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Updated: Feb 16, 2026

Laboratory-determined Phosphorus Flux from Lake Sediments as a Measure of Internal Phosphorus Loading
Published on: March 6, 2014
Effect of acetate to glycerol ratio on enhanced biological phosphorus removal
Guojing Yang1, Dongbo Wang2, Qi Yang2
1College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control (Hunan University), Ministry of Education, Changsha 410082, China; College of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Zhejiang Wanli University, Ningbo 315100, China.
Abstract:
Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) is a sustainable and promising technology for phosphorus removal from wastewater. The efficiency of this technology, however, is often discounted due to the insufficient carbon sources in influent. In this work, the effect of acetate to glycerol ratio on the EBPR performance was evaluated. The experimental results showed when the ratio of acetate to glycerol decreased from 100/0% to 50/50%, the EBPR efficiency increased from 90.2% to 96.2%. Further decrease of acetate to glycerol ratio to 0/100% decreased the efficiency of EBPR to 30.5%. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis demonstrated appropriate increase of glycerol benefited to increase the relative abundance of phosphate accumulating organisms. Further investigation revealed the proper addition of glycerol increased the amount of polyhydroxyalkanoates synthesis, and then produced sufficient energy for oxic luxury phosphorus in the subsequent oxic phase.
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