Hydraulic Selection Pressure Research Articles

PHA and EPS production from industrial wastewater by conventional activated sludge, membrane bioreactor and aerobic granular sludge technologies: A comprehensive comparison

The present study has focused on the mainstream integration of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production with industrial wastewater treatment by exploiting three different technologies all operating in sequencing batch reactors (SBR): conventional activated sludge (AS-SBR), membrane bioreactor (AS-MBR) and aerobic granular sludge (AGS). A full aerobic feast/famine strategy was adopted to obtain enrichment of biomass with PHA-storing bacteria. All the systems were operated at different organic loading (OLR) rate equal to 1-2-3 kgCOD/m3∙d in three respective experimental periods. The AS-MBR showed the better and stable carbon removal performance, whereas the effluent quality of the AS-SBR and AGS deteriorated at high OLR. Biomass enrichment with PHA-storing bacteria was successfully obtained in all the systems. The AS-MBR improved the PHA productivity with increasing OLR (max 35% w/w), whereas the AS-SBR reduced the PHA content (max 20% w/w) above an OLR threshold of 2 kgCOD/m3∙d. In contrast, in the AGS the increase of OLR resulted in a significant decrease in PHA productivity (max 14% w/w) and a concomitant increase of extracellular polymers (EPS) production (max 75% w/w). Results demonstrated that organic carbon was mainly driven towards the intracellular storage pathway in the AS-SBR (max yield 51%) and MBR (max yield 61%), whereas additional stressors in AGS (e.g., hydraulic selection pressure, shear forces) induced bacteria to channel the COD into extracellular storage compounds (max yield 50%) necessary to maintain the granule's structure. The results of the present study indicated that full-aerobic feast/famine strategy was more suitable for flocculent sludge-based technologies, although biofilm-like systems could open new scenarios for other biopolymers recovery (e.g., EPS). Moreover, the AS-MBR resulted the most suitable technology for the integration of PHA production in a mainstream industrial wastewater treatment plant, considering the greater process stability and the potential reclamation of the treated wastewater.

Aerobic granulation in a continuous-flow simultaneous nitrification, endogenous denitrification, and phosphorus removal system fed with low-strength wastewater: Granulation mechanism and microbial succession

The culture of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) in continuous-flow system for treating low-strength municipal wastewater is still a challenge for its widespread application. This study developed a continuous-flow reactor based on metabolic and hydraulic selection pressure to explore the feasibility of culturing AGS in conventional continuous-flow mode. The results showed that aerobic granulation was successfully achieved with a mean particle size of 373 μm and almost all granules (95.6 %) were larger than 200 μm. An obvious three-stages granulation process comprised of initial adhesion, the formation of early aggregates that acted as nuclei of granules, and the final AGS maturation, was observed in this work. The selective enrichment of slow-growing bacteria in alternating feast/famine condition played a critical role in the aerobic granulation. The analysis results of extracellular polymeric substances revealed that β-polysaccharides and proteins distributed uniformly within the mature granules, while α-polysaccharides were found mainly concentrated around the granules, which was believed to enhance the mechanical strength of granules. The continuous-flow AGS system exhibited an excellent simultaneous carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus removal performance with high removal efficiencies of NH4+-N (97.6 %), TIN (91.0 %), COD (93.7 %), and TP (94.8 %). Moreover, a low sludge yield of 0.1 gMLSS/gCOD was obtained for dramatic in situ sludge reduction. Illumina MiSeq sequencing results confirmed the outstanding accumulation of GAOs (Candidatus_Competibacter) and PAOs (Rhodocyclaceae) in the system, which were responsible for simultaneous C, N, P removal and sludge reduction. Overall, this study demonstrated the feasibility of aerobic granulation in conventional continuous-flow mode and offered insights into the granulation mechanism, providing implications and references for the application of AGS technology in existing wastewater treatment plants.

Aerobic granulation in an oxidation ditch using the residual sludge after extracting slime-extracellular polymer substances

Sludge granulation in continuous flow reactors (CFRs) is still of great challenge with the hardly obtained hydraulic selection pressure. A novel method was investigated for cultivating granular sludge in an oxidation ditch by recycling the residual sludge after extracting slime-extracellular polymer substances (slime-EPS). Compared to the raw sludge, bioactivities of the residual sludge slightly decreased based on endogenous, autotrophic, and heterotrophic respiration rates (SOURe, SOURA, and SOURH). When the slime-EPS extracted sludge was returned to the main reactor, the SOURe reduced and maintained stable later. For the first and second recycling, SOURA increased from 0.80 to 1.69 mgO2/gSS/h, and 0.16 to 1.21 mgO2/gSS/h, respectively, while SOURH exhibited initial decrease, subsequent increase and later stable trends. Moreover, total nitrogen in effluent decreased from 8.09 to 7.22 mg/L, and the protein-to-polysaccharide concentration ratio increased from 0.49 to 1.55. In addition, the mixed sludge of raw and residual sludge exhibited higher coaggregation capacity with decreased supernatant turbidity, triggering the granulation process. After 94-day operations, granules larger than 200 μm accounted for 32 % in the oxidation ditch, where neither hydraulic selection pressures nor feast-famine phases were provided. Therefore, returning the slime-EPS extracted sludge to the CFRs is a promising approach for aerobic granulation.

Biopolymer Recovery from Aerobic Granular Sludge and Conventional Flocculent Sludge in Treating Industrial Wastewater: Preliminary Analysis of Different Carbon Routes for Organic Carbon Utilization

The recovery of biopolymers from sewage sludge could be a crucial step in implementing circular economy principles in wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). In this frame, the present study was aimed at evaluating the simultaneous production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) obtainable from the treatment of agro-industrial wastewater. Two biological enrichment systems, aerobic granular sludge (AGS) and a conventional activated sludge operating as a sequencing batch reactor (SBR), were monitored for 204 and 186 days, respectively. The maximum biopolymers accumulation capacity was close to 0.60 mgPHA-EPS gVSS−1 in the AGS when operating at 3 kgCODm−3d−1, whereas in the SBR, it was about half (0.35 mgPHA-EPS gVSS−1). Biopolymers extracted from the AGS were mainly constituted by EPS (>70%), whose percentage increased up to 95% with the OLR applied in the enrichment reactor. In contrast, SBR enabled obtaining a higher PHA production (50% of the biopolymers). Results suggested that organic carbon was mainly channeled toward metabolic pathways for extracellular storing in AGS, likely due to metabolic stressors (e.g., hydraulic selection pressure, shear forces) applied for promoting aerobic granulation.

Do increased organic loading rates accelerate aerobic granulation in hypersaline environment?

It is a common sense that high organic loading rate (OLR) leads to the faster formation of aerobic granular sludge (AGS), while the effects of increased OLR on the direct development of salt-tolerant aerobic granular sludge (SAGS) in hypersaline wastewater is still unknown. In this study, four identical sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) were directly fed with 3% salinity wastewater and operated at different OLRs to cultivate SAGS. Granules firstly appeared on Day 10, 7, 5, and 8, and dominated on Day 23, 16, 10, and 13 in four SBRs operated under OLR of 2.4, 3.6, 4.8, and 7.2 kg COD/m3·d, respectively. The former three granules matured on Day 29 (D50 of 550 µm), 25 (D50 of 639 µm), and 25 (D50 of 808 µm), respectively, while the loose and fluffy filamentous granules cultivated under the highest OLR failed to reach the traditional criterion of AGS. Overall, increased OLR could accelerate the formation of AGS that had larger sizes and lower microbial diversities. However, unlike salt-free wastewater, the appropriate OLR for rapid formation of compact AGS in hypersaline wastewater was only 3.6 kg COD/m3·d, since the higher OLRs with higher hydraulic selection pressure led to the massive sludge loss and the formation of instable fluffy granules during granulation period. Bacterial community analysis revealed Corynebacterium, Marinobacterium, Paracoccus, Halomonas, and Vibrio were the main genera in four SBRs, in which Corynebacterium had certain abundance at all OLRs, and Vibrio and Paracoccus favored low OLR, while Halomonas and Marinobacterium dominated the SBRs with high OLRs. This study contributed to a better understanding of SAGS granulation under different OLR conditions in hypersaline wastewater.

Effect of hydraulic selection pressure on the characteristics of partial nitritation/anammox granular sludge in a continuous-flow reactor

Strong hydraulic selection pressure is a control co-factor for maintaining the stability of granular sludge in a continuous-flow bioreactor. In this study, efficient nitrogen removal was achieved in a continuous partial nitritation/anammox (PN/A) granular reactor in a short hydraulic retention time (HRT), decreasing from 100 to 40 min, where more than 95% of ammonium and 80% of total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) were removed at a constant nitrogen loading rate of 2.0 kg (m 3 d) −1 . Results showed that the decreased HRT substantially influenced the observed biomass growth curve, with a trade-off between the growth and washout of microbial populations. Further, sludge characterization indicated that shorter HRT improved granular compactness with the accumulation of extracellular polymeric substances and increased the specific nitrogen removal rate, reaching q (TIN) = 39.9 mg N g −1 VSS ⋅ h −1 . These observations were consistent with shifts in the bacterial community structure of the PN/A sludge with different particle sizes. High-throughput pyrosequencing revealed that strong hydraulic selection pressure promoted the niche segregation of aerobic and anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (AOB and AnAOB) and washout of nitrite-oxidizing species in the granules. The effective retention of k -strategists AnAOB (dominated by genus Candidatus Kuenenia) occupying the interior layer of the granules exhibited a solid retention time (SRT) 10-fold longer than that of AOB (identified as Nitrosomonas ) enriched in the aerobic zone. A strategy involving HRT and SRT coordination in operation can enhance the efficiency and stability of PN/A systems, considering the potential development of small aggregates into mature granules. • Strong hydraulic selection pressure was applied in a CSTR with PN/A granules. • NH 4 + -N removal ≥ 95% and TIN removal ≥ 80% were achieved at an HRT of 40 min. • HRT influenced the observed biomass growth curve and granular functional activity. • Shorter HRT promoted niche segregation of AOB and AnAOB in PN/A sludge.

Long-Term Stability of Nitrifying Granules in a Membrane Bioreactor without Hydraulic Selection Pressure

To understand the long-term stability of nitrifying granules in a membrane bioreactor (GMBR), a membrane module was submerged in an airlift reactor to eliminate the hydraulic selection pressure that was believed to be the driving force of aerobic granulation. The long-term monitoring results showed that the structure of nitrifying granules could remain stable for 305 days in the GMBR without hydraulic selection pressure; however, the majority of the granule structure was actually inactive due to mass diffusion limitation. As a consequence, active biomass free of mass diffusion limitation only inhabited the top 60–80 µm layer of the nitrifying granules. There was a dynamic equilibrium between bioflocs and membrane, i.e., 25% of bioflocs attached on the membrane surface within the last nine days of the backwash cycle in synchronization with the emergence of a peak of soluble extracellular polymeric substances (sEPS), with a concentration of around 47 mg L−1. Backwash can eventually detach and return these bioflocs to the bulk solution. However, the rate of membrane fouling did not change with and without the biofloc attachment. In a certain sense, the GMBR investigated in this study functioned in a similar fashion as an integrated fixed-film activated sludge membrane bioreactor and thus defeated the original purpose of GMBR development. The mass diffusion problem and sEPS production should be key areas of focus in future GMBR research.

A settling model for full-scale aerobic granular sludge

The settling behavior of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) in full-scale reactors is different from the settling of normal activated sludge. Current activated sludge models lack the features to describe the segregation of granules based on size during the settling process. This segregation plays an important role in the granulation process and therefore a better understanding of the settling is essential. The goal of this study was to model and evaluate the segregation of different granule sizes during settling and feeding in full-scale aerobic granular sludge reactors. Hereto the Patwardhan and Tien model was used. This model is an implementation of the Richardson and Zaki model, allowing for multiple classes of particles. To create the granular settling model, the most relevant parameters were identified using aerobic granular sludge from different full-scale Nereda® reactors. The settling properties of individual granules were measured as was the bulk behavior of granular sludge beds with uniform granular sludge particles. The obtained parameters were combined in a model containing multiple granule classes, which then was validated for granular sludge settling in a full-scale Nereda® reactor. In practice a hydraulic selection pressure is used to select for granular sludge. Under the same hydraulic selection pressure the model predicted that different stable granular size distributions can occur. This indicates that granular size distribution control would need a different mechanism then the hydraulic selection pressure alone. This model can be used to better understand and optimize operational parameters of AGS reactors that depend on granular sludge size, like biological nutrient removal. Furthermore insights from this model can also be used in the development of continuously fed AGS systems.

Bacterial enrichment in highly-selective acetate-fed bioreactors and its application in rapid biofilm formation

In this study, we systematically investigated the bacterial community dynamics in highly-selective (strong hydraulic selection pressure and high organic loading rate) bioreactors with acetate as the sole carbon source. 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing and metagenomic sequencing results showed that phenolics-degrading bacteria (PDB), which were mainly Acinetobacter species, in the newly-formed aerobic granules could account for >70% of the total bacteria. Near full-length 16S rRNA gene sequences obtained by cloning suggest that the PDB are potentially novel species because they are distantly related to known Acinetobacter species. However, these PDB only temporarily appeared in the early stage of the granule formation and their abundance quickly decreased along the reactor operation. To retain these PDB, we demonstrated that the newly-formed aerobic granules could accelerate biofilm formation in moving bed biofilm reactors (MBBRs), and the biofilm carriers showed gradually-increased phenol degradation performance in the MBBRs. While, the bacterial community in biofilm significantly changed during the operation process of the MBBRs and the community structure became more complicated than that in the aerobic granules. Collectively, this study provides new insights into the microbial ecology of sludge granulation and biofilm formation process in the wastewater treatment systems for remediating phenolic matters.

Synergistic strengthening mechanism of hydraulic selection pressure and poly aluminum chloride (PAC) regulation on the aerobic sludge granulation

This study aimed to enhance aerobic granulation by the integration of hydraulic selection pressure (HSP) and poly aluminum chloride (PAC) regulation. Based on an investigation of sludge characteristics, microbial aggregation and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) secretion, the synergistic mechanisms of HSP and PAC regulation were revealed. For granule formation, HSP primarily improved the cell hydrophobicity and extracellular protein production, while PAC regulation markedly neutralized the surface charge of cells and reduced the interaction energy between them. In addition, biomass retention was also facilitated by the PAC dosing. Notably, the results of total interaction energy and flocculating ability imply that prior HSP screening could significantly promote PAC regulation on microbial aggregation. To optimize the balance between granule formation and reactor performances, five kinds of integrated strategies for HSP and PAC regulation were conducted in batch test. According to the results, 4.3 g/L initial mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (MLVSS) was preferred before the addition of PAC.

Comparison of the bacterial community composition in the granular and the suspended phase of sequencing batch reactors

Granulation of activated sludge is an increasingly important area within the field of wastewater treatment. Granulation is usually achieved by high hydraulic selection pressure, which results in the wash-out of slow settling particles. The effect of the harsh wash-out conditions on the granular sludge ecosystem is not yet fully understood, but different bacterial groups may be affected to varying degrees. In this study, we used high-throughput amplicon sequencing to follow the community composition in granular sludge reactors for 12 weeks, both in the granular phase and the suspended phase (effluent). The microbiome of the washed out biomass was similar but not identical to the microbiome of the granular biomass. Certain taxa (e.g. Flavobacterium spp. and Bdellovibrio spp.) had significantly (p < 0.05) higher relative abundance in the granules compared to the effluent. Fluorescence in situ hybridization images indicated that these taxa were mainly located in the interior of granules and therefore protected from erosion. Other taxa (e.g. Meganema sp. and Zooglea sp.) had significantly lower relative abundance in the granules compared to the effluent, and appeared to be mainly located on the surface of granules and therefore subject to erosion. Despite being washed out, these taxa were among the most abundant members of the granular sludge communities and were likely growing fast in the reactors. The ratio between relative abundance in the granular biomass and in the effluent did not predict temporal variation of the taxa in the reactors, but it did appear to predict the spatial location of the taxa in the granules.

Influence of feeding pattern and hydraulic selection pressure to control filamentous bulking in biological treatment of dairy wastewaters

In sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) treating dairy wastewaters, the overgrowth of filamentous bacteria is a frequent cause of operational problems. The present study aimed at understanding to what extent the operating conditions of a SBR can be optimized to convert a bulking activated sludge into a well-settling biomass at low aeration velocity. The abundance of filament morphotypes and floc-formers able to store biopolymers were analysed by PCR-DGGE and 16S amplicon sequencing. The results indicated that a combination of an anaerobic-microaerated feeding pattern with a low selective pressure was beneficial to supress filamentous overgrowth and to form aerobic granules, while increasing the efficiency of suspended solid removal. Average removal efficiencies for total chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) were 94±2%, 95±1% and 83±13%, respectively.

Study of aerobic granular sludge stability in a continuous-flow membrane bioreactor

A granular continuous-flow membrane bioreactor with a novel hydrodynamic configuration was developed to evaluate the stability of aerobic granular sludge (AGS). Under continuous-flow operation (Period I), AGS rapidly lost their structural integrity resulting in loose and fluffy microbial aggregates in which filamentous bacteria were dominant. The intermittent feeding (Period II) allowed obtaining the succession of feast and famine conditions that favored the increase in AGS stability. Although no further breakage occurred, the formation of new granules was very limited, owing to the absence of the hydraulic selection pressure. These results noted the necessity to ensure, on the one hand the succession of feast/famine conditions, and on the other, the hydraulic selection pressure that allows flocculent sludge washout. This preliminary study shows that the proposed configuration could meet the first aspect; in contrast, biomass selection needs to be improved.

Rapid cultivation of aerobic granular sludge in a continuous flow reactor

Aerobic granular sludge (AGS) was successfully cultivated in a double column cyclic aerobic granular reactor (DCCAGR) within 18 days by inoculating with 30% (w/w) mature aerobic granules and 70% activated sludge, while granulation process and reactor performance was investigated in the continuous flow reactor. The AGS cultivated was white or pale yellow, while granule’s SVI, average particle size, granulation rate, extracellular polymeric substances, polysaccharides/proteins ratio and water content were about 46mL/g, 1.2mm, 92%, 37mg/g MLVSS, 1.4 and 98.3% on the 20th day. Observed from the microscopic structure of the cultivated AGS, a large number of microorganisms tightly adhered together inhibited inside the granules, including coccus, bacillus and protozoa. Finally, effluent chemical oxygen demand, total inorganic chemical demand, ammonium nitrogen and total phosphorus of the system were 33mg/L, 8.46mg/L, 7.3mg/L and 1.26mg/L, and their removal rates were 97%, 88%, 90% and 87% respectively. Effective hydraulic selection pressure can be created in DCCAGR, while inoculated AGS had positive significance to the agglomeration of other flocculent sludge, which greatly reduced the startup time and consumption of mature aerobic granules.

Effects of hydraulic retention time on aerobic granulation and granule growth kinetics at steady state with a fast start-up strategy.

A hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 4, 6, and 8h was employed, respectively, in three reactors to study the effects of HRT on granulation with a newly developed fast granulation strategy, i.e., a strategy by combining strong hydraulic selection pressure with high organic loading rate (OLR). Granules with clear boundary appeared within 24h after reactor start-up and all reactors reached a pseudo steady state after 6-day operation. A 4-h HRT resulted in a relatively higher increasing rate in terms of granule size during granule development period, i.e., 208μm day(-1), and the bigger granule size and the higher sludge volume index at the pseudo steady state. For HRT of 6 or 8h, no obvious difference was observed. However, it was found that HRT influenced sludge retention time (SRT) and kinetics significantly. A HRT changing from 4 to 8h led to an increased SRT from 3 to 21days, a decreased observed specific biomass growth rate (μ obs) and an decreased observed biomass yield (Y obs) of stable granules from 0.37 to 0.062days(-1), and 0.177 to 0.055g MLVSS g(-1) COD, respectively. Both μ obs and Y obs had a linear relationship with the reciprocal of HRT. In addition, the great difference of microbial community between seed sludge, sludge retained in the reactors, and sludge washed out indicated a strong microbial selection for fast granulation within 24h. However, during the granule development period from day 1 to 6, no more microbial selection was observed except an adjustment of microbial community. Little influence of HRT on microbial population in granular sludge indicated a minor role of HRT played for granulation with the fast start-up strategy adopted in this study. The results demonstrated that hydraulic selection pressure for granulation was mainly from short settling time, which led to strong microbial selection during the granulation period. Meanwhile, although HRT did not affect granulation with the fast start-up strategy, it played an important role on sludge retention time and excess sludge production. Therefore, HRT should be carefully optimized to balance benefits and shortfalls it brings to aerobic granular sludge system.

Interaction between phosphorus removal and hybrid granular sludge formation under low hydraulic selection pressure at alternating anaerobic/aerobic conditions

The hybrid granular sludge (HGS) formation and its performances on phosphorus removal were investigated in a sequencing batch airlift reactor. Under conditions of low superficial air velocity (SAV = 0.68 cm s−1) and relatively long settling time (15–30 min), aerobic granules appeared and coexisted with bio-flocs after 120 days operation. At the stable phase, 54% of total suspended solid (m/m) was granular sludge with the two typical sizes (Dmean = 1.77 ± 0.33 and 0.89 ± 0.11 mm) in the reactor, where the settling velocity was 98.7 ± 12.4 and 37.8 ± 0.9 m h−1 for the big and small granules. With progressive extension of anaerobic time from 15 to 60 min before aerobic condition per cycle during the whole experiment, the HGS system can be maintained at a high total phosphorus removal efficiency (ca. 99%) since Day-270. The phosphorus content (wt %) in biomass was respectively 9.54 ± 0.29, 7.60 ± 0.48 and 6.15 ± 0.59 for the big granules, small granules and flocs.

Fast formation of aerobic granules by combining strong hydraulic selection pressure with overstressed organic loading rate

The combined strong hydraulic selection pressure (HSP) with overstressed organic loading rate (OLR) as a fast granulation strategy was used to enhance aerobic granulation. To investigate the wide applicability of this strategy to different scenarios and its relevant mechanism, different settling times, different inoculums, different exchange ratios, different reactor configurations, and different shear force were used in this study. It was found that clear granules were formed within 24 h and steady state reached within three days when the fast granulation strategy was used in a lab-scale reactor seeded with well settled activated sludge (Reactor 2). However, granules appeared after 2-week operation and reached steady state after one month at the traditional step-wise decreased settling time from 20 to 2 min with OLR of 6 g COD/L·d (Reactor 1). With the fast granulation strategy, granules appeared within 24 h even with bulking sludge as seed to start up Reactor 3, but 6-day lag phase was observed compared with Reactor 2. Both Reactor 2 and Reactor 3 experienced sigmoidal growth curve in terms of biomass accumulation and granule size increase after granulation. In addition, the reproducible results in pilot-scale reactors (Reactor 5 and Reactor 6) with diameter of 20 cm and height/diameter ratio (H/D) of 4 further proved that reactor configuration and fluid flow pattern had no effect on the aerobic granulation when the fast granulation strategy was employed, but biomass accumulation experienced a short lag phase too in Reactor 5 and Reactor 6. Although overstressed OLR was favorable for fast granulation, it also led to the fluffy granules after around two-week operation. However, the stable 6-month operation of Reactor 3 demonstrated that the rapidly formed granules were able to maintain long-term stability by reducing OLR from 12 g COD/L·d to 6 g COD/L·d. A mechanism of fast granulation with the strategy of combined strong HSP and OLR was proposed to explain results and guide the operation with this fast strategy.

Aerobic granulation strategy for bioaugmentation of a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) treating high strength pyridine wastewater

Aerobic granules were successfully cultivated in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR), using a single bacterial strain Rhizobium sp. NJUST18 as the inoculum. NJUST18 presented as both a good pyridine degrader and an efficient autoaggregator. Stable granules with diameter of 0.5–1mm, sludge volume index of 25.6±3.6mL g−1 and settling velocity of 37.2±2.7mh−1, were formed in SBR following 120-day cultivation. These granules exhibited excellent pyridine degradation performance, with maximum volumetric degradation rate (Vmax) varied between 1164.5mgL−1h−1 and 1867.4mgL−1h−1. High-throughput sequencing analysis exhibited a large shift in microbial community structure, since the SBR was operated under open condition. Paracoccus and Comamonas were found to be the most predominant species in the aerobic granule system after the system had stabilized. The initially inoculated Rhizobium sp. lost its dominance during aerobic granulation. However, the inoculation of Rhizobium sp. played a key role in the start-up process of this bioaugmentation system. This study demonstrated that, in addition to the hydraulic selection pressure during settling and effluent discharge, the selection of aggregating bacterial inocula is equally important for the formation of the aerobic granule.

Influence of the granulation grade on the concentration of suspended solids in the effluent of a pilot scale sequencing batch reactor operated with aerobic granular sludge

The operation of aerobic granular sludge reactors with a completely granulated sludge bed is often associated with effluent suspended solids concentrations above the required limits. In this work it can be shown that the amount of aerobic granules on the total biomass concentration is a key operation tool to control the suspended solids effluent concentration. Low effluent concentrations could be achieved only when the granule content was below 80%. A pilot scale reactor with a working volume of 4m3 was used to treat municipal wastewater with aerobic granules and was operated for 247days. The chosen sequential batch operation consisted of five phases: a short influent, anaerobic mixing, aeration, settling and effluent. The anaerobic mixing is innovative as it provides the same conditions for all granules. Additionally, by choosing an anaerobic mixing step the activated sludge granulation can be applied independently to the reactor geometry. Total suspended solids concentrations of 12gTSS/L in the reactor and effluent suspended solids concentration below 50mgTSS/L could be achieved. During the reactor start-up a high hydraulic selection pressure was not required to induce the granule formation. Hence, a complete nitrification was achieved already during start up. The added phosphorus was completely removed biologically by the granules.

Is sludge retention time a decisive factor for aerobic granulation in SBR?

This study investigated the role of sludge retention time (SRT) in aerobic granulation under negligible hydraulic selection pressure. Results showed that no successful aerobic granulation was observed at the studied SRTs in the range of 3–40 days. A comparison analysis revealed that hydraulic selection pressure in terms of the minimum settling velocity would be much more effective than SRT for enhancing heterotrophic aerobic granulation in sequencing batch reactor (SBR). It was shown that SRT would not be a decisive factor for aerobic granulation in SBR.