Occurrence and transformations of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus related to particle size fraction of sweet potato starch wastewater during hydrolytic acidification processes

Sweet potato starch wastewater (SPSW) is an industrial food-processing waste product, which is a significant pollution source due to its high chemical oxygen demand (COD), nitrogen, and phosphorus loads. The influence of hydrolytic acidification (HA) process on C, N, and P as well as other main parameters were evaluated. It is essential to treat these wastewaters with effective methods such as HA, a general pretreatment application. In this study, we investigate the scientific link between the changes of different fractions of C, N, and P with particle size distribution in response to the newly introduced HA process. Results showed that the levels of COD, TN, and TP remained ultimately stable; pH and suspended solids (SSs) decreased obviously. HA process exhibits excellent capability of reducing the larger particulars (with diameter of >5 μm) into smaller ones (with diameter of <0.1 μm). The most significant initial concentration contribution to COD, TN, and TP pollution came from particles and matter with a diameter of >5 μm, at 41.8, 57.3, and 43.5%, respectively. While the most significant contribution to COD, TN, and TP was resulting from micro-molecular size particles (<0.1 μm) after 48 h. The smallest particles (<0.1 μm) were the most dominant contribution to all pollutants measured, with COD, TN, and TP contributions of 63.2, 50.4, and 59.3%, respectively. While the contribution of larger particles (particle size >5 μm) reduced to 10.2, 15.3, and 7.1%, respectively.