Journal
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
Volume 319, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.124102
Keywords
Anaerobic digestion; Pharmaceuticals; Synthetic sewage sludge; Microbial composition; Biological treatment
Funding
- Royal Embassy of the Saudi Arabian Cultural Bureau
- University of Tabuk
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The study found that environmental pharmaceuticals can lead to instability and VFA accumulation in anaerobic digestion. Additionally, the microbial composition of AD is affected, influencing biogas production.
This paper investigates the performance of AD in the presence of high-risk pharmaceuticals found in sewage sludge and its removal capacity. The digestion process of synthetic sewage sludge was observed in two 7L glass reactors (D1 and D2) at 38 degrees C (OLR 1.3 gVS L-1 d(-1) and HRT 43 d). Environmentally relevant pharmaceuticals (clarithromycin, clotrimazole, erythromycin, fluoxetine, ibuprofen, sertraline, simvastatin and tamoxifen) were added in D2 at predicted environmental (sludge) conditions. The results demonstrated that long-term presence of pharmaceuticals can affect AD and induce instability resulting in an accumulation of VFAs. This study showed a concurrent effect on AD microbial composition, increasing the percentage of Firmicutes (> 70%) and decreasing the percentages of Bacteroidetes and Euryarchaeota (< 5%), which seems to be the cause of VFA accumulation and resultant the decrease in the biogas production. However, it seems that anaerobic microorganisms offer enhanced removal of the antibiotics clarithromycin and erythromycin over aerobic techniques.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available