New insights into different surfactants’ impacts on sludge fermentation: Focusing on the particular metabolic processes and microbial genetic traits

doi:10.1007/s11783-022-1527-6

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.

2022, Vol. 16

Issue (8) : 106 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-022-1527-6

RESEARCH ARTICLE

New insights into different surfactants’ impacts on sludge fermentation: Focusing on the particular metabolic processes and microbial genetic traits

Jingyang Luo^1,², Shiyu Fang^1,², Wenxuan Huang^1,², Feng Wang^1,², Le Zhang^1,², Fang Fang^1,², Jiashun Cao^1,², Yang Wu³(

), Dongbo Wang⁴

¹. Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes, Ministry of Education, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
². College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
³. State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
⁴. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China

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Abstract

• The promoting effects for VFA generation follow the order of APG>SDBS>HTAB.

• Surfactants improve the WAS solubilization/hydrolysis and acidification processes.

• The VFA promotion is associated with surfactants’ distinctive characteristics.

• Surfactants induce the enrichment of functional bacteria for VFA biosynthesis.

• The vital genes for substrates delivery, metabolism, and VFA yields are upregulated.

Surfactants were expected to exhibit positive effects on the waste activated sludge (WAS) disposal. However, the systematic comparison of different categories of surfactants on the WAS fermentation and the functional mechanisms, especially microbial metabolic traits, have not yet been precisely explored. This study revealed the positive effects of different surfactants on the volatile fatty acid (VFA) production, which followed the order of alkyl polysaccharides (APG)>sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS)>hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (HTAB). Mechanistic exploration found that the presence of different surfactants improved solubilization and hydrolysis steps, and then contributed to the subsequent acidification with different efficiencies. The functional microorganisms associated with VFA generation were enriched in surfactant-conditioned reactors. Metagenomic analysis further indicated that the key genes involved in the particular process of VFA generation were over-expressed. The simultaneous bioavailable substrate improvement, functional bacterial enrichment, and metabolic activity upregulation induced by different surfactants jointly contributed to VFA promotion during WAS fermentation. This study could provide a comprehensive realization of surfactants’ impacts on the WAS fermentation process, and more importantly, it reminded the public to discern the distinct interplaying effects induced by different chemicals in regulating the WAS disposal and resource recovery.

Keywords Waste activated sludge (WAS) Volatile fatty acids (VFA) Surfactant types Functional microorganisms Metabolic activity upregulation

Corresponding Author(s): Yang Wu

About author:

Tongcan Cui and Yizhe Hou contributed equally to this work.

Issue Date: 27 December 2021

Cite this article:

Jingyang Luo,Shiyu Fang,Wenxuan Huang, et al. New insights into different surfactants’ impacts on sludge fermentation: Focusing on the particular metabolic processes and microbial genetic traits[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2022, 16(8): 106.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-022-1527-6
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2022/V16/I8/106

Fig.1 The influences of different surfactants on (A) the variation and (B) the proportion of VFA generation during WAS fermentation. Error bars represent standard deviations of triplicate tests.

Tab.1 The concentrations of hydrolytic compounds in different reactors (mg/L)

Fig.2 The influences of different surfactants on (A) surface tension, (B) soluble hydrolysates and the hydrolytic enzymatic activities, (C) acid-forming enzymatic activities relative to the control during WAS fermentation, and (D) LDH release. Error bars represent standard deviations of triplicate tests.

Fig.3 The influences of different surfactants on microbial community structure at (A) phylum level and (B) genus level, and (C) the correlation analysis between functional microorganisms and VFA production. Red line, positive correlation; blue line, negative correlation; yellow node, functional mechanisms; green node, VFA; node size represents degree, and line width reflects correlation coefficient. The non-significant correlations had been removed, and the cutoff of P value was 0.01.

Fig.4 The relative abundance of (A) functional genes participated in substrate hydrolases, (B) functional genes that participated in membrane transporters, (C) functional genes participated in amino metabolism, (D) functional genes participated in carbohydrate metabolism, (E) KEGG pathways, and the red box and arrows indicated the relative abundance of specific KEGG pathways were enhanced in the presence of surfactants. Error bars represent standard deviations of triplicate tests.

Fig.5 The influences of different surfactants on functional genetic expressions (relative abundances in parts per thousand) involved in (A) pyruvate metabolism and (B) fatty acid biosynthesis during WAS fermentation.

Fig.6 The sketch for the mechanism of VFA promotion during WAS fermentation induced by surfactants. The green, blue, purple, red and brown arrows represented carbohydrate metabolism, glycolysis, amino acid metabolism, acetic acid biosynthesis, initial fatty acid biosynthesis, respectively. Meanwhile, the listed genetic expressions of enzymes were all upregulated in the presence of surfactants.

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