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Impact of bio-augmentation with Sphingomonas sp. strain TTNP3 in membrane bioreactors degrading nonylphenol

Cirja, Magdalena ; Hommes, Gregor ; Ivashechkin, Pavel ; Prell, Jürgen ; Schäffer, Andreas ; Corvini, Philippe ; Lenz, Markus

In: Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 2009, vol. 84, no. 1, p. 183-189

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    Title
    • Impact of bio-augmentation with Sphingomonas sp. strain TTNP3 in membrane bioreactors degrading nonylphenol
    Author
    • Cirja, Magdalena. Institute of Environmental Research—Environmental Biology and Chemodynamics (BioV), RWTH Aachen University, Worringerweg 1, 52074, Aachen, Germany
    • Hommes, Gregor. Institute for Ecopreneurship, School of Life Sciences, University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW), Gründenstrasse 40, 4132, Muttenz, Switzerland
    • Ivashechkin, Pavel. VDEh-Betriebsforschungsinstitut GmbH, Sohnstrasse 65, 40237, Düsseldorf, Germany
    • Prell, Jürgen. Department of Molecular Microbiology, John Innes Center, Norwich Research Park,, NR4 7UH, Norwich,, Colney, UK
    • Schäffer, Andreas. Institute of Environmental Research—Environmental Biology and Chemodynamics (BioV), RWTH Aachen University, Worringerweg 1, 52074, Aachen, Germany
    • Corvini, Philippe. Institute for Ecopreneurship, School of Life Sciences, University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW), Gründenstrasse 40, 4132, Muttenz, Switzerland
    • Lenz, Markus. Institute for Ecopreneurship, School of Life Sciences, University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW), Gründenstrasse 40, 4132, Muttenz, Switzerland
    Document Type
    • Postprint
    Language
    • English
    Published in
    • Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 2009, vol. 84, no. 1, p. 183-189. Springer-Verlag
    Other Version
    OAI-PMH Identifier
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:310180
    Summary
    This study evaluates the potential of bio-augmentation to improve the degradation of recalcitrant nonylphenol during the wastewater treatment in membrane bioreactors (MBR). One MBR containing activated sludge was bio-augmented using multistep inoculation with freeze dried Sphingomonas sp. strain TTNP3, whereas a second control reactor contained activated sludge solely. The 14C-labeled-nonylphenol isomer (4-[1-ethyl-1,3-dimethylpentyl]phenol) was applied as a single pulse. Bio-augmentation resulted in an immediate increase of dissolved radioactivity in the effluent in comparison to the control reactor (13% and 2% of initially applied radioactivity after 1day, respectively). After 5days of operation, the retentate of the bio-augmented reactor contained only 7% of the initial radioactivity in contrast to 50% in the control reactor. The radioactivity associated to the mixed liquor suspended solids, i.e., the suspension of biomass and other solids on the retentate side of the membrane, was mainly found as non-extractable residues that were increasingly formed during prolonged reactor operation, especially for the control MBR. HPLC-LSC and GC-MSn analyses revealed that the bio-augmented reactor produced more polar hydroquinone as main degradation intermediate, whereas the control reactor effluent contained a complex mixture of apolar compounds with shortened oxidized alkyl chains. Thus, the apparent differences in the behavior of nonylphenol between the reactors were due to the catabolism of nonylphenol conferred by bio-augmentation with Sphingomonas sp. strain TTNP3