A novel Fe(II) dosing strategy for a self-sustaining microalgal-bacterial membrane photobioreactor: Performance improvement and fouling mitigation

IF 3.7 3区生物学 Q2 BIOTECHNOLOGY & APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY

Biochemical Engineering Journal Pub Date : 2025-09-11 DOI:10.1016/j.bej.2025.109932

Zhaozhao Wang , Yaxin Wang , Lina Yan , Dameng Lian , Baoqiang Liao

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Abstract

In microalgal-bacterial (MB) consortia, the production and exchange of O₂ and CO₂ between microalgae and bacteria have the potential of completely eliminating external aeration and carbonation and thus creating a self-sustainable MB ecosystem for simultaneous chemical oxygen demand (COD), N, and P removal in a single step. The self-sustaining microalgal-bacterial membrane photobioreactor (SSMB-MPBR) has attracted increasing attention due to its energy conservation and environmental friendliness. Nevertheless, membrane fouling caused by microalgae proliferation significantly reduces operational sustainability. This study examines the impact of Fe(II) dosing on pollutant removal and fouling control of an SSMB-MPBR process in treating municipal wastewater. The results show that on average, 92.77 % of chemical oxygen demand (COD), 76.34 % of total nitrogen (TN), and 89.86 % of total phosphorus (TP) were removed with zero external aeration, representing improvements of 2.61 %, 5.80 %, 8.10 %, respectively, due to increased biomass productivity (75 mg/(L·d)) after Fe(II) dosing. Additionally, the membrane fouling rate (F_r) was reduced by 28.60 % because of lower extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) levels and larger microbial aggregates, which formed a loose biocake. Illumina sequencing results showed that Fe(II) dosing enriched functional microalgae and optimized the interaction between microalgae and bacteria. These findings demonstrate that Fe(II) dosing is a practical strategy to improve treatment performance and mitigate membrane fouling of the SSMB-MPBR process.

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自维持微藻-细菌膜光生物反应器的新型铁（II）投加策略：性能改善和污染缓解

在微藻-细菌（MB）群落中，微藻和细菌之间的O2和CO2的产生和交换具有完全消除外部曝气和碳酸化的潜力，从而创建一个自我可持续的微藻生态系统，同时在一个步骤中去除化学需氧量（COD）、N和P。自维持型微藻-细菌膜光生物反应器（SSMB-MPBR）因其节能环保的特点而受到越来越多的关注。然而，微藻增殖引起的膜污染显著降低了操作的可持续性。本研究考察了Fe（II）的投加量对SSMB-MPBR工艺处理城市污水中污染物去除和污染控制的影响。结果表明，在零曝气条件下，平均化学需氧量（COD）去除率为92.77 %，总氮（TN）去除率为76.34 %，总磷（TP）去除率为89.86 %，分别提高了2.61 %，5.80 %和8.10 %，这是由于Fe（II）添加后生物量生产力（75 mg/(L·d)）提高了。此外，膜污染率（Fr）降低了28.60 %，因为较低的胞外聚合物质（EPS）水平和较大的微生物聚集体形成了松散的生物饼。Illumina测序结果显示，Fe（II）的添加丰富了微藻的功能，优化了微藻与细菌的相互作用。这些发现表明，Fe（II）的添加是一种实用的策略，可以提高处理性能，减轻SSMB-MPBR工艺的膜污染。

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来源期刊

Biochemical Engineering Journal 工程技术-工程：化工

CiteScore

7.10

自引率

5.10%

发文量

380

审稿时长

34 days

期刊介绍： The Biochemical Engineering Journal aims to promote progress in the crucial chemical engineering aspects of the development of biological processes associated with everything from raw materials preparation to product recovery relevant to industries as diverse as medical/healthcare, industrial biotechnology, and environmental biotechnology. The Journal welcomes full length original research papers, short communications, and review papers* in the following research fields: Biocatalysis (enzyme or microbial) and biotransformations, including immobilized biocatalyst preparation and kinetics Biosensors and Biodevices including biofabrication and novel fuel cell development Bioseparations including scale-up and protein refolding/renaturation Environmental Bioengineering including bioconversion, bioremediation, and microbial fuel cells Bioreactor Systems including characterization, optimization and scale-up Bioresources and Biorefinery Engineering including biomass conversion, biofuels, bioenergy, and optimization Industrial Biotechnology including specialty chemicals, platform chemicals and neutraceuticals Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering including bioartificial organs, cell encapsulation, and controlled release Cell Culture Engineering (plant, animal or insect cells) including viral vectors, monoclonal antibodies, recombinant proteins, vaccines, and secondary metabolites Cell Therapies and Stem Cells including pluripotent, mesenchymal and hematopoietic stem cells; immunotherapies; tissue-specific differentiation; and cryopreservation Metabolic Engineering, Systems and Synthetic Biology including OMICS, bioinformatics, in silico biology, and metabolic flux analysis Protein Engineering including enzyme engineering and directed evolution.