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Solubilization of Waste Activated Sludge and Nitrogenous Compounds Transformation During Solubilization by Thermophilic Enzyme (S-TE) Process

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Abstract

A representative thermophilic bacterial strain (AT06-1) capable of secreting protease was isolated from thermophilic aerobic digestion reactor, and 16S rRNA gene analysis indicated that it was Bacillus sp. The isolated strain was inoculated in waste activated sludge (WAS) to evaluate the performance of solubilization by thermophilic enzyme (S-TE) process under aerobic or microaerobic conditions at different temperatures (55–70 °C). Results showed that the inoculation of specific thermophilic strain significantly affected the volatile suspended solids (VSS) removal. At the optimal temperature of 65 °C, the maximum VSS removal of 43.6 % and highest SCOD of 4475 mg/L was achieved during microaerobic S-TE process. Compared to the noninoculation, more soluble protein was released during S-TE process due to the higher protease activity associated with the protein hydrolysis originated from cell lysis. The protease activity at aerobic and microaerobic S-TE process was respectively 1.73 and 1.88 times that of the noninoculation. Ammonia was the end nitrogenous compound of protein hydrolysis during S-TE process, which was stripped from the digestion system through continuous aeration.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51378188 and 51278175), the Doctoral Fund of Ministry of Education of China (20130161120021), the Planned Science and Technology Project of Changsha (k1407019-11), and the Young Teacher Growth Program of Hunan University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, People’s Republic of China

    Qi Yang, Xiao-ming Li, Yu Zhong, Hong-bo Chen, Guo-jing Yang, Yan-wei Shi & Guang-ming Zeng

  2. Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control (Hunan University), Ministry of Education, Changsha, 410082, People’s Republic of China

    Qi Yang, Xiao-ming Li, Yu Zhong, Hong-bo Chen, Guo-jing Yang & Guang-ming Zeng

  3. Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Changsha College, Changsha, 410003, People’s Republic of China

    Kun Luo

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  1. Qi Yang
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Correspondence to Kun Luo.

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Yang, Q., Luo, K., Li, Xm. et al. Solubilization of Waste Activated Sludge and Nitrogenous Compounds Transformation During Solubilization by Thermophilic Enzyme (S-TE) Process. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 176, 700–711 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-015-1605-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-015-1605-3

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