The effect of hydraulic retention time on the stability of aerobically grown microbial granules

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of hydraulic retention time (HRT) on the development of aerobically grown microbial granules.

Five column-shaped sequential aerobic sludge blanket reactors (SASBRs) were seeded with aerobically grown microbial granules and operated in a cyclic mode at different HRTs. At the shortest HRT of 1 h, the strong hydraulic pressure triggered biomass washout and led to reactor failure. At the longest HRT of 24 h, which represented the weakest hydraulic selection in this study, aerobic granules were gradually substituted by bioflocs because of the lower frequency of volumetric exchange. Within the optimum range of HRTs from 2 to 12 h, however, aerobic granules became stabilized in the presence of adequate hydraulic selection in the reactors, with good mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (MLVSS) retention, high volumetric chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal, low sludge volume index (SVI) values, good effluent quality, low sludge production rate, stronger and more compact structures, high cell hydrophobicity and high ratios of extracellular polysaccharides (PS) to extracellular proteins (PN).

HRTs between 2 and 12 h provided the hydraulic selection pressures favourable for the formation and maintenance of stable aerobic granules with good settleability and activity.

This is the first systematic study on the effect of HRT on heterotrophic aerobic granules. The results of the investigation are useful in understanding how aerobic granules can be applied for wastewater treatment.