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Anaerobic digestion of amine-oxide-based surfactants: biodegradation kinetics and inhibitory effects

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Abstract

Recently, anaerobic degradation has become a prevalent alternative for the treatment of wastewater and activated sludge. Consequently, the anaerobic biodegradability of recalcitrant compounds such as some surfactants require a thorough study to avoid their presence in the environment. In this work, the anaerobic biodegradation of amine-oxide-based surfactants, which are toxic to several organisms, was studied by measuring of the biogas production in digested sludge. Three amine-oxide-based surfactants with structural differences in their hydrophobic alkyl chain were tested: Lauramine oxide (AO-R12), Myristamine oxide (AO-R14) and Cocamidopropylamine oxide (AO-cocoamido). Results show that AO-R12 and AO-R14 inhibit biogas production, inhibition percentages were around 90%. AO-cocoamido did not cause inhibition and it was biodegraded until reaching a percentage of 60.8%. Otherwise, we fitted the production of biogas to two kinetic models, to a pseudo first-order model and to a logistic model. Production of biogas during the anaerobic biodegradation of AO-cocoamido was pretty good adjusted to the logistics model. Kinetic parameters were also determined. This modelling is useful to predict their behaviour in wastewater treatment plants and under anaerobic conditions in the environment.

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Acknowledgements

The Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness is gratefully acknowledged for having funded the project CTQ2015-69658-R.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemical Engineering Department, University of Granada, Campus Fuentenueva, 18071, Granada, Spain

    Francisco Ríos, Manuela Lechuga, Alejandro Fernández-Arteaga, Encarnación Jurado & Mercedes Fernández-Serrano

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  1. Francisco Ríos
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  2. Manuela Lechuga
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  3. Alejandro Fernández-Arteaga
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  4. Encarnación Jurado
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  5. Mercedes Fernández-Serrano
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Correspondence to Manuela Lechuga.

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Ríos, F., Lechuga, M., Fernández-Arteaga, A. et al. Anaerobic digestion of amine-oxide-based surfactants: biodegradation kinetics and inhibitory effects. Biodegradation 28, 303–312 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10532-017-9797-6

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