TY - JOUR
T1 - Behavior of polymeric substrates in an aerobic granular sludge system
AU - de Kreuk, M. K.
AU - Kishida, N.
AU - Tsuneda, S.
AU - van Loosdrecht, M. C.M.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors wish to thank the European Commission (Research DG) for financial assistance within ‘Global change and ecosystems’ of VI FP ( contract 036882 , INNOWATECH Project), Dietmar Struebing and Eleonora Coingu for their work and Mario Pronk for his endless help during laboratory experiments.
PY - 2010/12
Y1 - 2010/12
N2 - Particulate and slowly biodegradable substrates form an important fraction of industrial wastewater and sewage. To study the influence of suspended solids and colloidal substrate on the morphology and performance of aerobic granular sludge, suspended and soluble starch was used as a model substrate. Degradation was studied using microscopy, micro-electrode measurements, batch experiments and long term laboratory scale reactor operation. Starch was removed by adsorption at the granule surface, followed by hydrolysis and consumption of the hydrolyzed products. Aerobic granules could be maintained on starch as sole influent carbon source, but their structure was filamentous and irregular. It is hypothesized that this is related to the low starch hydrolysis rates, leading to available substrate during the aeration period (extended feast period) and resulting in increased substrate gradients over the granules. The latter induces a less uniform granule development. Starch adsorbed and was consumed at the granule surface instead of being accumulated inside the granules as occurs for soluble substrates. Therefore the simultaneous denitrification efficiencies remained low. Moreover, many protozoa and metazoans were observed in laboratory reactors as well as in pilot- and full-scale Nereda® reactors, indicating an important role in the removal of suspended solids too.
AB - Particulate and slowly biodegradable substrates form an important fraction of industrial wastewater and sewage. To study the influence of suspended solids and colloidal substrate on the morphology and performance of aerobic granular sludge, suspended and soluble starch was used as a model substrate. Degradation was studied using microscopy, micro-electrode measurements, batch experiments and long term laboratory scale reactor operation. Starch was removed by adsorption at the granule surface, followed by hydrolysis and consumption of the hydrolyzed products. Aerobic granules could be maintained on starch as sole influent carbon source, but their structure was filamentous and irregular. It is hypothesized that this is related to the low starch hydrolysis rates, leading to available substrate during the aeration period (extended feast period) and resulting in increased substrate gradients over the granules. The latter induces a less uniform granule development. Starch adsorbed and was consumed at the granule surface instead of being accumulated inside the granules as occurs for soluble substrates. Therefore the simultaneous denitrification efficiencies remained low. Moreover, many protozoa and metazoans were observed in laboratory reactors as well as in pilot- and full-scale Nereda® reactors, indicating an important role in the removal of suspended solids too.
KW - Aerobic granular sludge
KW - Filamentous structures
KW - Hydrolysis
KW - Protozoa
KW - Starch
KW - Suspended solids
KW - Wastewater treatment
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U2 - 10.1016/j.watres.2010.07.033
DO - 10.1016/j.watres.2010.07.033
M3 - Article
C2 - 20817210
AN - SCOPUS:78649318988
SN - 0043-1354
VL - 44
SP - 5929
EP - 5938
JO - Water Research
JF - Water Research
IS - 20
ER -