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Updated: Jul 19, 2026

Extraction of Structural Extracellular Polymeric Substances from Aerobic Granular Sludge
Published on: September 26, 2016
Role of extracellular exopolymers on biological phosphorus removal
Ya-nan Liu1, Gang Xue, Shui-li Yu
1School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, China. liuyanan@dhu.edu.cn
Abstract:
Three sequencing batch reactors supplied with different carbon sources were investigated. The system supplied with glucose gained the best enhanced biological phosphorus removal although all of the three reactors were seeded from the same sludge. With the measurement of poly-beta-hydroxyalkanoate (PHA) concentration, phosphorus content in sludge and extracellular exopolymers (EPS) with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) combined with energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), it was found that the biosorption effect of EPS played an important role in phosphorus removal and that the amount of PHA at the end of anaerobic phase was not the only key factor to determine the following phosphorus removal efficiency.
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