Insights of microalgal municipal wastewater treatment at low temperatures: Performance, microbiota patterns, and cold-adaptation of tubular and aeration column photobioreactors

Jiansong Tian; Pan Li; Yajun Luo; Heng Yan; Jian Liu; Zhicheng Pan; Yangwu Chen; Rui Wang; Yiwei Cheng; Houzhen Zhou; Junjie Li; Xin Li; Zhouliang Tan

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139910

Insights of microalgal municipal wastewater treatment at low temperatures: Performance, microbiota patterns, and cold-adaptation of tubular and aeration column photobioreactors

Chemosphere. 2023 Nov:340:139910. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139910. Epub 2023 Aug 21.

Authors

Jiansong Tian¹, Pan Li¹, Yajun Luo², Heng Yan², Jian Liu², Zhicheng Pan³, Yangwu Chen⁴, Rui Wang³, Yiwei Cheng⁴, Houzhen Zhou⁴, Junjie Li⁴, Xin Li⁵, Zhouliang Tan⁶

Affiliations

¹ CAS Key Laboratory of Environmental and Applied Microbiology, Environmental Microbiology Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China; Institute of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Mianyang Teacher's College, Mianyang, 621000, China.
² Institute of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Mianyang Teacher's College, Mianyang, 621000, China.
³ Haitian Water Group Co., LTD., Chengdu, 610203, China.
⁴ CAS Key Laboratory of Environmental and Applied Microbiology, Environmental Microbiology Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China.
⁵ CAS Key Laboratory of Environmental and Applied Microbiology, Environmental Microbiology Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China. Electronic address: lixin@cib.ac.cn.
⁶ CAS Key Laboratory of Environmental and Applied Microbiology, Environmental Microbiology Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China. Electronic address: tanzhl@cib.ac.cn.

PMID: 37611753
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139910

Abstract

In order to refine the treatment of microalgae consortium (MC) for municipal wastewater (MWW) during the winter, this study investigated the effectiveness of tubular and aeration column photobioreactors (TPBR and APBR) in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) during winter by two start-up modes: microalgae/microalgae-activated sludge (AS). The operation results showed that under 5.7-13.1 °C, TPBR enhanced the assimilation of N and P pollutant by microalgal accumulation, meeting the Chinese discharge standard within 24 h (NH₄⁺-N, TP, and COD ≤8.0, 0.5, and 50 mg·L^-1). The microbial community profiles were identified and showed that inoculating AS under low-temperature still promoted bacterial interspecific association, but influenced by the inhibition of microbial diversity by the homogeneous circulation of TPBR, the nitrogen transfer function of MC was lower than that of APBR at low temperatures, except nitrogen fixation (K02588), nitrosification (K10944, K10945, and K10946), assimilatory nitrate reduction (K00366), and ammonification (K01915 and K05601). And the intermittent aeration in the APBR was still beneficial in increasing microbial diversity, which was more beneficial for reducing COD through microbial collaboration. In the treatment, the cryotolerant MGPM were Delftia, Romboutsia, Rhizobiales, and Bacillus, and the cold stress-related genes that were highly up-regulated were defense signaling molecules (K03671 and K00384), cold shock protein gene (K03704), and cellular protector (K01784) were present in both PBRs. This study provided a reference for the feasibility of the low temperature treatment of MC with the different types of PBR, which improved the application of wastewater treatment in more climatic environments.

Keywords: Activated sludge; Co-occurrence netoworks; Low temperature; Microalgae consortium; Municipal wastewater; Photobioreactor.

MeSH terms

Microalgae*
Microbiota*
Photobioreactors
Temperature