Effect of ammonium, electron donor and sulphate transient feeding conditions on sulphidogenesis in sequencing batch bioreactors

Luis Carlos Reyes-Alvarado (1, 2) , Frédéric Habouzit (1) , Eldon R. Rene (2) , Gaelle Santa-Catalina (1) , Renaud Escudié (1) , Nicolas Bernet (1) , Piet N. L. Lens (2)

1 LBE - Laboratoire de Biotechnologie de l'Environnement [Narbonne]
2 UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

This work aimed to study the effect of transient feeding conditions on sulphidogenesis in 8 sequencing batch bioreactors (SBR). SBR L1 and H1, operated under steady-state conditions were used as the control reactors, while four SBR were tested under transient feeding conditions, using moderate (L2 and L3, feast and famine: 2.5 and 0 g SO42-.L-1) and high (H2 and H3, feast and famine: 15 and 0 g SO42-.L-1) loads. The sulphate removal efficiency (RE) was ≥ 90% in SBR L2, L3 and H1. The NH4+ famine conditions resulted in a higher sulphate RE (≥ 40% H3) compared to feast conditions (≤ 20% H2). Besides, the sulphidogenic first-order kinetic constant was 4 % larger and the use of electron donor was 16.6% more efficient under NH4+ famine conditions. Sulphidogenesis is robust to transient feeding conditions, but not when applying high loading rates (SBR H2 and H3).

Keywords: sulphidogenesis; wastewater treatment; sequencing batch reactor; transient feeding conditions; feast-famine; sulphate reduction

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Environmental Sciences

Luis Carlos Reyes-Alvarado, Frédéric Habouzit, Eldon R. Rene, Gaelle Santa-Catalina, Renaud Escudié, et al.. Effect of ammonium, electron donor and sulphate transient feeding conditions on sulphidogenesis in sequencing batch bioreactors. Bioresource Technology, 2019, 276, pp.288-299. ⟨10.1016/j.biortech.2018.12.087⟩. ⟨hal-02623546⟩