Influence Of Sludge Age Research Articles

Influence of Sludge Age on the Performance of a Cyclically Fed Microbial Fuel Cell Using Glycerol from Biodiesel

Influence of Sludge Age on the Performance of a Cyclically Fed Microbial Fuel Cell Using Glycerol from Biodiesel

Filamentous bacteria in the nitrifying activated sludge.

Filamentous bacteria in addition to wastewater treatment are responsible for the shape of flocs and sedimentation properties of activated sludge. Their dynamics in activated sludge influences the performance of the whole sewage treatment plant. Therefore the composition of activated sludge biocenosis and its dynamics in the nitrification process were investigated. Four laboratory-scale activated sludge membrane bioreactors fed with wastewater highly concentrated with ammonium (synthetic wastewater imitating landfill leachate) were operated to obtain a high rate of nitrification. The sludge age was 8, 12, 24 and 32 days. An additional fifth reactor was conventionally ammonium loaded at 12-day sludge age and served as the reference. A shift in filamentous bacteria population was observed in all operated reactors. There was no influence of sludge age on composition or abundance of filamentous biocenosis. In high ammonium loaded activated sludge Nostocoida limicola, Haliscomenobacter hydrossis and also Type 021N were the most abundant filamentous bacteria. In the reference reactor Type 021N and Sphaerotilus natans dominated the activated sludge.

Effect of sludge age on methanogenic and glycogen accumulating organisms in an aerobic granular sludge process fed with methanol and acetate.

The influence of sludge age on granular sludge formation and microbial population dynamics in a methanol- and acetate-fed aerobic granular sludge system operated at 35°C was investigated. During anaerobic feeding of the reactor, methanol was initially converted to methane by methylotrophic methanogens. These methanogens were able to withstand the relatively long aeration periods. Lowering the anaerobic solid retention time (SRT) from 17 to 8 days enabled selective removal of the methanogens and prevented unwanted methane formation. In absence of methanogens, methanol was converted aerobically, while granule formation remained stable. At high SRT values (51 days), γ-Proteobacteria were responsible for acetate removal through anaerobic uptake and subsequent aerobic growth on storage polymers formed [so called metabolism of glycogen-accumulating organisms (GAO)]. When lowering the SRT (24 days), Defluviicoccus-related organisms (cluster II) belonging to the α-Proteobacteria outcompeted acetate consuming γ-Proteobacteria at 35°C. DNA from the Defluviicoccus-related organisms in cluster II was not extracted by the standard DNA extraction method but with liquid nitrogen, which showed to be more effective. Remarkably, the two GAO types of organisms grew separately in two clearly different types of granules. This work further highlights the potential of aerobic granular sludge systems to effectively influence the microbial communities through sludge age control in order to optimize the wastewater treatment processes.

Effect of sludge age on heavy metal biosorption by selector activated sludge

The influence of sludge age on the metal biosorption characteristics of an aerobic selector-activated sludge was investigated. Two bench-scale aerobic-activated sludge systems were operated at sludge ages of 5 days and 15 days for studying biosorption of Cu and Cr(VI). In-vitro batch experiments were performed to compare biosorption characteristics of the sludge samples harvested from the bench-scale systems. Adsorption capacity (k) of the sludge for both of the metals was found to decrease with increasing sludge age from 5 days to 15 days However, percent removals of the metals were variable in relation to sludge age. Although Cr(VI) removal increased from 33% to 68%, Cu removal exhibited a slight decrease from 81% to 74% with increasing sludge age.

Operational Optimisation of Pilot Scale Biological Nutrient Removal at the Ciudad Real (Spain) Domestic Wastewater Treatment Plant

The aim of this work is optimising operating conditions for a possibleimplementation of a Biological Nutrient Removal (BNR) process in the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) of Ciudad Real (Spain). Several factors (hydraulic retention times, anaerobic nitrate concentration, sludge age and wastewater biodegradability) were tested using a pilot scale VIP (Virginia Initiative Plant) activated sludge process and domestic wastewater from the full scale plant. Hydraulic retention times used did not cause changes in N and P removal. P removal was adversely affected by anaerobic NO3- and improved with higher BOD5/COD ratios in wastewater. Influence of sludge age was very low in P removal, but N removal was mainly affected by this factor. Final operating conditions were selected taking into account their effects over one of both nutrients. COD and SS removal were always successful. N removal was also easily reached and the main difficulty was P removal. P sludge content was very low (2.5–4%) approximately and was also affected by the same factors tested. The main factor to improve P removal was supposed to be the organic wastewater composition. Wastewater characteristics were modified by using different sources from the WWTP. Volatile fatty acids (VFA) addition to the wastewater by using supernatant of the anaerobic sludge digesters seemed to be the best practical solution for a future BNR implementation in the WWTP.

Community structure of micro- and macroflocs in pin-point sludge and the influence of sludge age and potassium addition on microfloc formation

Settling problems caused by pin-point sludge constitute a serious problem in biological wastewater treatment, particularly in many industrial plants. Until now, most studies focused on the relationship between pin-point sludge formation and either shearing forces or the impact of toxicants. This study deals with the community structure in both the micro- and macrofloc fraction which was analyzed by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and BIOLOG substrate utilization patterns. It was shown that each fraction consisted of different microbial communities with unique metabolic profiles suggesting that pin-point sludge formation is not due to dispersal of intact flocs but to microcolonies growing separately. Alternatively, macroflocs may have an architecture leading to segregation of microbial communities after floc dispersal. Further it could be shown that the formation of microflocs was influenced by sludge age. The best sludge sedimentation was obtained for a sludge age of 5 and 10 days. Additional analysis of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) suggested that the lower protein to carbohydrate ratio of 10-day-old sludge led to better flocculation compared to 20-day-old sludge containing similar total amounts of EPS. From a practical point of view, addition of potassium (0.1 g/l) effected a noticeable improvement of sludge settleability.

Influence of sludge age on enhanced phosphorus removal in biological systems

The phosphorus removal process was studied in a bench-scale plant for a period of 300 days. The process was observed to depend greatly on two parameters: the amount of volatile fatty acid (VFA) taken up in the anaerobic stage and sludge age. For a given sludge age, phosphorus release versus VFA uptake in the anaerobic stage could be fitted to a straight line, while phosphorus uptake in the non-anaerobic stages fitted a logarithmic curve. Thus, phosphorus removal occurred within a limited VFA uptake range. The range width and the phosphorus removal capacity varied with sludge age.

Influence of sludge age on enhanced phosphorus removal in biological systems

The phosphorus removal process was studied in a bench-scale plant for a period of 300 days. The process was observed to depend greatly on two parameters: the amount of volatile fatty acid (VFA) taken up in the anaerobic stage and sludge age. For a given sludge age, phosphorus release versus VFA uptake in the anaerobic stage could be fitted to a straight line, while phosphorus uptake in the non-anaerobic stages fitted a logarithmic curve. Thus, phosphorus removal occurred within a limited VFA uptake range. The range width and the phosphorus removal capacity varied with sludge age.

The Influence of Sludge Age on Copper (2+) and Chromium (3+) Uptake by Activated Sludge

Abstract This paper reports the results obtained on Cu2+ and Cr3+ uptake by activated sludge of 7 and 12 d sludge age. Removal efficiencies of these heavy metals decrease when their initial concentrations increase. For the Cu2+, sludges of lower age adsorb 12% less over the range of the metal concentration added. The Cr3+ adsorption was a function of both sludge age and initial concentration. For an initial concentration of 32 mg/L, both sludges gave identical removals. The stability of bound, metal-activated sludge increases when the sludge age increases for Cu2+. The opposite effect has been noted with Cr3+.

Activated sludge treatment of abattoir wastewater—I: Influence of sludge age and feeding pattern

As part of a study to provide data for the design of abattoir activated sludge plants laboratory-scale completely mixed reactors were fed with abattoir wastewater, continuously and intermittently using an 8 h feed, 16 h starvation pattern. The standard biokinetic coefficients and the effluent concentrations of COD. TKN and phosphorus were measured for the continuously fed reactors at sludge ages of 5, 10 and 20 days. Sludge settleability and filterability were also measured. Values obtained for the biokinetic coefficients Y and k d were within the range of values reported for other substrates but k was lower and k x higher. Effluent TKN and phosphorus concentrations were low at the three sludge ages, but the COD concentration was high at sludge ages of 5 and 10 days. In contrast to the data reported for many other wastewaters the effect of sludge age on the SVI was small. Intermittent feeding was tested at a single sludge age of 10 days. It produced an effluent and sludge with better and more stable characteristics than those from the continuously fed reactor at the same sludge age.

The influence of sludge age on heavy metal removal in the activated sludge process

In a laboratory simulation of the activated sludge process ten heavy metals were added continuously to the system which was allowed to equilibrate at six sludge ages between 3 and 18d. Cobalt, manganese and molybdenum removals were poor and were unaffected by changes in the sludge age. The highest removal efficiencies for the other metals occurred at the 15d sludge age. Chromium (trivalent) and cadmium had the highest removal efficiencies, typically greater than 50%. The behaviour of the majority of the metals which were removed to a significant extent was related to one of the parameters influenced by sludge age, i.e. mixed liquor suspended solids, effluent suspended solids or effluent chemical oxygen demand. The metals which were poorly removed showed little affinity for the activated sludge, while most metals exhibited maximum specific uptake by the mixed liquor at a sludge age of 9–12d. However, the affinity of silver for the mixed liquor continued to increase as the sludge age increased to 18d. An affinity series, based on an arbitrary measure of the specific accumulation of metals by the mixed liquor, indicated that chromium, cadmium and silver were most readily adsorbed by the activated sludge.