title: Characterizing fluorescent dissolved organic matter in a membrane bioreactor via excitation-emission matrix combined with parallel factor analysis.
abstract: In this study, we successfully tracked the dynamic changes in different constitutes of bound extracellular polymeric substances (bEPS), soluble microbial products (SMP), and permeate during the operation of bench scale membrane bioreactors (MBRs) via fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (EEM) combined with parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC). Three fluorescent groups were identified, including two protein-like (tryptophan-like C1 and tyrosine-like C2) and one microbial humic-like components (C3). In bEPS, protein-like components were consistently more dominant than C3 during the MBR operation, while their relative abundance in SMP depended on aeration intensities. C1 of bEPS exhibited a linear correlation (R(2)=0.738; p<0.01) with bEPS amounts in sludge, and C2 was closely related to the stability of sludge. The protein-like components were more greatly responsible for membrane fouling. Our study suggests that EEM-PARAFAC can be a promising monitoring tool to provide further insight into process evaluation and membrane fouling during MBR operation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environment and Energy, Sejong University, Seoul 143-747, South Korea.
authors.forename: Tahir
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maqbool
authors.affiliation: Department of Environment and Energy, Sejong University, Seoul 143-747, South Korea.
authors.forename: Viet Ly
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Quang
authors.affiliation: Department of Environment and Energy, Sejong University, Seoul 143-747, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jinwoo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Environment and Energy, Sejong University, Seoul 143-747, South Korea. Electronic address: jinhur@sejong.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hur
mesh_terms: D057219:Biofouling; D019149:Bioreactors; D004396:Coloring Agents; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005453:Fluorescence; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000382:microbiology; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D018505:Waste Management
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents; D012722:Sewage
keywords: Bound extracellular polymeric substance (bEPS); Dissolved organic matter (DOM); Membrane bioreactor (MBR); Parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC); Soluble microbial products (SMP)