Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 2025-04
Formation and Characterization of Aerobic Granular Sludge in the Treatment of Tempering Lubricant Wastewater by Hydrolysis Acidification-Aerobic Process
Tempering lubricant is widely used for the surface treatment of cold rolled strip in steel industry. The used tempering lubricant, along with the process rinse water, was referred to as tempering lubricant wastewater (TLW). TLW is characterized as high concentration of organic matter and total nitrogen (TN), and poor biodegradability, which is rarely treated independently. In this study, the performance of combined hydrolysis acidification-aerobic process for treating real TLW was assessed. A thorough investigation was undertaken to explore the formation process and characteristics of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) in the aerobic reactor. In addition, the characteristics of microbial community were analyzed. The results of 210 days monitoring showed that the hydrolysis acidification-aerobic process had a good effect on the treatment of TLW, with final Total organic carbon (TOC) and TN removal efficiencies reaching 84.8% and 86%, respectively. Meanwhile, AGS was formed in the aerobic reactor, with the proportion in the sludge of 86%. It was also found that higher organic loading rate contributed to AGS formation, while a shorter settling time enhanced the formation of compact and stable AGS. In addition, continuous increase in the consumption of Ca2+ and Mg2+ also promoted the granulation process of AGS. Proteobacteria, Bacteroidota, and Firmicutes were enriched in the hydrolysis acidification reactor, which were beneficial for refractory organic substances degradation. The abundance of Comamonadaceae increased in the aerobic reactor and contributed to TN removal.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AiN, YangZH, LouBC, et al.Impact of step wisely reducing settling time on the formation and performance of aerobic granular sludge. J Water Process Eng, 2024; 60:105117; doi: 10.1016/j.jwpe.2024.105117
2.
BradfordMM. A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein-dye binding. Anal Biochem, 1976; 72(1):248–254; doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(76)90527-3
3.
BridgewaterLL, BairdRB, EatonAD, et al. (eds). Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater. 23rd edition. APHA: Washington, DC; 2017.
4.
CampanaroS, TreuL, Rodriguez-RLM, et al.New insights from the biogas microbiome by comprehensive genome-resolved metagenomics of nearly 1600 species originating from multiple anaerobic digesters. Biotechnol Biofuels, 2020; 13:25; doi: 10.1186/s13068-020-01679-y
5.
CaoXL, ShengYX, CaoHB, et al.Comparison of Mg2+- and Ca2+-enhancing anaerobic granulation in an expanded granular sludge-bed reactor. Sci China Chem, 2014; 57(11):1596–1601; doi: 10.1007/s11426-014-5197-5
6.
ChenC, LiangJ, YozaBA, et al.Evaluation of an up-flow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) reactor containing diatomite and maifanite for the improved treatment of petroleum wastewater. Bioresour Technol, 2017; 243:620–627; doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2017.06.171
7.
ChenH, LiA, CuiD, et al.Evolution of microbial community and key genera in the formation and stability of aerobic granular sludge under a high organic loading rate. Bioresour Technol Rep, 2019a;7:100280; doi: 10.1016/j.biteb.2019.100280
8.
ChenS, HeS, WuC, et al.Characteristics of heterotrophic nitrification and aerobic denitrification bacterium acinetobacter sp. T1 and its application for pig farm wastewater treatment. J Biosci Bioeng, 2019b;127(2):201–205; doi: 10.1016/j jbiosc.2018.07.025
9.
ChenS, ZhouY, ChenY, et al.Fastp: An ultra-fast all-in-one FASTQ preprocessor. Bioinformatics, 2018; 34(17):i884–i890; doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/bty560
10.
ChengHH, WhangLM, YiTF, et al.Pilot study of cold-rolling wastewater treatment using single-stage anaerobic fluidized membrane bioreactor. Bioresour Technol, 2018; 263:418–424; doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2018.04.124
11.
CongSB, YuG, XiaS, et al.Pilot-scale vertical continuous-flow reactors applied to treat rural domestic wastewater at low temperature via aerobic granular sludge. J Water Process Eng, 2024; 60:105220; doi: 10.1016/j.jwpe.2024.105220
12.
De KreukMK, KishidaN, Van LoosdrechtMCM. Aerobic granular sludge—state of the art. Water Sci Technol, 2007; 55(8–9):75–81; doi: 10.2166/wst.2007.244
13.
FrolundB, GriebeT, NielsenPH. Enzymatic activity in the activated-sludge floc matrix. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol, 1995; 43(4):755–761; doi: 10.1007/BF00164784
14.
GaoDW, LiuL, LiangH, et al.Comparison of four enhancement strategies for aerobic granulation in sequencing batch reactors. J Hazard Mater, 2011; 186(1):320–327; doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2010.11.006
15.
HanY, LuXJ, LiuY, et al.Achieving superior nitrogen removal in an air-lifting internal circulating reactor for municipal wastewater treatment: Performance, kinetic analysis, and microbial pathways. Bioresour Technol, 2023; 371:128599; doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2023.128599
16.
HaoW, LiYC, LvJP, et al.The biological effect of metal ions on the granulation of aerobic granular activated sludge. J Environ Sci (China), 2016; 44:252–259; doi: 10.1016/j.jes.2015.10.031
17.
HuangL, JinYN, ZhouDH, et al.A review of the role of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) in wastewater treatment systems. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2022a;19(19):12191; doi: 10.3390/ijerph191912191
18.
HuangYJ, LiuH, WangY, et al.Industrial application of ceramic ultrafiltration membrane in cold-rolling emulsion wastewater treatment. Sep Purif Technol, 2022b;289:120724; doi: 10.1016/j.seppur.2022.120724
19.
JiangF, WangS, ZhangY, et al.Variation of metagenome from feedstock to digestate in full-scale biogas plants. Front Microbiol, 2021a;12:660225; doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.660225
20.
JiangP, LiXW, WangJA, et al.Kinetic and mechanism studies on the photodegradation of cold-rolling emulsion wastewater by the UV/H2O2 process. Ind Eng Chem Res, 2021b;60(22):8073–8084; doi: 10.1021/acs.iecr.1c00835
21.
JinY, XiongW, LiuD, et al.Responses of straw foam-based aerobic granular sludge to atrazine: Insights from metagenomics and microbial community variations. Chemosphere, 2023; 331:138828; doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138828
22.
KindaichiT, ItoT, OkabeS. Ecophysiological interaction between nitrifying bacteria and heterotrophic bacteria in autotrophic nitrifying biofilms as determined by microautoradiography-fluorescence in situ hybridization. Appl Environ Microbiol, 2004; 70(3):1641–1650; doi: 10.1128/AEM.70.3.1641-1650.2004
23.
LiD, YangJW, LiY, et al.Research on rapid cultivation of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) with different feast-famine strategies in continuous flow reactor and achieving high-level denitrification via utilization of soluble microbial product (SMP). Sci Total Environ, 2021; 786:147237; doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147237
24.
LiXY, YangSF. Influence of loosely bound extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) on the flocculation, sedimentation and dewaterability of activated sludge. Water Res, 2007; 41(5):1022–1030; doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2006.06.037
25.
LiuL, GaoDW, ZhangM, et al.Comparison of Ca2+ and Mg2+ enhancing aerobic granulation in SBR. J Hazard Mater, 2010; 181(1–3):382–387; doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2010.05.021
26.
LiuSL, ZhouM, DaiggerGT, et al.Granule formation mechanism, key influencing factors, and resource recycling in aerobic granular sludge (AGS) wastewater treatment: A review. J Environ Manage, 2023; 338:117771; doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.117771
27.
LiuY, PeiT, DuJ, et al.Comparative genomic analysis of the genus Novosphingobium and the description of two novel species Novosphingobium aerophilum sp. nov. and Novosphingobium jiangmenense sp. Nov. Syst Appl Microbiol, 2021; 44(3):126202; doi: 10.1016/j.syapm.2021.126202
28.
LuXQ, ZhenGY, EstradaAL, et al.Operation performance and granule characterization of upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor treating wastewater with starch as the sole carbon source. Bioresour Technol, 2015; 180:264–273; doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2015.01.010
29.
LvJ, FuMY, GanJ, et al.Study on the treatment of tempering lubricant wastewater in steel industry by anaerobic/aerobic process. J Clean Prod, 2022; 355:131754; doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.131754
30.
MaJX, WangZW, YangY, et al.Correlating microbial community structure and composition with aeration intensity in submerged membrane bioreactors by 454 high-throughput pyrosequencing. Water Res, 2013; 47(2):859–869; doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2012.11.013
31.
MagočT, SalzbergSL. Flash: Fast length adjustment of short reads to improve genome assemblies. Bioinformatics, 2011; 27(21):2957–2963; doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btr507
32.
MarkouG, AgriomallouM, GeorgakakisD. Forced ammonia stripping from livestock wastewater: The influence of some physico-chemical parameters of the wastewater. Water Sci Technol, 2017; 75(3–4):686–692; doi: 10.2166/wst.2016.552
33.
MatsumotoS, KatokuM, SaekiG, et al.Microbial community structure in autotrophic nitrifying granules characterized by experimental and simulation analyses. Environ Microbiol, 2010; 12(1):192–206; doi: 10.1111/j.1462-2920.2009.02060
34.
McIlroySJ, KarstSM, NierychloM, et al.Genomic and in situ investigations of the novel uncultured chloroflexi associated with 0092 morphotype filamentous bulking in activated Sludge. Isme J, 2016; 10(9):2223–2234; doi: 10.1038/ismej.2016.14
35.
MikkelsenLH, NielsenPH. Quantification of the bond energy of bacteria attached to activated sludge floc surfaces. Water Sci Technol, 2001; 43(6):67–75; doi: 10.2166/wst.2001.0342
36.
MinKJ, LeeE, LeeAH, et al.Effect of settling time and organic loading rates on aerobic granulation processes treating high strength wastewater. Heliyon, 2024; 10(16):e36018; doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e36018
37.
PanK, QianZ, GuoT, et al.Stability and performance of aerobic granular sludge for treatment of textile-dyeing wastewater. J Water Process Eng, 2024; 63:105401; doi: 10.1016/j.jwpe.2024.105401
38.
SajjadM, KimKS. Studies on the interactions of Ca2+ and Mg2+ with EPS and their role in determining the physicochemical characteristics of granular sludges in SBR system. Process Biochem, 2015; 50(6):966–972; doi: 10.1016/j.procbio.2015.02.020
39.
TangM, WangHY, TangYN, et al.Overall performance and microbial community analysis of a full-scale aerobic cold-rolling emulsion wastewater (CREW) treatment system. J Environ Chem Eng, 2021; 9(5):106272; doi: 10.1016/j.jece.2021.106272
40.
TohSK, TayJH, MoyBYP, et al.Size-Effect on the physical characteristics of the aerobic granule in a SBR. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol, 2003; 60(6):687–695; doi: 10.1007/s00253-002-1145-y
41.
WangL, LiBR, LiYM, et al.Enhanced biological nitrogen removal under low dissolved oxygen in an anaerobic-anoxic-oxic system: Kinetics, stoichiometry and microbial community. Chemosphere, 2021a;263:128184; doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.128184
42.
WangLX, YuXJ, XiongW, et al.Enhancing robustness of aerobic granule sludge under low C/N ratios with addition of kitchen wastewater. J Environ Manage, 2020; 265:110503; doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110503
43.
WangS, HuangXX, LiuLJ, et al.Insight into the role of exopolysaccharide in determining the structural stability of aerobic granular sludge. J Environ Manage, 2021b;298:113521; doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113521
44.
WangZC, GaoMC, WangS, et al.Effects of salinity on performance and microbial community structure of an anoxic-aerobic sequencing batch reactor. Environ Technol, 2015; 36(13–16):2043–2051; doi: 10.1080/09593330.2015.1019932
45.
YangGJ, ZhangN, YangJN, et al.Interaction between perfluorooctanoic acid and aerobic granular sludge. Water Res, 2020; 169:115249; doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2019.115249
46.
ZengJJ, DuYJ, FangS, et al.Selection of various indications of tempering lubricant concentration reuse in the wet rolling process. Lubr Sci, 2024; 36:540–548; doi: 10.1002/ls.1711
47.
ZhangDJ, LiW, HouC, et al.Aerobic granulation accelerated by biochar for the treatment of refractory wastewater. Chem Eng J, 2017; 314:88–97; doi: 10.1016/j.cej.2016.12.128
48.
ZhaoJG, ChenWM, ZengJJ. Study the reuse possibility of tempering lubricant for cold-rolled strip wet-rolling processing. Lubr Sci, 2023; 35(4):279–286; doi: 10.1002/ls.1711
49.
ZhuWT, ZhangXH, YuanSC, et al.Effects of different aeration strategies on removal of organics, nitrogen and phosphorus in sequencing batch biofilm reactor (SBBR): performance, microbial community and nitrogen cycling pathways. J Water Process Eng, 2022; 49:103118; doi: 10.1016/j.jwpe.2022.103118
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
