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Extraction of Structural Extracellular Polymeric Substances from Aerobic Granular Sludge
Published on: September 26, 2016
A comparison between exogenous carriers enhanced aerobic granulation under low organic loading in the aspect of
Zhe Liu1, Xuhua Zhang2, Shumin Zhang2
1School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Yan Ta Road. No.13, Xi'an 710055, China; Key Lab of Northwest Water Resource, Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China.
Abstract:
In this study, polymeric ferric sulfate (PFS), aluminum sulfate (AS) and diatomite were added to enhance the aerobic granulation under low organic loading rate (OLR) of 0.6 kg·COD/(m3·d), and their effects of aerobic granule formation, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) secretion and microbial community were investigated. The results showed that adding carriers could facilitated the growth of aerobic granules and improve the sludge settleability and biomass retention. Nutrient removal efficiencies were also enhanced. Compared with diatomite, adding PFS and AS resulted in more significant increase in EPS production, especially for the extracellular proteins. For microbial community, the dominated bacteria (Zoogloea, 18.47-23.95%) in the mature granular consortia were similar. Moreover, the introduction of PFS and diatomite contributed to the enrichment of Paracoccus, which was responsible for denitrification. Adding carriers potentially activated the functional genes related to metabolism and genetic information processing, and PFS had the most significant effects.

