

Cited by 232 publications

References 24 publications

Measurement and understanding of methane emission from sewers

Measurement and understanding of methane emission from sewers

Physical Integration

Comparative metabolic modeling of multiple sulfate‐reducing prokaryotes reveals versatile energy conservation mechanisms

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