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Predicting the Simultaneous Oxidation of Ammonia, Nitrite, and m-cresol and Microbial Growth in a Sequencing Batch Reactor with a Kinetic Model Using Inhibition and Inactivation Effects

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Abstract

The kinetic model derived in this study was able to adequately predict the simultaneous oxidation of ammonia, nitrite, and m-cresol and microbial growth using nitrifying sludge in a sequencing batch reactor. Time-varying inhibition and inactivation effects were successfully incorporated in the process kinetics to account for the past cell exposure history to m-cresol increasing concentrations (up to 150 mg C L−1). The initial concentration of the microbial species (ammonia and nitrite oxidizers, heterotrophs) was evaluated using pyrosequencing of DNA samples of the consortium. These measurements allowed to establish a model that explicitly handles specific reaction rates and to enhance the practical identifiability of the model parameters. A single simulation run was used to adequately predict the kinetic behavior of the main variables throughout the 242 cycles using a single set of initial conditions in the first cycle. This kind of dynamic model may be used as a helpful predictive tool to improve nitrification by avoiding the occurrence of severely repetitive inhibitive conditions due to the presence of inhibitive/toxic aromatic compounds.

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Abbreviations

S NH4 :

Ammonium concentration (mg L−1)

S NO2 :

Nitrite concentration (mg L−1)

S NO3 :

Nitrate concentration (mg L−1)

S CRE :

m-Cresol concentration (mg L−1)

S (0):

Substrate initial concentration (mg L−1)

X A :

Ammonia oxidizers concentration (mg L-1)

X N :

Nitrite oxidizers concentration (mg L−1)

X H :

Heterotroph concentration (mg L−1)

μ :

Specific growth rate (h−1)

q :

Specific oxidation rate (h−1)

I :

Inactivation factor (%)

R :

Recovery factor (%)

RMSE:

Root mean square error

MADP:

Mean of absolute percent deviation

CI:

95% confidence interval

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Data Availability

Not applicable

Funding

This work was supported by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT) [grant number 284140] and the Programa de Mejoramiento del Profesorado (PROMEP) [grant number 103.5/10/5329].

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. DEPI, Tecnológico Nacional de México - Instituto Tecnológico de Cancún, Av. Kabah km 3, 77515, Cancún, Q. Roo, Mexico

    Chérif Ben Youssef

  2. Facultad de Ingeniería Química, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Col. Chuburna de Hidalgo Inn, C.P, 97203, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico

    Alejandro Zepeda

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Contributions

Alejandro Zepeda conceived and coordinated all the experimental study. Cherif Ben Youssef designed the kinetic model. A. Zepeda and C. Ben Youssef contributed to data analyzing and manuscript writing.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Chérif Ben Youssef or Alejandro Zepeda.

Ethics declarations

Ethical Approval

We state that the manuscript was not previously submitted to more than one journal for simultaneous consideration. Moreover, the submitted work has not been published elsewhere in any form or language (partially or in full).

Consent to Participate

We, the authors, C. Ben Youssef and A. Zepeda, have mutual consent, and we participate in the writing and discussion of manuscript.

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We, the authors, C. Ben Youssef and A. Zepeda, mutually agree that the manuscript should be submitted to Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology.

Competing Interests

The authors declare competing interests.

Additional information

Chérif Ben Youssef and Alejandro Zepeda

1. We, the authors Chérif Ben Youssef and Alejandro Zepeda, mutually agree that the manuscript of the work entitled “Predicting simultaneous oxidation of ammonia, nitrite, and m-cresol and microbial growth in a sequencing batch reactor with a kinetic model using inhibition and inactivation effects” should be submitted to Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology.

2. We also state that this is our original work.

3. We state that the manuscript was not previously submitted to Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology.

4. Novelty in results:

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first modeling approach that includes instantaneous inhibition and cell inactivation due to the presence and past exposure of an aromatic compound (m-cresol) in a sequential batch nitrifying reactor. A single simulation run was used to adequately predict the kinetic behavior of the main variables throughout the 242 cycles using a single set of initial conditions in the first cycle.

Reliable predictions of microbial growth and ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and m-cresol concentrations were obtained, and the model was validated for sequential batch reactor experiments with increasing concentrations of aromatic compounds (up to 150 mg C L-1).

The results of this study may serve as a predictive tool to avoid the occurrence of critical conditions for nitrification processes where cells are repeatedly or sequentially exposed to hydrocarbons, such as in SBR systems.

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Supplementary Information

Fig. S1

Simulation run without inhibition and inactivation. Measured (symbols) and model-predicted (lines) concentrations of ammonium (■), nitrite (▲), nitrate (●), m-cresol (green circle), inactivation I and recovery R. Kinetic experiments at different SBR cycles with initial m-cresol concentration SCRE (0) (in mg C L-1) at 0 (a—d), 12.5 (e—h), 25 (i—l), 50 (m—p), 75 (q—t) and 150 (u—x) (PNG 57 kb)

High resolution image (TIF 537 kb)

Fig. S2

Simulation run without inhibition, inactivation and without inhibition on the assimilative process. Measured (symbols) and model-predicted (lines) concentrations of ammonium (■), nitrite (▲), nitrate (●), m-cresol (green circle), inactivation I and recovery R. Kinetic experiments at different SBR cycles with initial m-cresol concentration SCRE (0) (in mg C L-1) at 0 (a—d), 12.5 (e—h), 25 (i—l), 50 (m—p), 75 (q—t) and 150 (u—x) (PNG 55 kb)

High resolution image (TIF 526 kb)

Fig. S3

Simulation run without inhibition, inactivation and without inhibition on the assimilative process. Evolution of measured (symbols) and model-predicted (lines) concentrations observed at each SBR cycle when m-cresol was added from 12.5 to 150 mg C L-1: (a) initial ammonium (■), final nitrite (▲) and final nitrate (●); (b) initial total biomass (♦) and initial m-cresol (★) (PNG 31 kb)

High resolution image (TIF 231 kb)

Table S1

Complete taxonomic structure of the nitrifying consortium before the SBR experiments (XLSX 33 kb)

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Ben Youssef, C., Zepeda, A. Predicting the Simultaneous Oxidation of Ammonia, Nitrite, and m-cresol and Microbial Growth in a Sequencing Batch Reactor with a Kinetic Model Using Inhibition and Inactivation Effects. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 195, 3566–3584 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-022-04286-9

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