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Abstract: The anaerobic biodegradability of 23 nitrogenous compounds, including nitrogenous heterocyclic compounds and aliphatic amines, was tested and assessed in integration. These nitrogenous compounds were classified into readily, partially, and poorly biodegradable compounds after calculation of their integrated assessment indices (IAIs), Rules for anaerobic biodegradation of these compounds were also drawn. Stepwise regression and backpropagation artificial neural network (BP-ANN) methods were applied to establish quantitative structure–biodegradability relationships (QSBRs) based on the assessment results. In QSBR models, three molecular structure descriptors—second-order molecular connectivity index (), and energy of the highest occupied molecular orbital (EHOMO)—were included. After analysis of the sensitivity of variables in QSBR models, it was found that the key molecular structure descriptor affecting anaerobic biodegradability of nitrogenous compounds is EHOMO, which is directly proportional to the anaerobic biodegradability of nitrogenous compounds. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Anaerobic biodegradability of organic compounds can be assessed from the changes in organic compounds, the end products, and the activity of microorganisms. In this study, all three of these variables were considered to integrate assessment of the anaerobic biodegradability of organic compounds. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) was introduced to integrate the assessment. Real values between 0 and 10 were determined in the pairwise comparison matrix according to the values of assessment indices of the three variables. A new adjustment method, which can obtain minimum adjustment of the values in matrix, was proposed to reach the acceptable consistency of the matrix. Finally, the anaerobic biodegradability of 14 organic compounds was assessed using AHP. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study assessed anaerobic biodegradability of organic compounds from microorganism activity. Dehydrogenase activity can be a good parameter characterizing the microorganism activity. A modified method of 2-(p-iodophenyl-3-(p-nitrophenyl)-5-pheny tetrazolium chloride-dehydrogenase activity determination was proposed in anaerobic biodegradability assessment. Cubic spline curves were adopted to link the data points. This curve was integrated twice to calculate areas. The microorganism activity index in anaerobic biodegradability assessment was calculated by standardizing the integral. According to the results of the activity index, 14 kinds of organic compounds were classified into readily, partially, and poorly biodegradable under anaerobic conditions, respectively. As a result, some conclusions for anaerobic biodegradability of organic compounds were reached, based on the activity index value. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]