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Effect of salinity on removal performance of anaerobic membrane bioreactor treating azo dye wastewater

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Abstract

Membrane bioreactor (MBR) is an attractive option method for treating azo dye wastewater under extreme conditions. The present study assessed the effect of salinity on the performance of anaerobic MBR in treating azo dye wastewater. Increased salinity showed adverse effects on the decolorization efficiency and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency. The decolorization efficiency decreased from 95.8% to 82.3% and 73.1% with a stepwise increasing of salinity from 0 to 3% and 5%, respectively. The COD removal efficiency decreased from 80.7% to 71.3% when the salinity increased from 0 to 3% and then decreased to 58.6% at 5% salinity. The volatile fatty acids (VFAs) concentration also increased as the salinity increased. Furthermore, increased salinity led to the elevated production of soluble microbial products (SMP) and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), which can provide a protective barrier against harsh environments. More serious membrane fouling was observed as the SMP and EPS concentrations increased. The concentration of loosely bound EPS (LB-EPS), tightly bound EPS (TB-EPS), and the polysaccharide/protein (PS/PN) ratios in LB-EPS and TB-EPS all increased when the salinity was elevated. The production of SMP and EPS was caused by the generation of PS in response to the saline environment. Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Anaerosporobacter, and Pectinatus were the dominant bacteria, and Lactobacillus and Lactococcus were the decolorization bacteria in the MBR. The lack of halophilic bacteria was the main reason for the decreased decolorization efficiency in the salinity environment.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31600091 Grant No. 51608257), the Innovative Foundation of Nanjing Institute of Technology (Grant No. CKJA201907), and the Key Scientific Research Project in Colleges and Universities of Henan Province of China (Grant No. 22B610001).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Environmental Engineering, Nanjing Institute of Technology, Nanjing, 211167, China

    Guang Guo, Fang Tian, Keqiang Ding, Feng Yang & Yi Wang

  2. Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China

    Chong Liu

  3. Miami College, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475000, Henan, China

    Chongyang Wang

Authors
  1. Guang Guo
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  2. Fang Tian
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  3. Keqiang Ding
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  4. Feng Yang
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  5. Yi Wang
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  6. Chong Liu
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  7. Chongyang Wang
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Guang Guo, Yi Wang, Chongyang Wang, Feng Yang, and Chong Liu. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Fang Tian and Keqiang Ding, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Fang Tian.

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Guo, G., Tian, F., Ding, K. et al. Effect of salinity on removal performance of anaerobic membrane bioreactor treating azo dye wastewater. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 195, 1589–1602 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-022-04223-w

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