Insights into the Microbial Community Structure in the Biodegradation Process of High-Strength Ammonia Digestate Liquid Fraction in Conventional Activated Sludge System

Abstract

Biodegradation of digestate liquid fraction was performed in the activated sludge system with acetic acid, flume water, and molasses as external carbon sources. High-throughput sequencing was used to gain in-depth insight into the activated sludge microbial community. The type and amount of carbon source in influent (COD/TN ratio) significantly influenced microbial community structure, especially at the genus level, and thus the biodegradation performance of digestate liquid fraction. The highest total nitrogen and chemical oxygen demand removal efficiencies averaging 85.3% and 88.3%, respectively, were achieved in series with acetic acid and flume water and COD/TN ratio of 10.7 and 11.2, respectively. The microbial diversity in these series averaged at 3.08 and 3.65. The dominant bacteria at the phylum level in series with acetic acid were Proteobacteria and Bacteroidota, and at the genus level Azospira, while in series with flume water they were Bacteroidota and Firmicutes, and Macellibacteroides, respectively.

Keywords

• digestate biodegradation
• biological nitrogen removal
• external carbon source
• activated sludge
• microbial diversity