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	Author	Broos, W.; Wittner, N.; Dries, J.; Vlaeminck, S.E.; Gunde-Cimerman, N.; Cornet, I.
	Title	Rhodotorula kratochvilovae outperforms Cutaneotrichosporon oleaginosum in the valorisation of lignocellulosic wastewater to microbial oil			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2024	Publication	Process biochemistry (1991)	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume	137	Issue		Pages	229-238
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL); Biochemical Wastewater Valorization & Engineering (BioWaVE)
	Abstract	Rhodotorula kratochvilovae has shown to be a promising species for microbial oil production from lignin-derived compounds. Yet, information on R. kratochvilovae’s detoxification and microbial oil production is scarce. This study investigated the growth and microbial oil production on the phenolic-containing effluent from poplar steam explosion and its detoxification with five R. kratochvilovae strains (EXF11626, EXF9590, EXF7516, EXF3697, EXF3471) and compared them with Cutaneotrichosporon oleaginosum. The R. kratochvilovae strains reached a maximum growth rate up to four times higher than C. oleaginosum. Furthermore, all R. kratochvilovae strains generally degraded phenolics more rapidly and to a larger extent than C. oleaginosum. However, the diluted substrate limited the lipid production by all strains as the maximum lipid content and titre were 10.5% CDW and 0.40 g/L, respectively. Therefore, future work should focus on increasing lipid production by using advanced fermentation strategies and stimulating the enzyme excretion by the yeasts for complex substrate breakdown.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos		Publication Date	2024-01-13
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	1359-5113	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record
	Impact Factor		Times cited		Open Access
	Notes				Approved	no
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:202365			Serial	9087
Permanent link to this record



	Author	Verbeelen, T.; Fernandez, C.A.; Nguyen, T.H.; Gupta, S.; Aarts, R.; Tabury, K.; Leroy, B.; Wattiez, R.; Vlaeminck, S.E.; Leys, N.; Ganigué, R.; Mastroleo, F.
	Title	Whole transcriptome analysis highlights nutrient limitation of nitrogen cycle bacteria in simulated microgravity			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2024	Publication	NPJ microgravity	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume	10	Issue	1	Pages	3-19
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)
	Abstract	Regenerative life support systems (RLSS) will play a vital role in achieving self-sufficiency during long-distance space travel. Urine conversion into a liquid nitrate-based fertilizer is a key process in most RLSS. This study describes the effects of simulated microgravity (SMG) on Comamonas testosteroni, Nitrosomonas europaea, Nitrobacter winogradskyi and a tripartite culture of the three, in the context of nitrogen recovery for the Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative (MELiSSA). Rotary cell culture systems (RCCS) and random positioning machines (RPM) were used as SMG analogues. The transcriptional responses of the cultures were elucidated. For CO2-producing C. testosteroni and the tripartite culture, a PermaLifeTM PL-70 cell culture bag mounted on an in-house 3D-printed holder was applied to eliminate air bubble formation during SMG cultivation. Gene expression changes indicated that the fluid dynamics in SMG caused nutrient and O2 limitation. Genes involved in urea hydrolysis and nitrification were minimally affected, while denitrification-related gene expression was increased. The findings highlight potential challenges for nitrogen recovery in space.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	001140007100001	Publication Date	2024-01-10
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	2373-8065	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record
	Impact Factor		Times cited		Open Access
	Notes				Approved	no
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:202285			Serial	9113
Permanent link to this record



	Author	Van Tendeloo, M.; Baptista, M.C.; Van Winckel, T.; Vlaeminck, S.E.
	Title	Recurrent multi-stressor floc treatments with sulphide and free ammonia enabled mainstream partial nitritation/anammox			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2024	Publication	The science of the total environment	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume	912	Issue		Pages	169449-12
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)
	Abstract	Selective suppression of nitrite-oxidising bacteria (NOB) over aerobic and anoxic ammonium-oxidising bacteria (AerAOB and AnAOB) remains a major challenge for mainstream partial nitritation/anammox implementation, a resource-efficient nitrogen removal pathway. A unique multi-stressor floc treatment was therefore designed and validated for the first time under lab-scale conditions while staying true to full-scale design principles. Two hybrid (suspended + biofilm growth) reactors were operated continuously at 20.2 ± 0.6 °C. Recurrent multi-stressor floc treatments were applied, consisting of a sulphide-spiked deoxygenated starvation followed by a free ammonia shock. A good microbial activity balance with high AnAOB (71 ± 21 mg N L−1 d−1) and low NOB (4 ± 17 % of AerAOB) activity was achieved by combining multiple operational strategies: recurrent multi-stressor floc treatments, hybrid sludge (flocs & biofilm), short floc age control, intermittent aeration, and residual ammonium control. The multi-stressor treatment was shown to be the most important control tool and should be continuously applied to maintain this balance. Excessive NOB growth on the biofilm was avoided despite only treating the flocs to safeguard the AnAOB activity on the biofilm. Additionally, no signs of NOB adaptation were observed over 142 days. Elevated effluent ammonium concentrations (25 ± 6 mg N L−1) limited the TN removal efficiency to 39 ± 9 %, complicating a future full-scale implementation. Operating at higher sludge concentrations or reducing the volumetric loading rate could overcome this issue. The obtained results ease the implementation of mainstream PN/A by providing and additional control tool to steer the microbial activity with the multi-stressor treatment, thus advancing the concept of energy neutrality in sewage treatment plants.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos		Publication Date	2023-12-18
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	0048-9697; 1879-1026	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record
	Impact Factor		Times cited		Open Access
	Notes				Approved	no
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:202286			Serial	9083
Permanent link to this record



	Author	Faust, V.; Vlaeminck, S.E.; Ganigué, R.; Udert, K.M.
	Title	Influence of pH on urine nitrification : community shifts of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and inhibition of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2024	Publication	ACS ES&T engineering	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume	4	Issue	2	Pages	342-353
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)
	Abstract	Urine nitrification is pH-sensitive due to limited alkalinity and high residual ammonium concentrations. This study aimed to investigate how the pH affects nitrogen conversion and the microbial community of urine nitrification with a pH-based feeding strategy. First, kinetic parameters for NH3, HNO2, and NO2– limitation and inhibition were determined for nitrifiers from a urine nitrification reactor. The turning point for ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), i.e., the substrate concentration at which a further increase would lead to a decrease in activity due to inhibitory effects, was at an NH3 concentration of 12 mg-N L–1, which was reached only at pH values above 7. The total nitrite turning point for nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) was pH-dependent, e.g., 18 mg-N L–1 at pH 6.3. Second, four years of data from two 120 L reactors were analyzed, showing that stable nitrification with low nitrite was most likely between pH 5.8 and 6.7. And third, six 12 L urine nitrification reactors were operated at total nitrogen concentrations of 1300 and 3600 mg-N L–1 and pH values between 2.5 and 8.5. At pH 6, the AOB Nitrosomonas europaea was found, and the NOB belonged to the genus Nitrobacter. At pH 7, nitrite accumulated, and Nitrosomonas halophila was the dominant AOB. NOB were inhibited by HNO2 accumulation. At pH 8.5, the AOB Nitrosomonas stercoris became dominant, and NH3 inhibited NOB. Without influent, the pH dropped to 2.5 due to the growth of the acid-tolerant AOB “Candidatus Nitrosacidococcus urinae”. In conclusion, pH is a decisive process control parameter for urine nitrification by influencing the selection and kinetics of nitrifiers.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos		Publication Date	2023-11-02
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN		ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record
	Impact Factor		Times cited		Open Access
	Notes				Approved	no
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:203306			Serial	9048
Permanent link to this record



	Author	Calogiuri, T.; Hagens, M.; Van Groenigen, J.W.; Corbett, T.; Hartmann, J.; Hendriksen, R.; Janssens, I.; Janssens, I.A.; Ledesma Dominguez, G.; Loescher, G.; Mortier, S.; Neubeck, A.; Niron, H.; Poetra, R.P.; Rieder, L.; Struyf, E.; Van Tendeloo, M.; De Schepper, T.; Verdonck, T.; Vlaeminck, S.E.; Vicca, S.; Vidal, A.
	Title	Design and construction of an experimental setup to enhance mineral weathering through the activity of soil organisms			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2023	Publication	Journal of visualized experiments	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume		Issue	201	Pages	e65563-30
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Internet Data Lab (IDLab); Applied mathematics; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL); Plant and Ecosystems (PLECO) – Ecology in a time of change
	Abstract	Enhanced weathering (EW) is an emerging carbon dioxide (CO2) removal technology that can contribute to climate change mitigation. This technology relies on accelerating the natural process of mineral weathering in soils by manipulating the abiotic variables that govern this process, in particular mineral grain size and exposure to acids dissolved in water. EW mainly aims at reducing atmospheric CO2 concentrations by enhancing inorganic carbon sequestration. Until now, knowledge of EW has been mainly gained through experiments that focused on the abiotic variables known for stimulating mineral weathering, thereby neglecting the potential influence of biotic components. While bacteria, fungi, and earthworms are known to increase mineral weathering rates, the use of soil organisms in the context of EW remains underexplored. This protocol describes the design and construction of an experimental setup developed to enhance mineral weathering rates through soil organisms while concurrently controlling abiotic conditions. The setup is designed to maximize weathering rates while maintaining soil organisms' activity. It consists of a large number of columns filled with rock powder and organic material, located in a climate chamber and with water applied via a downflow irrigation system. Columns are placed above a fridge containing jerrycans to collect the leachate. Representative results demonstrate that this setup is suitable to ensure the activity of soil organisms and quantify their effect on inorganic carbon sequestration. Challenges remain in minimizing leachate losses, ensuring homogeneous ventilation through the climate chamber, and avoiding flooding of the columns. With this setup, an innovative and promising approach is proposed to enhance mineral weathering rates through the activity of soil biota and disentangle the effect of biotic and abiotic factors as drivers of EW.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	001127854400015	Publication Date	2023-11-12
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	1940-087x	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record
	Impact Factor		Times cited		Open Access
	Notes				Approved	no
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:200770			Serial	9019
Permanent link to this record



	Author	Vingerhoets, R.; Brienza, C.; Sigurnjak, I.; Buysse, J.; Vlaeminck, S.E.; Spiller, M.; Meers, E.
	Title	Ammonia stripping and scrubbing followed by nitrification and denitrification saves costs for manure treatment based on a calibrated model approach			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2023	Publication	Chemical engineering journal	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume	477	Issue		Pages	146984-14
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)
	Abstract	Resource-efficient nitrogen management is of high environmental and economic interest, and manure represents the major nutrient flow in livestock-intensive regions. Ammonia stripping/scrubbing (SS) is an appealing nitrogen recovery route from manure, yet its real-life implementation has been limited thus far. In nutrient surplus regions like Flanders, treatment of the liquid fraction (LF) of (co–)digested manure typically consists of nitrification/denitrification (NDN) removing most N as nitrogen gas. Integrating SS before NDN in existing plants would expand treatment capacity and recover N while maintaining low N effluent values, yet cost estimations of this novel approach after process optimisation are not yet available. A programming model was developed and calibrated to minimise the treatment costs of this approach and find the balance between N recovery versus N removal. Four crucial operational parameters (CO2 stripping time, NH3 stripping time, temperature and NaOH addition) were optimised for 18 scenarios which were different in terms of technical set-up, influent characteristics and scrubber acid. The model shows that SS before NDN can decrease the costs by 1 to 56% under optimal conditions compared to treatment with NDN only, with 1 to 8% reduction for the LF of manure (22–29% recovered of N treated), and 11 to 56% reduction for the LF of co-digested manure (42–67% recovered of N treated), primarily dependent on resource pricing. This study shows the power of modelling for minimum-cost design and operation of manure treatment yielding savings while producing useful N recovery products with SS followed by NDN.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	001108935900001	Publication Date	2023-10-28
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	1385-8947; 1873-3212	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record
	Impact Factor		Times cited		Open Access
	Notes				Approved	no
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:200649			Serial	9003
Permanent link to this record



	Author	Wittner, N.; Vasilakou, K.; Broos, W.; Vlaeminck, S.E.; Nimmegeers, P.; Cornet, I.
	Title	Investigating the technical and economic potential of solid-state fungal pretreatment at nonsterile conditions for sugar production from poplar wood			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2023	Publication	Industrial and engineering chemistry research	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume		Issue		Pages	1-11
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Economics; Engineering sciences. Technology; Engineering Management (ENM); Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL); Biochemical Wastewater Valorization & Engineering (BioWaVE); Intelligence in PRocesses, Advanced Catalysts and Solvents (iPRACS)
	Abstract	Pretreatment is crucial for the conversion of lignocellulose to biofuels. Unlike conventional chemical/physicochemical methods, fungal pretreatment uses white-rot fungi and mild reaction conditions. However, challenges, including substrate sterilization, long duration, and low sugar yields associated with this method, contribute to lower techno-economic performance, an aspect that has rarely been investigated. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of fungal pretreatment of nonsterilized poplar wood. Various factors, including inoculum types, fermentation supplements, and cultivation methods, were investigated to optimize the process. A techno-economic assessment of the optimized processes was performed at a full biorefinery scale. The scenario using nonsterilized wood as a substrate, precolonized wood as an inoculum, and a 4 week pretreatment showed a 14.5% reduction in sugar production costs (€2.15/kg) compared to using sterilized wood. Although the evaluation of nonsterilized wood pretreatment showed promising cost reductions, fungal pretreatment remained more expensive than conventional methods due to the significant capital investment required.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	001102138000001	Publication Date	2023-10-25
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	0888-5885; 1520-5045	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record
	Impact Factor	4.2	Times cited		Open Access	Not_Open_Access: Available from 24.04.2024
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 4.2; 2023 IF: 2.843
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:200155			Serial	8891
Permanent link to this record



	Author	Xie, Y.; Van Tendeloo, M.; Zhu, W.; Peng, L.; Vlaeminck, S.E.
	Title	Autotrophic nitrogen polishing of secondary effluents : Alkaline pH and residual nitrate control S0-driven denitratation for downstream anammox treatment			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2023	Publication	Journal of Water Process Engineering	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume	56	Issue		Pages	104402-104409
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)
	Abstract	Energy-lean nitrogen removal technologies, such as partial nitritation/anammox, often encounter effluent issues due to elevated nitrate and ammonium levels. This study proposed a novel autotrophic polishing strategy coupling sulfur-driven denitratation with anammox. To explore the denitratation potential in obtaining stable and sufficient nitrite accumulation, the effects of pH, residual nitrate level, and biomass-specific nitrate loading rate (BSNLR) were investigated in an S0-packed bed reactor at low hydraulic retention time (i.e., 0.2 h). Implementing pH and residual nitrate control strategies would be easier in practice than BSNLR control to polish secondary effluent. Alkaline pH values could realize successful nitrite accumulation without residual nitrate, and further intensify the accumulation under increased residual nitrate levels. The nitrate level was positively correlated with the nitrite accumulation efficiency. At pH 8.5 and nitrate concentration of 1.0 ± 0.8 mg N L−1, sulfur-driven denitratation could successfully maintain nitrite accumulation of 6.4 ± 1.0 mg NO2−-N L−1, ideally for the downstream anammox in case of residual ammonium levels of around 5 mg N L−1. Since Thiobacillus members play a key role in managing nitrite accumulation, their abundance should be guaranteed in the practical application.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	001103341400001	Publication Date	2023-10-18
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	2214-7144	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record
	Impact Factor	7	Times cited		Open Access	Not_Open_Access: Available from 18.04.2024
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 7; 2023 IF: NA
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:200036			Serial	8835
Permanent link to this record



	Author	Faust, V.; Boon, N.; Ganigué, R.; Vlaeminck, S.E.; Udert, K.M.
	Title	Optimizing control strategies for urine nitrification : narrow pH control band enhances process stability and reduces nitrous oxide emissions			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2023	Publication	Frontiers in environmental science	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume	11	Issue		Pages	1275152-14
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)
	Abstract	Nitrification is well-suited for urine stabilization. No base dosage is required if the pH is controlled within an appropriate operating range by urine feeding, producing an ammonium-nitrate fertilizer. However, the process is highly dependent on the selected pH set-points and is susceptible to process failures such as nitrite accumulation or the growth of acid-tolerant ammonia-oxidizing bacteria. To address the need for a robust and reliable process in decentralized applications, two different strategies were tested: operating a two-position pH controller (inflow on/off) with a narrow pH control band at 6.20/6.25 (∆pH = 0.05, narrow-pH) vs. a wider pH control band at 6.00/6.50 (∆pH = 0.50, wide-pH). These variations in pH also cause variations in the chemical speciation of ammonia and nitrite and, as shown, the microbial production of nitrite. It was hypothesized that the higher fluctuations would result in greater microbial diversity and, thus, a more robust process. The diversity of nitrifiers was higher in the wide-pH reactor, while the diversity of the entire microbiome was similar in both systems. However, the wide-pH reactor was more susceptible to tested process disturbances caused by increasing pH or temperature, decreasing dissolved oxygen, or an influent stop. In addition, with an emission factor of 0.47%, the nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from the wide-pH reactor were twice as high as the N2O emissions from the narrow-pH reactor, most likely due to the nitrite fluctuations. Based on these results, a narrow control band is recommended for pH control in urine nitrification.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	001087861500001	Publication Date	2023-10-10
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	2296-665x	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor		Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: NA
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:199585			Serial	8909
Permanent link to this record



	Author	Alloul, A.; Moradvandi, A.; Puyol, D.; Molina, R.; Gardella, G.; Vlaeminck, S.E.; De Schutter, B.; Abraham, E.; Lindeboom, R.E.F.; Weissbrodt, D.G.
	Title	A novel mechanistic modelling approach for microbial selection dynamics : towards improved design and control of raceway reactors for purple bacteria			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2023	Publication	Bioresource technology	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume	390	Issue		Pages	129844-129849
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)
	Abstract	Purple phototrophic bacteria (PPB) show an underexplored potential for resource recovery from wastewater. Raceway reactors offer a more affordable full-scale solution on wastewater and enable useful additional aerobic processes. Current mathematical models of PPB systems provide useful mechanistic insights, but do not represent the full metabolic versatility of PPB and thus require further advancement to simulate the process for technology development and control. In this study, a new modelling approach for PPB that integrates the photoheterotrophic, and both anaerobic and aerobic chemoheterotrophic metabolic pathways through an empirical parallel metabolic growth constant was proposed. It aimed the modelling of microbial selection dynamics in competition with aerobic and anaerobic microbial community under different operational scenarios. A sensitivity analysis was carried out to identify the most influential parameters within the model and calibrate them based on experimental data. Process perturbation scenarios were simulated, which showed a good performance of the model.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	001094606700001	Publication Date	2023-10-10
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	0960-8524	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record
	Impact Factor	11.4	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 11.4; 2023 IF: 5.651
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:200035			Serial	8905
Permanent link to this record



	Author	De Micco, V.; Amitrano, C.; Mastroleo, F.; Aronne, G.; Battistelli, A.; Carnero-Diaz, E.; De Pascale, S.; Detrell, G.; Dussap, C.-G.; Ganigué, R.; Jakobsen, Ø.M.; Poulet, L.; Van Houdt, R.; Verseux, C.; Vlaeminck, S.E.; Willaert, R.; Leys, N.
	Title	Plant and microbial science and technology as cornerstones to Bioregenerative Life Support Systems in space			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2023	Publication	NPJ microgravity	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume	9	Issue	1	Pages	69-12
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)
	Abstract	Long-term human space exploration missions require environmental control and closed Life Support Systems (LSS) capable of producing and recycling resources, thus fulfilling all the essential metabolic needs for human survival in harsh space environments, both during travel and on orbital/planetary stations. This will become increasingly necessary as missions reach farther away from Earth, thereby limiting the technical and economic feasibility of resupplying resources from Earth. Further incorporation of biological elements into state-of-the-art (mostly abiotic) LSS, leading to bioregenerative LSS (BLSS), is needed for additional resource recovery, food production, and waste treatment solutions, and to enable more self-sustainable missions to the Moon and Mars. There is a whole suite of functions crucial to sustain human presence in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and successful settlement on Moon or Mars such as environmental control, air regeneration, waste management, water supply, food production, cabin/habitat pressurization, radiation protection, energy supply, and means for transportation, communication, and recreation. In this paper, we focus on air, water and food production, and waste management, and address some aspects of radiation protection and recreation. We briefly discuss existing knowledge, highlight open gaps, and propose possible future experiments in the short-, medium-, and long-term to achieve the targets of crewed space exploration also leading to possible benefits on Earth.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	001093834300001	Publication Date	2023-08-24
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	2373-8065	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor		Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: NA
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:199050			Serial	8916
Permanent link to this record



	Author	Zhu, W.; Van Tendeloo, M.; De Paepe, J.; Vlaeminck, S.E.
	Title	Comparison of typical nitrite oxidizing bacteria suppression strategies and the effect on nitrous oxide emissions in a biofilm reactor			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2023	Publication	Bioresource technology	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume	387	Issue		Pages	129607-129609
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)
	Abstract	In mainstream partial nitritation/anammox (PN/A), suppression of nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) and mitigation of N2O emissions are two essential operational goals. The N2O emissions linked to three typical NOB suppression strategies were tested in a covered rotating biological contactor (RBC) biofilm system at 21 degrees C: (i) low dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations, and treatments with (ii) free ammonia (FA), and (iii) free nitrous acids (FNA). Low emerged DO levels effectively minimized NOB activity and decreased N2O emissions, but NOB adaptation appeared after 200 days of operation. Further NOB suppression was successfully achieved by periodic (3 h per week) treatments with FA (29.3 & PLUSMN; 2.6 mg NH3-N L-1) or FNA (3.1 & PLUSMN; 0.3 mg HNO2-N L-1). FA treatment, however, promoted N2O emissions, while FNA did not affect these. Hence, biofilm PN/A should be operated at relatively low DO levels with periodic FNA treatment to maximize nitrogen removal efficiency while avoiding high greenhouse gas emissions.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	001063180200001	Publication Date	2023-08-05
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	0960-8524	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	11.4	Times cited		Open Access	Not_Open_Access: Available from 21.02.2024
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 11.4; 2023 IF: 5.651
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:199051			Serial	8843
Permanent link to this record



	Author	De Paepe, J.; Garcia Gragera, D.; Arnau Jimenez, C.; Rabaey, K.; Vlaeminck, S.E.; Gòdia, F.
	Title	Continuous cultivation of microalgae yields high nutrient recovery from nitrified urine with limited supplementation			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2023	Publication	Journal of environmental management	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume	345	Issue		Pages	118500-118510
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)
	Abstract	Microalgae can play a key role in the bioeconomy, particularly in combination with the valorisation of waste streams as cultivation media. Urine is an example of a widely available nutrient-rich waste stream, and alkaline stabilization and subsequent full nitrification in a bioreactor yields a stable nitrate-rich solution. In this study, such nitrified urine served as a culture medium for the edible microalga Limnospira indica. In batch cultivation, nitrified urine without additional supplements yielded a lower biomass concentration, nutrient uptake and protein content compared to modified Zarrouk medium, as standard medium. To enhance the nitrogen uptake efficiency and biomass production, nitrified urine was supplemented with potentially limiting elements. Limited amounts of phosphorus (36 mg L−1), magnesium (7.9 mg L−1), calcium (12.2 mg L−1), iron (2.0 mg L−1) and EDTA (88.5 mg Na2-EDTA.2H2O L−1) rendered the nitrified urine matrix as effective as modified Zarrouk medium in terms of biomass production (OD750 of 1.2), nutrient uptake (130 mg N L−1) and protein yield (47%) in batch culture. Urine precipitates formed by alkalinisation could in principle supply enough phosphorus, calcium and magnesium, requiring only external addition of iron, EDTA and inorganic carbon. Subsequently, the suitability of supplemented nitrified urine as a culture medium was confirmed in continuous Limnospira cultivation in a CSTR photobioreactor. This qualifies nitrified urine as a valuable and sustainable microalgae growth medium, thereby creating novel nutrient loops on Earth and in Space, i.e., in regenerative life support systems for human deep-space missions.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	001052880800001	Publication Date	2023-08-03
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	0301-4797	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record
	Impact Factor	8.7	Times cited		Open Access	Not_Open_Access: Available from 03.02.2024
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 8.7; 2023 IF: 4.01
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:199049			Serial	8844
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	Author	Zhu, W.; Van Tendeloo, M.; Alloul, A.; Vlaeminck, S.E.
	Title	Feasibility of a return-sludge nursery concept for mainstream anammox biostimulation : creating optimal conditions for anammox to recover and grow in a parallel tank			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2023	Publication	Bioresource technology	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume	385	Issue		Pages	129359-12
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)
	Abstract	To overcome limiting anammox activity under sewage treatment conditions, a return-sludge nursery concept is proposed. This concept involves blending sludge reject water treated with partial nitritation with mainstream effluent to increase the temperature, N levels, and electrical conductivity (EC) of the anammox nursery reactor, which sludge periodically passes through the return sludge line of the mainstream system. Various nursery frequencies were tested in two 2.5 L reactors, including 0.5-2 days of nursery treatment per 3.5-14 days of the total operation. Bioreactor experiments showed that nursery increased nitrogen removal rates during mainstream operation by 33-38%. The increased anammox activity can be partly (35-60%) explained by higher temperatures. Elevated EC, higher nitrogen concentrations, and a putative synergy and/or unknown factor were responsible for 15-16%, 12-14%, and 10-36%, respectively. A relatively stable microbial community was observed, dominated by a “Candidatus Brocadia” member. This new concept boosted activity and sludge growth, which may facilitate mainstream anammox implementations based on partial nitritation/anammox or partial nitrification/denitratation/anammox.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	001031586400001	Publication Date	2023-06-19
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	0960-8524	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record
	Impact Factor	11.4	Times cited		Open Access	Not_Open_Access
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 11.4; 2023 IF: 5.651
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:198259			Serial	8866
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	Author	Vingerhoets, R.; Spiller, M.; De Backer, J.; Adriaens, A.; Vlaeminck, S.E.; Meers, E.
	Title	Detailed nitrogen and phosphorus flow analysis, nutrient use efficiency and circularity in the agri-food system of a livestock-intensive region			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2023	Publication	Journal of cleaner production	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume	410	Issue		Pages	137278-13
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)
	Abstract	The agri-food value chain is a major cause of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) emissions and associated environmental and health impacts. The EU's farm-to-fork strategy (F2F) demands an agri-food value chain approach to reduce nutrient emissions by 50% and fertilizer use by 20%. Substance flow analysis (SFA) is a method that can be applied to study complex systems such as the agri-food chain. A review of 60 SFA studies shows that they often lack detail by not sufficiently distinguishing between nodes, products and types of emissions. The present study aims to assess the added value of detail in SFAs and to illustrate that valuable indicators can be derived from detailed assessments. This aim will be attained by presenting a highly-detailed SFA for the livestock-intensive region of Flanders, Belgium. The SFA distinguishes 40 nodes and 1827 flows that are classified into eight different categories (e.g. by-products, point source emissions) following life cycle methods. Eight novel indicators were calculated, including indicators that assess the N and P recovery potential. Flanders has a low overall nutrient use efficiency (11% N, 18% P). About 55% of the N and 56% of the P embedded in recoverable streams are reused providing 35% and 37% of the total N and P input. Optimized nutrient recycling could replace 45% of N and 48% of P of the external nutrient input, exceeding the target set by the F2F strategy. Detailed accounting for N and P flows and nodes leads to the identification of more recoverable streams and larger N and P flows. More detailed flow accounting is a prerequisite for the quantification of technological intervention options. Future research should focus on including concentration and quality as a parameter in SFAs.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000991013600001	Publication Date	2023-04-21
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	0959-6526	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	11.1	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 11.1; 2023 IF: 5.715
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:196227			Serial	7770
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	Author	Wittner, N.; Gergely, S.; Slezsák, J.; Broos, W.; Vlaeminck, S.E.; Cornet, I.
	Title	Follow-up of solid-state fungal wood pretreatment by a novel near-infrared spectroscopy-based lignin calibration model			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2023	Publication	Journal of microbiological methods	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume	208	Issue		Pages	106725-106727
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL); Biochemical Wastewater Valorization & Engineering (BioWaVE)
	Abstract	Lignin removal plays a crucial role in the efficient bioconversion of lignocellulose to fermentable sugars. As a delignification process, fungal pretreatment has gained great interest due to its environmental friendliness and low energy consumption. In our previous study, a positive linear correlation between acid-insoluble lignin degradation and the achievable enzymatic saccharification yield has been found, hereby highlighting the importance of the close follow-up of lignin degradation during the solid-state fungal pretreatment process. However, the standard quantification of lignin, which relies on the two-step acid hydrolysis of the biomass, is highly laborious and time-consuming. Vibrational spectroscopy has been proven as a fast and easy alternative; however, it has not been extensively researched on lignocellulose subjected to solid-state fungal pretreatment. Therefore, the present study examined the suitability of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) for the rapid and easy assessment of lignin content in poplar wood pretreated with Phanerochaete chrysosporium. Furthermore, the predictive power of the obtained calibration model and the recently published ATR-FTIR spectroscopy-based model were compared for the first time using the same fungus-treated wood data set. PLSR was used to correlate the NIR spectra to the acid-insoluble lignin contents (19.9%-27.1%) of pretreated wood. After normalization and second derivation, a PLSR model with a good coefficient of determination (RCV2 = 0.89) and a low root mean square error (RMSECV = 0.55%) were obtained despite the heterogeneous nature of the fungal solid-state fermentation. The performance of this PLSR model was comparably good to the one obtained by ATR-FTIR (RCV2 = 0.87) while it required more extensive spectral pre-processing. In conclusion, both methods will be highly useful for the high-throughput and user-friendly monitoring of lignin degradation in a solid-state fungal pretreatment-based biorefinery concept.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000983287400001	Publication Date	2023-04-13
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	0167-7012	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record
	Impact Factor		Times cited		Open Access
	Notes				Approved	no
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:195814			Serial	9038
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	Author	Xie, Y.; Jia, M.; De Wilde, F.; Daeninck, K.; De Clippeleir, H.; Verstraete, W.; Vlaeminck, S.E.
	Title	Feasibility of packed-bed trickling filters for partial nitritation/anammox : effects of carrier material, bottom ventilation openings, hydraulic loading rate and free ammonia			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2023	Publication	Bioresource technology	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume	373	Issue		Pages	128713-128719
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)
	Abstract	This study pioneers the feasibility of cost-effective partial nitritation/anammox (PN/A) in packed-bed trickling filters (TFs). Three parallel TFs tested different carrier materials, the presence or absence of bottom ventilation openings, hydraulic loading rates (HLR, 0.4–2.2 m3 m−2 h−1), and free ammonia (FA) levels on synthetic medium. The inexpensive Argex expanded clay was recommended due to the similar nitrogen removal rates as commercially used plastics. Top-only ventilation at an optimum HLR of 1.8 m3 m−2 h−1 could remove approximately 60% of the total nitrogen load (i.e., 300 mg N L-1 d−1, 30 °C) and achieve relatively low NO3–-N accumulation (13%). Likely FA levels of around 1.3–3.2 mg N L-1 suppressed nitratation. Most of the total nitrogen removal took place in the upper third of the reactor, where anammox activity was highest. Provided further optimizations, the results demonstrated TFs are suitable for low-energy shortcut nitrogen removal.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000945892500001	Publication Date	2023-02-07
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	0960-8524	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	11.4	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 11.4; 2023 IF: 5.651
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:193652			Serial	7306
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	Author	Muys, M.; González Cámara, S.J.; Derese, S.; Spiller, M.; Verliefde, A.; Vlaeminck, S.E.
	Title	Dissolution rate and growth performance reveal struvite as a sustainable nutrient source to produce a diverse set of microbial protein			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2023	Publication	The science of the total environment	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume	866	Issue		Pages	161172-161179
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)
	Abstract	To provide for the globally increasing demand for proteinaceous food, microbial protein (MP) has the potential to become an alternative food or feed source. Phosphorus (P), on the other hand, is a critical raw material whose global reserves are declining. Growing MP on recovered phosphorus, for instance, struvite obtained from wastewater treatment, is a promising MP production route that could supply protein-rich products while handling P scarcity. The aim of this study was to explore struvite dissolution kinetics in different MP media and characterize MP production with struvite as sole P-source. Different operational parameters, including pH, temperature, contact surface area, and ion concentrations were tested, and struvite dissolution rates were observed between 0.32 and 4.7 g P/L/d and a solubility between 0.23 and 2.22 g P-based struvite/L. Growth rates and protein production of the microalgae Chlorella vulgaris and Limnospira sp. (previously known as Arthrospira sp.), and the purple non‑sulfur bacterium Rhodopseudomonas palustris on struvite were equal to or higher than growth on conventional potassium phosphate. For aerobic heterotrophic bacteria, two slow-growing communities showed decreased growth on struvite, while the growth was increased for a third fast-growing one. Furthermore, MP protein content on struvite was always comparable to the one obtained when grown on standard media. Together with the low content in metals and micropollutants, these results demonstrate that struvite can be directly applied as an effective nutrient source to produce fast-growing MP, without any previous dissolution step. Combining a high purity recovered product with an efficient way of producing protein results in a strong environmental win-win.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000922040000001	Publication Date	2022-12-24
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	0048-9697; 1879-1026	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	9.8	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 9.8; 2023 IF: 4.9
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:192943			Serial	7297
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	Author	Papini, G.; Muys, M.; Van Winckel, T.; Meerburg, F.A.; Van Beeck, W.; Vermeir, P.; Vlaeminck, S.E.
	Title	Boosting aerobic microbial protein productivity and quality on brewery wastewater : impact of anaerobic acidification, high-rate process and biomass age			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2023	Publication	Bioresource technology	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume	368	Issue		Pages	128285
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)
	Abstract	Consortia of aerobic heterotrophic bacteria (AHB) are appealing as sustainable alternative protein ingredient for aquaculture given their high nutritional qualities, and their production potential on feed-grade industrial wastewater. Today, the impacts of pre-treatment, bioprocess choice and key parameter settings on AHB productivity and nutritional properties are unknown. This study investigated for the first time AHB microbial protein production effects based on (i) raw vs anaerobically fermented brewery wastewater, (ii) high-rate activated sludge (HRAS) without vs with feast-famine conditions, and (iii) three short solid retention time (SRT): 0.25, 0.50 and 1.00 d. High biomass (4.4–8.0 g TSS/L/d) and protein productivities (1.9–3.2 g protein/L/d) were obtained while achieving COD removal efficiencies up to 98 % at SRT 0.50 d. The AHB essential amino acid (EAA) profiles were above rainbow trout requirements, excluding the S-containing EAA, highlighting the AHB biomass replacement potential for unsustainable fishmeal in salmonid diets.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000902092100009	Publication Date	2022-11-09
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	0960-8524	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	11.4	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 11.4; 2023 IF: 5.651
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:191780			Serial	7133
Permanent link to this record



	Author	Wittner, N.; Slezsák, J.; Broos, W.; Geerts, J.; Gergely, S.; Vlaeminck, S.E.; Cornet, I.
	Title	Rapid lignin quantification for fungal wood pretreatment by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2023	Publication	Spectrochimica acta: part A: molecular and biomolecular spectroscopy	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume		Issue		Pages	121912
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL); Biochemical Wastewater Valorization & Engineering (BioWaVE)
	Abstract	Lignin determination in lignocellulose with the conventional two-step acid hydrolysis method is highly laborious and time-consuming. However, its quantification is crucial to monitor fungal pretreatment of wood, as the increase of acid-insoluble lignin (AIL) degradation linearly correlates with the achievable enzymatic saccharification yield. Therefore, in this study, a new attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy method was developed to track fungal delignification in an easy and rapid manner. Partial least square regression (PLSR) with cross-validation (CV) was applied to correlate the ATR-FTIR spectra with the AIL content (19.9%–27.1%). After variable selection and normalization, a PLSR model with a high coefficient of determination (
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000985309100010	Publication Date	2022-09-22
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	1386-1425	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	4.4	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 4.4; 2023 IF: 2.536
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:190328			Serial	7201
Permanent link to this record



	Author	Alloul, A.; Blansaer, N.; Cabecas Segura, P.; Wattiez, R.; Vlaeminck, S.E.; Leroy, B.
	Title	Dehazing redox homeostasis to foster purple bacteria biotechnology			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2023	Publication	Trends in biotechnology : regular edition	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume	41	Issue	1	Pages	106-119
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)
	Abstract	Purple non-sulfur bacteria (PNSB) show great potential for environmental and industrial biotechnology, producing microbial protein, biohydrogen, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), pigments, etc. When grown photoheterotrophically, the carbon source is typically more reduced than the PNSB biomass, which leads to a redox imbalance. To mitigate the excess of electrons, PNSB can exhibit several ‘electron sinking’ strategies, such as CO2 fixation, N2 fixation, and H2 and PHA production. The lack of a comprehensive (over)view of these redox strategies is hindering the implementation of PNSB for biotechnology applications. This review aims to present the state of the art of redox homeostasis in phototrophically grown PNSB, presenting known and theoretically expected strategies, and discussing them from stoichiometric, thermodynamic, metabolic, and economic points of view.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000923198400001	Publication Date	2022-07-14
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	1879-3096;0167-7799	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	17.3	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 17.3; 2023 IF: 11.126
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:192944			Serial	7294
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	Author	Faust, V.; van Alen, T.A.; Op den Camp, H.J.M.; Vlaeminck, S.E.; Ganigué, R.; Boon, N.; Udert, K.M.
	Title	Ammonia oxidation by novel “Candidatus Nitrosacidococcus urinae” is sensitive to process disturbances at low pH and to iron limitation at neutral pH			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2022	Publication	Water Research X	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume	17	Issue		Pages	100157-11
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)
	Abstract	Acid-tolerant ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) can open the door to new applications, such as partial nitritation at low pH. However, they can also be problematic because chemical nitrite oxidation occurs at low pH, leading to the release of harmful nitrogen oxide gases. In this publication, the role of acid-tolerant AOB in urine treatment was explored. On the one hand, the technical feasibility of ammonia oxidation under acidic conditions for source-separated urine with total nitrogen concentrations up to 3.5 g-N L−1 was investigated. On the other hand, the abundance and growth of acid-tolerant AOB at more neutral pH was explored. Under acidic conditions (pH of 5), ammonia oxidation rates of 500 mg-N L−1 d−1 and 10 g-N g-VSS-1 d-1 were observed, despite high concentrations of 15 mg-N L−1 of the AOB-inhibiting compound nitrous acid and low concentration of 0.04 mg-N L−1 of the substrate ammonia. However, ammonia oxidation under acidic conditions was very sensitive to process disturbances. Even short periods of less than 12 h without oxygen or without influent resulted in a complete cessation of ammonia oxidation with a recovery time of up to two months, which is a problem for low maintenance applications such as decentralized treatment. Furthermore, undesirable nitrogen losses of about 10% were observed. Under acidic conditions, a novel AOB strain was enriched with a relative abundance of up to 80%, for which the name “Candidatus (Ca.) Nitrosacidococcus urinae” is proposed. While Nitrosacidococcus members were present only to a small extent (0.004%) in urine nitrification reactors operated at pH values between 5.8 and 7, acid-tolerant AOB were always enriched during long periods without influent, resulting in an uncontrolled drop in pH to as low as 2.5. Long-term experiments at different pH values showed that the activity of “Ca. Nitrosacidococcus urinae” decreased strongly at a pH of 7, where they were also outcompeted by the acid-sensitive AOB Nitrosomonas halophila. The experiment results showed that the decreased activity of “Ca. Nitrosacidococcus urinae” correlated with the limited availability of dissolved iron at neutral pH.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000877925500001	Publication Date	2022-10-04
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	2589-9147	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor		Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: NA
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:190944			Serial	7124
Permanent link to this record



	Author	Van Winckel, T.; Ngo, N.; Sturm, B.; Al-Omari, A.; Wett, B.; Bott, C.; Vlaeminck, S.E.; De Clippeleir, H.
	Title	Enhancing bioflocculation in high-rate activated sludge improves effluent quality yet increases sensitivity to surface overflow rate			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2022	Publication	Chemosphere	Abbreviated Journal	Chemosphere
	Volume	308	Issue	2	Pages	136294-11
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)
	Abstract	High-rate activated sludge (HRAS) relies on good bioflocculation and subsequent solid-liquid separation to maximize the capture of organics. However, full-scale applications often suffer from poor and unpredictable effluent suspended solids (ESS). While the biological aspects of bioflocculation are thoroughly investigated, the effects of fines (settling velocity < 0.6 m3/m2/h), shear and surface overflow rate (SOR) are unclear. This work tackled the impact of fines, shear, and SOR on the ESS in absence of settleable influent solids. This was assessed on a full-scale HRAS step-feed (SF) and pilot-scale HRAS contact-stabilization (CS) configuration using batch settling tests, controlled clarifier experiments, and continuous operation of reactors. Fines contributed up to 25% of the ESS in the full-scale SF configuration. ESS decreased up to 30 mg TSS/L when bioflocculation was enhanced with the CS configuration. The feast-famine regime applied in CS promoted the production of high-quality extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). However, this resulted in a narrow and unfavorable settling velocity distribution, with 50% ± 5% of the sludge mass settling between 0.6 and 1.5 m3/m2/h, thus increasing sensitivity towards SOR changes. A low shear environment (20 s−1) before the clarifier for at least one min was enough to ensure the best possible settling velocity distribution, regardless of prior shear conditions. Overall, this paper provides a more complete view on the drivers of ESS in HRAS systems, creating the foundation for the design of effective HRAS clarifiers. Tangible recommendations are given on how to manage fines and establish the optimal settling velocity of the sludge.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000863979600006	Publication Date	2022-09-06
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	0045-6535; 1879-1298	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record
	Impact Factor	8.8	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 8.8
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:190187			Serial	7154
Permanent link to this record



	Author	Spanoghe, J.; Ost, K.J.; Van Beeck, W.; Vermeir, P.; Lebeer, S.; Vlaeminck, S.E.
	Title	Purple bacteria screening for photoautohydrogenotrophic food production : are new H₂-fed isolates faster and nutritionally better than photoheterotrophically obtained reference species?			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2022	Publication	New biotechnology	Abbreviated Journal	New Biotechnol
	Volume	72	Issue		Pages	38-47
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)
	Abstract	Photoautohydrogenotrophic enrichments of wastewater treatment microbiomes were performed to obtain hypothetically high-potential specialist species for biotechnological applications. From these enrichment cultures, ten photoautohydrogenotrophic species were isolated: six Rhodopseudomonas species, three Rubrivivax members and Rhodobacter blasticus. The performance of these isolates was compared to three commonly studied, and originally photoheterotrophically enriched species (Rhodopseudomonas palustris, Rhodobacter capsulatus and Rhodobacter sphaeroides), designated as reference species. Repeated subcultivations were applied to improve the initial poor performance of the isolates (acclimation effect), which resulted in increases in both maximum growth rate and protein productivity. However, the maximum growth rate of the reference species remained 3–7 times higher compared to the isolates (0.42–0.84 d−1 at 28 °C), while protein productivities remained 1.5–1.7 times higher. This indicated that H2-based enrichment did not result in photoautohydrogenotrophic specialists, suggesting that the reference species are more suitable for intensified biomass and protein production. On the other hand, the isolates were able to provide equally high protein quality profiles as the references species, providing full dietary essential amino acid matches for human food. Lastly, the effect of metabolic carbon/electron switching (back and forth between auto- to heterotrophic conditions) initially boosted µmax when returning to photoautohydrogenotrophic conditions. However, the switch negatively impacted lag phase, protein productivities and pigment contents. In the case of protein productivity, the acquired acclimation was partially lost with decreases of up to 44 % and 40 % respectively for isolates and reference species. Finally, the three reference species, and specifically Rh. capsulatus, remained the most suitable candidate(s) for further biotechnological development.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000861078800005	Publication Date	2022-08-29
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	1871-6784; 1876-4347	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	5.4	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 5.4
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:190188			Serial	7199
Permanent link to this record



	Author	Faust, V.; Gruber, W.; Ganigue, R.; Vlaeminck, S.E.; Udert, K.M.
	Title	Nitrous oxide emissions and carbon footprint of decentralized urine fertilizer production by nitrification and distillation			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2022	Publication	ACS ES&T engineering	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume	2	Issue	9	Pages	1745-1755
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)
	Abstract	Combining partial nitrification, granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration, and distillation is a well-studied approach to convert urine into a fertilizer. To evaluate the environmental sustainability of a technology, the operational carbon footprint and therefore nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions should be known, but N2O emissions from urine nitrification have not been assessed yet. Therefore, N2O emissions of a decentralized urine nitrification reactor were monitored for 1 month. During nitrification, 0.4-1.2% of the total nitrogen load was emitted as N2O-N with an average N2O emission factor (EFN2O) of 0.7%. Additional N2O was produced during anoxic storage between nitrification and GAC filtration with an estimated EFN2O of 0.8%, resulting in an EFN2O of 1.5% for the treatment chain. N2O emissions during nitrification can be mitigated by 60% by avoiding low dissolved oxygen or anoxic conditions and nitrite concentrations above 5 mg-N L-1. Minimizing the hydraulic retention time between nitrification and GAC filtration can reduce N2O formation during intermediate storage by 100%. Overall, the N2O emissions accounted for 45% of the operational carbon footprint of 14 kg-CO2,equiv kg-N-1 for urine fertilizer production. Using electricity from renewable sources and applying the proposed N2O mitigation strategies could potentially lower the carbon footprint by 85%.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000835412700001	Publication Date	2022-07-29
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN		ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor		Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: NA
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:189599			Serial	7182
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	Author	Ngo, K.N.; Tampon, P.; Van Winckel, T.; Massoudieh, A.; Sturm, B.; Bott, C.; Wett, B.; Murthy, S.; Vlaeminck, S.E.; DeBarbadillo, C.; De Clippeleir, H.
	Title	Introducing bioflocculation boundaries in process control to enhance effluent quality of high‐rate contact‐stabilization systems			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2022	Publication	Water environment research	Abbreviated Journal	Water Environ Res
	Volume	94	Issue	8	Pages	e10772-17
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)
	Abstract	High-rate activated sludge (HRAS) systems suffer from high variability of effluent quality, clarifier performance, and carbon capture. This study proposed a novel control approach using bioflocculation boundaries for wasting control strategy to enhance effluent quality and stability while still meeting carbon capture goals. The bioflocculation boundaries were developed based on the oxygen uptake rate (OUR) ratio between contactor and stabilizer (feast/famine) in a high-rate contact stabilization (CS) system and this OUR ratio was used to manipulate the wasting setpoint. Increased oxidation of carbon or decreased wasting was applied when OUR ratio was <0.52 or >0.95 to overcome bioflocculation limitation and maintain effluent quality. When no bioflocculation limitations (OUR ratio within 0.52–0.95) were detected, carbon capture was maximized. The proposed control concept was shown for a fully automated OUR-based control system as well as for a simplified version based on direct waste flow control. For both cases, significant improvements in effluent suspended solids level and stability (<50-mg TSS/L), solids capture over the clarifier (>90%), and COD capture (median of 32%) were achieved. This study shows how one can overcome the process instability of current HRAS systems and provide a path to achieve more reliable outcomes.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000840360100001	Publication Date	2022-07-23
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	1061-4303; 1554-7531	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record
	Impact Factor	3.1	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 3.1
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:189409			Serial	7174
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	Author	Segura, P.C.; De Meur, Q.; Alloul, A.; Tanghe, A.; Onderwater, R.; Vlaeminck, S.E.; Vande Wouwer, A.; Wattiez, R.; Dewasme, L.; Leroy, B.
	Title	Preferential photoassimilation of volatile fatty acids by purple non-sulfur bacteria : experimental kinetics and dynamic modelling			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2022	Publication	Biochemical engineering journal	Abbreviated Journal	Biochem Eng J
	Volume	186	Issue		Pages	108547-10
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)
	Abstract	Purple non-sulfur bacteria (PNSB) are known for their metabolic versatility and thrive as anoxygenic photoheterotrophs. In environmental engineering and resource recovery, cells would grow on mixtures of volatile fatty acids (VFA) generated by anaerobic fermentation of waste streams. In this study, we aim to better understand the behavior of Rhodospirillum rubrum, a model PNSB species, grown using multiple VFA as carbon sources. We highlighted that assimilation of individual VFA follows a sequential pattern. Based on observations in other PNSB, this seems to be specific to isocitrate lyase-lacking organisms. We hypothesized that the inhibition phenomenon could be due to the regulation of the metabolic fluxes in the substrate cycle between acetoacetyl-CoA and crotonyl-CoA. Developed macroscopic dynamic models showed a good predictive capability for substrate competition for every VFA mixture containing acetate, propionate, and/or butyrate. These novel insights provide valuable input for better design and operation of PNSB-based waste treatment solutions.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000891992900005	Publication Date	2022-07-21
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	1369-703x; 1873-295x	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record
	Impact Factor	3.9	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 3.9
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:192741			Serial	7332
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	Author	Spacova, I.; Ahannach, S.; Breynaert, A.; Erreygers, I.; Wittouck, S.; Bron, P.A.; Van Beeck, W.; Eilers, T.; Alloul, A.; Blansaer, N.; Vlaeminck, S.E.; Hermans, N.; Lebeer, S.
	Title	Spontaneous riboflavin-overproducing Limosilactobacillus reuteri for biofortification of fermented foods			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2022	Publication	Frontiers in Nutrition	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume	9	Issue		Pages	916607-916619
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)
	Abstract	Riboflavin-producing lactic acid bacteria represent a promising and cost-effective strategy for food biofortification, but production levels are typically insufficient to support daily human requirements. In this study, we describe the novel human isolate Limosilactobacillus reuteri AMBV339 as a strong food biofortification candidate. This strain shows a high natural riboflavin (vitamin B2) overproduction of 18.36 mu g/ml, biomass production up to 6 x 10(10) colony-forming units/ml (in the typical range of model lactobacilli), and pH-lowering capacities to a pH as low as 4.03 in common plant-based (coconut, soy, and oat) and cow milk beverages when cultured up to 72 h at 37 degrees C. These properties were especially pronounced in coconut beverage and butter milk fermentations, and were sustained in co-culture with the model starter Streptococcus thermophilus. Furthermore, L. reuteri AMBV339 grown in laboratory media or in a coconut beverage survived in gastric juice and in a simulated gastrointestinal dialysis model with colon phase (GIDM-colon system) inoculated with fecal material from a healthy volunteer. Passive transport of L. reuteri AMBV339-produced riboflavin occurred in the small intestinal and colon stage of the GIDM system, and active transport via intestinal epithelial Caco-2 monolayers was also demonstrated. L. reuteri AMBV339 did not cause fecal microbiome perturbations in the GIDM-colon system and inhibited enteric bacterial pathogens in vitro. Taken together, our data suggests that L. reuteri AMBV339 represents a promising candidate to provide riboflavin fortification of plant-based and dairy foods, and has a high application potential in the human gastrointestinal tract.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000814856600001	Publication Date	2022-06-09
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	2296-861x	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	5	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 5
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:189011			Serial	7211
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	Author	Spiller, M.; Moretti, M.; De Paepe, J.; Vlaeminck, S.E.
	Title	Environmental and economic sustainability of the nitrogen recovery paradigm : evidence from a structured literature review			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2022	Publication	Resources, conservation and recycling	Abbreviated Journal	Resour Conserv Recy
	Volume	184	Issue		Pages	106406-106413
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL)
	Abstract	Our economy drives on reactive nitrogen (Nr); while Nr emissions to the environment surpass the planetary boundary. Increasingly, it is advocated to recover Nr contained in waste streams and to reuse it ‘directly’ in the agri-food chain. Alternatively, Nr in waste streams may be removed as N2 and refixed via the Haber-Bosch process in an ‘indirect’ reuse loop. As a systematic sustainability analysis of ‘direct’ Nr reuse and its comparison to the ‘indirect’ reuse loop is lacking, this structured review aimed to analyze literature determining the environmental and economic sustainability of Nr recovery technologies. Bibliometric records were queried from 2000 to 2020 using Boolean search strings, and manual text coding. In total, 63 studies were selected for the review. Results suggest that ‘direct’ Nr reuse using Nr recovery technologies is the preferred paradigm as the majority of studies concluded that it is sustainable or that it can be sustainable depending on technological assumptions and other scenario variables. Only 17 studies compared the ‘direct’ with the ‘indirect’ Nr reuse route, therefore a system perspective in Nr recovery sustainability assessments should be more widely adopted. Furthermore, Nr reuse should also be analyzed in the context of a ‘new Nr economy’ that relies on decentralized Nr production from renewable energy. It is also recommended that on-par technology readiness level comparisons should be carried out, making use of technology development and technology learning methodologies. Finally, by-products of Nr recovery are important to be accounted for as they are reducing the environmental burdens through avoided impacts.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000804938100001	Publication Date	2022-05-18
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	0921-3449	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor	13.2	Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: 13.2
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:188873			Serial	7156
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	Author	Broos, W.; Wittner, N.; Geerts, J.; Dries, J.; Vlaeminck, S.E.; Gunde-Cimerman, N.; Richel, A.; Cornet, I.
	Title	Evaluation of lignocellulosic wastewater valorization with the oleaginous yeasts R. kratochvilovae EXF7516 and C. oleaginosum ATCC 20509			Type	A1 Journal article
	Year	2022	Publication	Fermentation	Abbreviated Journal
	Volume	8	Issue	5	Pages	204-221
	Keywords	A1 Journal article; Pharmacology. Therapy; Engineering sciences. Technology; Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL); Biochemical Wastewater Valorization & Engineering (BioWaVE)
	Abstract	During the conversion of lignocellulose, phenolic wastewaters are generated. Therefore, researchers have investigated wastewater valorization processes in which these pollutants are converted to chemicals, i.e., lipids. However, wastewaters are lean feedstocks, so these valorization processes in research typically require the addition of large quantities of sugars and sterilization, which increase costs. This paper investigates a repeated batch fermentation strategy with Rhodotorula kratochvilovae EXF7516 and Cutaneotrichosporon oleaginosum ATCC 20509, without these requirements. The pollutant removal and its conversion to microbial oil were evaluated. Because of the presence of non-monomeric substrates, the ligninolytic enzyme activity was also investigated. The repeated batch fermentation strategy was successful, as more lipids accumulated every cycle, up to a total of 5.4 g/L (23% cell dry weight). In addition, the yeasts consumed up to 87% of monomeric substrates, i.e., sugars, aromatics, and organics acids, and up to 23% of non-monomeric substrates, i.e., partially degraded xylan, lignin, cellulose. Interestingly, lipid production was only observed during the harvest phase of each cycle, as the cells experienced stress, possibly due to oxygen limitation. This work presents the first results on the feasibility of valorizing non-sterilized lignocellulosic wastewater with R. kratochvilovae and C. oleaginosum using a cost-effective repeated batch strategy.
	Address
	Corporate Author				Thesis
	Publisher		Place of Publication		Editor
	Language		Wos	000801796000001	Publication Date	2022-05-01
	Series Editor		Series Title		Abbreviated Series Title
	Series Volume		Series Issue		Edition
	ISSN	2311-5637	ISBN		Additional Links	UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
	Impact Factor		Times cited		Open Access	OpenAccess
	Notes				Approved	Most recent IF: NA
	Call Number	UA @ admin @ c:irua:187883			Serial	7157
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