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Development and characteristics of phosphorus-accumulating microbial granules in sequencing batch reactors
1Environmental Engineering Research Center, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, 639798 Singapore.
Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology
|June 5, 2003
Summary
Microbial granules effectively remove phosphorus (P) by accumulating it through specific metabolic processes. Higher substrate P/COD ratios resulted in smaller, denser granules with efficient P uptake, comparable to conventional methods.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Microbiology
- Biotechnology
- Wastewater Treatment
Background:
- Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) is crucial for managing phosphorus pollution.
- Microbial granules offer a potential alternative to conventional EBPR systems.
- Understanding granule characteristics under varying conditions is key to optimizing P removal.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop phosphorus-accumulating microbial granules.
- To investigate the effect of substrate phosphorus to chemical oxygen demand (P/COD) ratios on granule properties and performance.
- To evaluate the P uptake capacity and characteristics of these granules.
Main Methods:
- Development of P-accumulating microbial granules in sequencing batch reactors.
- Cultivation at various substrate P/COD ratios (1/100 to 10/100 by weight).
- Analysis of soluble COD and PO4-P profiles, granule size, density, and aerobic respirometric activity.
Main Results:
- Granules exhibited typical P-accumulating behavior: anaerobic P release followed by aerobic P uptake.
- Increasing substrate P/COD ratio led to smaller, denser granules.
- P uptake ranged from 1.9% to 9.3% by weight, comparable to conventional EBPR.
- Low specific oxygen utilization rate favored P uptake.
Conclusions:
- Microbial granules can be effectively developed for enhanced biological phosphorus removal.
- Substrate P/COD ratio influences granule morphology and P accumulation efficiency.
- These findings support the development of novel granule-based EBPR technologies.