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One of the hurdles of renewable energy production from photosynthetic microorganisms is separating the biomass from water in cultures. Bioflocculation with filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger, an alternative low-cost method used for such separation, was studied with four cyanobacteria. Cocultures with Spirulina maxima and Synechococcus subsalsus resulted in bioflocculation efficiencies up to 94%, while with Anabaena variabilis and Anabaena siamensis bioflocculation did not occur. S. subsalsus was selected to evaluate the effect of cyanobacterial initial concentration, fungal:cyanobacterial ratio, carbon supplementation, and pH on biomass densification. Bioflocculation efficiencies up to 98% in 48 h were obtained with fungal:cyanobacterial ratio 1:5 and carbon supplementation. Despite the lower efficiency (54%), the highest concentration factor of S. subsalsus suspension (62.8 - from 0.9 to 56.5 g/L) was obtained with ratio 1:5 without supplementation. This result was attributed to the smaller pellet diameter (2.5 mm) and indicated that lower pellet growth is better for biomass densification.

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A residue from the primary treatment of a Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) was used to isolate filamentous fungi with lipase production potential. Two of the 27 isolated fungi presented high hydrolysis index and were selected for lipase production by solid-state fermentation (SSF). The fermentations were conducted at 30 °C for 48 h, with moist air circulation, using 20% (w/w) of the residue mixture with a basal medium (agroindustrial residue-babassu cake), obtaining a solid enzymatic preparation (SEP) with lipase activity of 19 U/g with the fungus identified as Aspergillus terreus. Scum, collected in an anaerobic reactor operating in a WWTP, was hydrolyzed with SEP and subjected to anaerobic biodegradability tests at 30 °C. Different dilutions of crude (Control) or hydrolyzed scum in raw sewage were evaluated. The dilution of 5% (v/v) of hydrolyzed scum in raw sewage proved the most adequate, as it resulted in higher methane yield compared to the raw sewage (196 and 133 mL CH4/g CODadded, respectively), without increasing the chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the treated sewage (138 and 134 mg/L). The enzymatic hydrolysis of the scum, followed by dilution in the influent sewage, is technically feasible and increases methane production in anaerobic reactors.

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Anaerobic biodegradability of oil shale wastewater was investigated after the following pretreatment sequence: ammonia stripping and activated carbon adsorption. Anaerobic biological treatment of oil shale wastewater is technically feasible after stripping at pH 11 for reducing the N-NH3 concentration, adsorption with 5 g/L of activated carbon in order to reduce recalcitrance and pH adjustment with CO2 so that the sulphate concentration in the medium remains low. After this pretreatment sequence, it was possible to submit the wastewater without dilution to an anaerobic treatment with 62.7% soluble chemical oxygen demand removal and specific methane production of 233.2 mL CH4STP/g CODremoved.

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Methane production from marine microalgae Isochrysis galbana was assessed before and after mechanical and chemical pretreatments. Mechanical pretreatment resulted in a 61.7% increase in soluble Chemical Oxygen Demand. Different hydrolysis conditions were evaluated by varying temperature - T, sulfuric acid concentration - AC and biomass suspension concentration (measured as particulate COD - CODp) using an experimental design. The most significant interaction occurred between AC and T and the hydrolysis condition that showed the best result in the anaerobic digestion step was the condition at 40°C with addition of 0.2% (v/v) acid for 16h (9.27LCH4/kgVS). The low methane yields were attributed to inhibitory sodium concentrations for anaerobic digestion. Eliminating inhibitory sodium in the anaerobic digestion by biomass prewashing, there was a 71.5% increase in methane yield for biomass after acid hydrolysis, demonstrating the need for pretreatment and reduction in sodium concentration in the anaerobic digestion.

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The effect of a lipase-rich enzyme preparation produced by the fungus Penicillium sp. on solid-state fermentation was evaluated in two anaerobic bioreactors (up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) and horizontal-flow anaerobic immobilized biomass (HAIB)) treating dairy wastewater with 1200 mg oil and grease/L. The oil and grease hydrolysis step was carried out with 0.1% (w/v) of the solid enzymatic preparation at 30 degrees C for 24 h. This resulted in a final concentration of free acids eight times higher than the initial value. The bioreactors operated at 30 degrees C with hydraulic retention times of 12 h (HAIB) and 20 h (UASB) for a period of 430 days, and had high chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiencies (around 90%) when fed with pre-hydrolyzed wastewater. There was, however, an increase in the effluent oil and grease concentration (from values as low as 17 mg/L to values above 150 mg/L in the UASB bioreactor, and from 38-242 mg/L in the HAIB bioreactor), and oil and grease accumulation in the biomass throughout the operational period (the oil and grease content reached 1.7 times that found in the inoculum of the UASB bioreactor). The HAIB bioreactor gave better results because the support for biomass immobilization acted as a filter, retaining oil and grease at the entry of the bioreactor. The molecular analysis of the Bacteria and Archaea domains revealed significant differences in the microbial profiles in experiments conducted with and without the pre-hydrolysis step. The differences observed in the overall parameters could be related to the microbial diversity of the anaerobic sludge.

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The effect of a lipase-rich fungal enzymatic preparation, produced by a Penicillium sp. during solid-state fermentation, was evaluated in an anaerobic digester treating dairy wastewater with 1200 mg of oil and grease/L. The oil and grease hydrolysis step was carried out with 0.1% (w/v) of solid enzymatic preparation at 30 degrees C for 24 h, and resulted in a final free acid concentration eight times higher than the initial value. The digester operated in sequential batches of 48 h at 30 degrees C for 245 days, and had high chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiencies (around 90%) when fed with pre-hydrolyzed wastewater. However, when the pre-hydrolysis step was removed, the anaerobic digester performed poorly (with an average COD removal of 32%), as the oil and grease accumulated in the biomass and effluent oil and grease concentration increased throughout the operational period. PCR-DGGE analysis of the Bacteria and Archaea domains revealed remarkable differences in the microbial profiles in trials conducted with and without the pre-hydrolysis step, indicating that differences observed in overall parameters were intrinsically related to the microbial diversity of the anaerobic sludge.

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The objective of this work was to evaluate a potential method for improving the treatment efficiency of persistent contaminants in industrial wastewater. Adsorption with powdered activated carbon (PAC) was applied as pre-treatment and operational conditions as pH, temperature, carbon concentration and time were investigated in laboratory scale for different streams generated in a fine chemical industry. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiencies of 63 and 50% were attained for two important industrial streams, Product C after acid treatment and precipitation and Influent, at pH 7, room temperature and with 5 and 15 g l(-1) of PAC, respectively. Biodegradation assays showed that PAC adsorption enhanced COD removal efficiency. PAC pre-treatment increased the COD removal of Product C after production stream from 15 to 80% and improved the biodegradability of the Influent stream by 50%.

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The Chemical Analysis Laboratory under study weekly generates 46.5 L effluent with low pH (0.7), high COD concentration (6535 mg O2/L), sulphate (10390 mg/L) and heavy metals (213 mg Hg/L, 55 mg Cr/L, 28 mg Al/L, 22 mg Fe/L, 10mg Cu/L, 4 mg Ag/L). A treatment sequence has been proposed using a physical chemical step (coagulation/flocculation or chemical precipitation) followed by a biological step (anaerobic treatment). Removals of COD (18%), turbidity (76%) and heavy metals (64-99%) were attained only after adjusting pH to 6.5, without requiring the addition of Al2(SO4)3 and FeCl3. Due to the low COD:sulphate ratio (0.9-1.3), it was possible to efficiently operate the UASB reactor (at the biological step) only upon mixing the effluent with household wastewater. COD, sulphate and heavy metals removals of 60%, 23% and 78% to 100%, respectively, were attained for 30% effluent in the reactor feed. The results pointed to the need of a pretreatment step and mixing the effluent in household wastewater prior to the biological step. This alternative is feasible as this can be achieved using sanitary wastewater generated in the university campus.

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Removal and oxidation of petroleum adhered onto the beach sand after a spill over Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) have been studied using Fenton's reagent (Fe2+ + H2O2). Jar tests were done on 5 and 20 g sand suspended in 200 ml aqueous solution containing iron(II) salt and hydrogen peroxide under constant stirring. The H2O2(g):Fe(g)2+ ratio varied from 0.5:1 to 50:1, pH was 2.0 and 6.0 and reaction time 1 and 3 h. Initially, the contaminated sand content of oil and grease (O&G) was 32 g/kg sand. The statistical analysis showed time and iron-sand and H2O2-iron-sand interactions to be the most significant variables, with an average O&G removal from the contaminated sand being just 30% after 3 h reaction. However, oil was removed from the sand (by up to 97%) and passed to the aqueous phase, making waste final disposal easier. The post-reaction analysis showed the supernatant to be biodegradable. Chromatographic analysis results were that the Fenton's reaction favored both the change and reduction of oil saturated and aromatic fractions.

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The anaerobic treatment of the wastewater from the meat processing industry was studied using a 7.2 1 UASB reactor. The reactor was equipped with an unconventional configuration of the three-phase separation system. The effluent was characterized in terms of pH (6.3-6.6), chemical oxygen demand (COD) (2,000-6,000 mg l(-1)), biochemical oxygen demand BOD5 (1,300-2,300 mg 1(-1)), fats (40-600 mg l(-1)) and total suspended solids (TSS) (850-6,300 mg l(-1)) The reactor operated continuously throughout 80 days with hydraulic retention time of 14, 18 and 22 h. The wastewater from Rezende Industrial was collected after it had gone through pretreatment (screening, flotation and equalization). COD, BOD and TSS reductions and the biogas production rate were the parameters considered in analyzing the efficiency of the process. The average production of biogas was 111 day(-1) (STP) for the three experimental runs. COD removal varied from 77% to 91% while BOD removal was 95%. The removal of total suspended solids varied from 81% to 86%. This fact supports optimal efficiency of the proposed three-phase separation system as well as the possibility of applying it to the treatment of industrial effluents.

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