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Water
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Microbial Biotechnology for Water and Sludge Treatment
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Microbial Biotechnology for Water and Sludge Treatment

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Wastewater Treatment and Reuse".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 January 2025 | Viewed by 2550

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Konstantina Tsigkou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Lyngby, Denmark
Interests: agro-industrial and municipal wastes valorization; anaerobic digestion, dark fermentation, and composting processes; biofuels and added-value products; circular economy model and zero waste strategies
Dr. Georgios Manthos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor Assistant
1. Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering & Environmental Technology (LBEET), Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece
2. Institute of Circular Economy and Environment (ICEE), University of Patras’ Research and Development Center, 26504 Patras, Greece
Interests: mathematical modeling of biological processes; anaerobic digestion of liquid and solid waste; composting of solid waste; sustainability assessment of biological processes

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In light of evolving lifestyles and rapid industrialization, the input of both organic and inorganic pollutants into the water bodies has been increased, posing a pressing environmental challenge. These pollutants, among emerging or micropollutants, exhibit high toxicity levels even at low concentrations, with the effects of certain contaminants' remaining elusive. Confronting such a concern, the effective treatment of wastewater derived from the agricultural, industrial, and food processing sectors emerges as crucial, targeting the output minimization of these pollutants into water bodies and sludge.

This Special Issue is devoted to exploring novel and robust pure or mixed cultures for the biological treatment of both wastewater and sludge. We invite submissions not only of original research papers but also of review articles and case studies covering, but not limited to, the following topics:

  • Biological processes for wastewater and sludge management and valorization for their conversion to bioenergy and/or added-value products.
  • Unraveling the fate and transport mechanisms of organic pollutants in water and sludge matrices.
  • Mechanistic mathematical modeling of biological processes for application in wastewater treatment.
  • Identification and characterization methods of pollutants of municipal, industrial, and agricultural wastewater and/or sludge.
  • Sustainability analysis (techno-economic analysis and/or life cycle assessment) of applied biological methods for waste and wastewater management.
  • Zero waste and circular economy approach on wastewater and sludge valorization, with emphasis on the application of biological methods.

Your valuable insights will significantly contribute to shaping effective solutions and advancing knowledge in the critical field of wastewater and sludge management through biological processes.

Dr. Konstantina Tsigkou
Guest Editor

Dr. Georgios Manthos
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • recalcitrant organic pollutants degradation
  • anaerobic digestion, fermentation, and composting
  • techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment of wastewater valorization
  • mathematical modeling of biological processes
  • industrial, agricultural, municipal, and food processing wastewater and sludge characterization, management, and valorization

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 4822 KiB  
Article
Characteristics and Nitrogen Removal Performance Optimization of Aerobic Denitrifying Bacteria Bacillus cereus J1 under Ammonium and Nitrate-Nitrogen Conditions
by Ying Cao, Yi Jin, Yao Lu, Yanling Wang, Tianyu Zhao, Pengfei Chen, Shaobin Huang and Yongqing Zhang
Water 2024, 16(16), 2231; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16162231 - 7 Aug 2024
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Abstract
A novel aerobic denitrifying bacterium Bacillus cereus J1 was isolated from a sewage treatment plant. Its characteristics under two distinct nitrogen sources were systematically investigated. According to the results of whole-genome sequencing, we inferred that strain J1 removes nitrogen through processes such as aerobic [...] Read more.
A novel aerobic denitrifying bacterium Bacillus cereus J1 was isolated from a sewage treatment plant. Its characteristics under two distinct nitrogen sources were systematically investigated. According to the results of whole-genome sequencing, we inferred that strain J1 removes nitrogen through processes such as aerobic denitrification, dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium, and ammonium assimilation. The degradation process of COD and total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) correlated to the zero-order degradation kinetics equation, and the maximum removal rate of NO3−−N reached 3.17 mg/L/h and that of NH4+−N was 3.79 mg/L/h. Utilizing single-factor experiments and response surface methodology, the optimal conditions for nitrate removal were determined as a shaking speed of 115 rpm, COD/nitrogen mass (C/N ratio) of 12.25, and salinity of 3.44 g/L, with the C/N ratio exerting the most significant influence. Similarly, for the maximum ammonium removal, the ideal conditions involved a shaking speed of 133 rpm, C/N ratio of 29, and salinity of 13.30 g/L, with the shaking speed exerting the most significant influence. These findings demonstrate that large amounts of ammonium and nitrate can be quickly removed with the help of Bacillus cereus J1, indicating that strain J1 may be applied to alleviate nitrogen pollution in aquatic environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Biotechnology for Water and Sludge Treatment)
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13 pages, 2678 KiB  
Article
Alkaline Pre-Fermentation Promotes Anaerobic Digestion of Enhanced Membrane Coagulation (EMC) Sludge: Performance and Microbial Community Response
by Qingshuang Kou, Quan Yuan, Song Chen, Heng Xu, Shanghui Wei and Kaijun Wang
Water 2024, 16(14), 2057; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16142057 - 20 Jul 2024
Viewed by 871
Abstract
Concentrating organic matter in sludge and converting it into methane through anaerobic bioconversion can improve resource recovery from domestic wastewater. Enhanced membrane coagulation (EMC) is highly efficient at concentrating organic matter, but residual coagulants (aluminum salts) can obstruct bioconversion by blocking microbial access. [...] Read more.
Concentrating organic matter in sludge and converting it into methane through anaerobic bioconversion can improve resource recovery from domestic wastewater. Enhanced membrane coagulation (EMC) is highly efficient at concentrating organic matter, but residual coagulants (aluminum salts) can obstruct bioconversion by blocking microbial access. Limited research exists on evaluating EMC sludge bioconversion performance and addressing coagulant inhibition. This study proposes alkaline pre-fermentation to break down HO-Al-P backbones in coagulated sludge flocs, thereby improving hydrolysis and organic acid production for anaerobic digestion. Among the tested alkaline conditions (pH 9, pH 10, pH 11), pre-fermentation at pH 11 released the most organic matter (4710.0 mg/L SCOD), 20.4 times higher than without alkaline treatment. At pH 11, phosphate (61 mg/L PO43−–P) and organic acid production (2728.1 mg COD/L, with nearly 50% acetic acid) peaked, resulting in superior volatile solids removal (65.2%) and methane production (185.8 mL/g VS) during anaerobic digestion. Alkaline pre-fermentation favored alkali-tolerant bacteria such as Firmicutes and Actinobacteria, especially at pH 11, while neutrophilic Proteobacteria were suppressed. Trichococcus and Bifidobacterium, known acid producers, dominated under all conditions, with their abundance increasing at higher pH levels. Anaerobic digestion enriched fermentative bacteria like Chloroflexi and Synergistota (e.g., Thermovirga), especially in high pH reactors. Methanothrix, an acetoclastic methanogen, became the dominant methanogenic archaeon, indicating that methane production from EMC sludge primarily followed the acetoclastic methanogenesis pathway. Our findings demonstrate that alkaline pre-fermentation at pH 11 significantly enhances the hydrolysis efficiency of EMC sludge for methane recovery. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Biotechnology for Water and Sludge Treatment)
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