title: Anaerobic treatment of sludge: focusing on reduction of LAS concentration in sludge.
abstract: Anaerobic degradation of linear alkylbenzene sulfonates (LAS) was tested in continuous stirred tank reactors (CSTR). LAS12 was used as a model compound and was spiked on sewage sludge. The experiments clearly showed that transformation of LAS12 occurred under anaerobic conditions. The degree oftransformation varied between 14% and 25%. HPLC analysis showed that disappearance of LAS12 was followed by the formation of a metabolite. The experiments indicated that there is a clear correlation between degradation of organic matter contained in sludge and transformation of LAS 12. When the reduction degree of the organic matter increased from 22% to 28%, the transformation degree of LAS12 also increased, from 14% to 20%. Decreasing the total solids concentration of the influent sludge or increasing the spiked concentration of LAS12 did not alter the degree of LAS12 transformation significantly. A clear correlation between transformed and bioavailable LAS12 was found, indicating that it is merely the bioavailable fraction of LAS12 that is transformed by anaerobic digestion. The results from the present study are promising and indicate that a great potential for biological degradation of LAS is possible even at anaerobic conditions.
authors.affiliation: Biocentrum-DTU, Building 227, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Lyngby, Denmark. frh@biocentrum.dtu.dk
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Haggensen
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Mogensen
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Angelidaki
authors.forename: B K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Ahring
mesh_terms: D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D001421:Bacteria, Anaerobic / Q000502:physiology*; D001682:Biological Availability; D019149:Bioreactors; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry*; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000378:metabolism*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid; D015262:Xenobiotics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids; D012722:Sewage; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D015262:Xenobiotics; C030641:alkylbenzyl sulfonic acid