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Extraction of Structural Extracellular Polymeric Substances from Aerobic Granular Sludge
Published on: September 26, 2016
Effects of activated sludge flocs and pellets seeds on aerobic granule properties
Huacheng Xu1, Pinjing He, Guanzhao Wang
1State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Key Laboratory of Yangtze River Water Environment, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China.
Abstract:
Aerobic granules seeded with activated sludge flocs and pellets (obtained from activated sludge flocs) were cultivated in two sequencing batch reactors and their characteristics were compared. Compared with granules seeded with activated sludge flocs, those seeded with pellets had shorter start-up time, larger diameter, better chemical oxygen demand removal efficiency, and higher hydrophobicity, suspended solid concentration, and Mg2+ content. The different inocula led the granule surface with different microbial morphologies, but did not result in different distribution patterns of extracellular polymeric substances and cells. The anaerobic bacterium Anoxybacillus sp. was detected in the granules seeded with pellets. These results highlighted the advantage of pellet over activated sludge floc as the seed for aerobic granulation and wastewater treatment.
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