The SBR and its biofilm application potentials

Twenty plus years of experience, innovation, and research in the field of biological wastewater treatment and biofilm applications lead to the conclusion that biofilms are in many cases more desirable in reactors than suspended activated sludge. Biofilm reactors can provide very long biomass residence times even when the hydraulic influent loading is low. This makes them particularly suitable when treatment requires slow growing organisms with poor biomass yield or when the wastewater concentration is too low to support growth of activated sludge flocs. Regardless of the settling characteristics of biological aggregates or the hydraulic influent loading the metabolic activity in the reactor can be maintained at a high level. This paper reviews the application of biofilms in sequencing batch reactor (SBR) systems to treat non-readily biodegradable substrates, volatile organic waste constituents, complex waste streams requiring co-metabolism, and particulate wastewaters. Recent research using the SBR to form aerobic granular sludge as a special application of biofilms is also discussed.

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Settling behaviour of aerobic granular sludge

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2007.671 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 56 (7) ◽

pp. 55-63 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

A. Nor Anuar ◽

Z. Ujang ◽

M.C.M. van Loosdrecht ◽

M.K. de Kreuk

Keyword(s):

Activated Sludge ◽

Batch Reactor ◽

High Capacity ◽

Granular Sludge ◽

Aerobic Granular Sludge ◽

Mechanical Mixing ◽

Sludge Flocs ◽

Conventional Activated Sludge ◽

Biomass Retention ◽

Sludge Settling

Aerobic granular sludge (AGS) technology has been extensively studied recently to improve sludge settling and behaviour in activated sludge systems. The main advantage is that aerobic granular sludge (AGS) can settle very fast in a reactor or clarifier because AGS is compact and has strong structure. It also has good settleability and a high capacity for biomass retention. Several experimental works have been conducted in this study to observe the settling behaviours of AGS. The study thus has two aims: (1) to compare the settling profile of AGS with other sludge flocs and (2) to observe the influence of mechanical mixing and design of the reactor to the settleability of AGS. The first experimental outcome shows that AGS settles after less than 5 min in a depth of 0.4 m compared to other sludge flocs (from sequencing batch reactor, conventional activated sludge and extended aeration) which takes more than 30 min. This study also shows that the turbulence from the mixing mechanism and shear in the reactor provides an insignificant effect on the AGS settling velocity.

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Sequencing batch reactor (SBR) as optimal method for production of granular activated sludge (GAS) – fluid dynamic investigations

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2007.253 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 55 (8-9) ◽

pp. 151-158 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

B.E. Zima ◽

L. Díez ◽

W. Kowalczyk ◽

A. Delgado

Keyword(s):

Multiphase Flow ◽

Activated Sludge ◽

Sequencing Batch Reactor ◽

Fluid Dynamic ◽

Batch Reactor ◽

Aerobic Condition ◽

Granular Sludge ◽

Aerobic Granular Sludge ◽

Major Influence ◽

Optimal Method

Fluid dynamic investigations of multiphase flow (fluid, air, granules) in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) are presented. SBR can be considered as an attractive technology for cultivation of granular activated sludge (GAS). Granulation is a complicated process and its mechanism is not fully understood yet. Many factors influence the formation and structure of aerobic granular sludge in a bioreactor. Extracellular polymer substances (EPS) and superficial gas velocity (SGV) play a crucial role for granules formation. Additionally, it is supposed that EPS production is stimulated by mechanical forces. It is also assumed that hydrodynamic effects have a major influence on the formation, shape and size of GAS in SBR under aerobic condition. However, the influence of stress on granulation is poorly investigated. Thus, in the present paper, fluid dynamic investigations of multiphase flow in a SBR, particularly effect of normal and shear strain, are reported. In order to analyse multiphase flow in the SBR, optical in-situ techniques with particle image velocimetry (PIV) and particle tracking velocimetry (PTV) are implemented. Obtained results show a characteristic flow pattern in a SBR. It is pointed out that additional effects like particle-wall collisions, inter particle collisions, erosion can also affect significantly granules formation.

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Microbial diversity differences within aerobic granular sludge and activated sludge flocs

Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology ◽

10.1007/s00253-012-4472-7 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 97 (16) ◽

pp. 7447-7458 ◽

Cited By ~ 67

Author(s):

M-K H. Winkler ◽

R. Kleerebezem ◽

L. M. M. de Bruin ◽

P. J. T. Verheijen ◽

B. Abbas ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Activated Sludge ◽

Microbial Diversity ◽

Granular Sludge ◽

Aerobic Granular Sludge ◽

Sludge Flocs

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Comparison of the dynamics, biokinetics and microbial diversity between activated sludge flocs and aerobic granular sludge

Bioresource Technology ◽

10.1016/j.biortech.2019.122106 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 294 ◽

pp. 122106 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Silvio Luiz de Sousa Rollemberg ◽

Amanda Nascimento de Barros ◽

Vitor Nairo Sousa Aguiar Lira ◽

Paulo Igor Milen Firmino ◽

André Bezerra dos Santos

Keyword(s):

Activated Sludge ◽

Microbial Diversity ◽

Granular Sludge ◽

Aerobic Granular Sludge ◽

Sludge Flocs

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Simulation of Aerobic Granular Sludge Process Efficiency

Revista de Chimie ◽

10.37358/rc.17.8.5752 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 68 (8) ◽

pp. 1723-1725

Author(s):

Elena Elisabeta Manea ◽

Costel Bumbac ◽

Olga Tiron ◽

Razvan Laurentiu Dinu ◽

Valeriu Robert Badescu

Keyword(s):

Wastewater Treatment ◽

Activated Sludge ◽

Batch Reactor ◽

Granular Sludge ◽

Process Efficiency ◽

Aerobic Granular Sludge ◽

Organic Load ◽

Batch Reactors ◽

Conventional Activated Sludge ◽

Pollutants Removal

Using aerobic granular sludge for wastewater treatment has multiple advantages compared to conventional activated sludge systems, most important being the ability of simultaneous removal of the pollutants responsible for eutrophication: organic load, compounds of nitrogen (NH4+; NO3-) and phosphorus (PO43-). The advantages are currently exploited for developing the next generation of wastewater treatment systems while the identified limitations are approached by experimental and theoretical researches worldwide. The aim of the study consists in evaluating the possibility of predicting the system�s response to different changes in the influent wastewater loadings. The paper presents simulations results backed up by experimental data for pollutants removal efficiencies evaluation for a sequential batch reactor (SBR) with aerobic granular sludge. The mathematical model is based on the activated sludge model no. 3, which was updated by considering the simultaneous biological nitrification (NH4+NO3) and denitrification (NO3-N2) processes, thus complying with the biochemical reactions occurring in aerobic granular sludge sequential batch reactors. The model developed was validated by the experimental results obtained on a laboratory scale SBR monitored for over a month.

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Performance and Microbial Community of Aerobic Granular Sludge Bioreactor

Applied Mechanics and Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.522-524.405 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 522-524 ◽

pp. 405-410

Author(s):

Xia Zhao ◽

Ji Min Shen ◽

Zhong Lin Chen ◽

Xiao Chun Wang

Keyword(s):

Microbial Community ◽

Activated Sludge ◽

Removal Efficiency ◽

Batch Reactor ◽

Dynamic Balance ◽

Granular Sludge ◽

Aerobic Granular Sludge ◽

Organic Loading Rate ◽

Balance System ◽

Microbial Species

Aerobic granular sludge was cultivated from activated-sludge in sequencing batch reactor. The change of physical properties and the effect of treatment of organic substance and microbial community were studied in the process of the different influent organic loading rate. The results showed that the formation process of aerobic granulation was rapid but the granular sludge was not stable and existed a disintegration-reunion dynamic balance system. The value of MLSS descended from 5.12g/L to 1.03g/L. The removal efficiency of NH4+-N decreased to 74.17% and total phosphorous (TP) removal efficiency maintained beyond 90% all the while. The CODCr removal was over 85% which higher than that of after adding in methanol, then reduced but had trend of rise to 31.89% at last. Microbial species in granulation were speculated by detecting polyhydroxyalkan- oates between granular sludge and activated sludge in the reactor. The results showed that microbial species of activated sludge are more diverse.

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Performance of Aerobic Granular Sludge for Domestic Wastewater Treatment

International Journal of Innovative Technology and Exploring Engineering - Special Issue ◽

10.35940/ijitee.l3360.1081219 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (12) ◽

pp. 3851-3854

Keyword(s):

Wastewater Treatment ◽

Activated Sludge ◽

Batch Reactor ◽

Biomass Concentration ◽

Domestic Wastewater ◽

Granular Sludge ◽

Volume Index ◽

Aerobic Granular Sludge ◽

Domestic Wastewater Treatment ◽

Low Strength

Aerobic granular sludge can be used to treat various types of wastewater, such as industrial, municipal and domestic wastewater. This study investigated the treatment of low-strength domestic wastewater while simultaneously developed aerobic granular sludge in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR). Activated sludge was used as the seeding for granulation. The results indicated good COD and ammoniacal nitrogen removal at 72% and 73%, respectively. Aerobic granular sludge was successfully developed with low sludge volume index (SVI30) of 29 mL/g, which demonstrated an excellent settling property of aerobic granular sludge. Biomass concentration increased significantly compared to the seed sludge, indicating high biomass density in the SBR system. Settling velocity of aerobic granular sludge was significantly higher compared to the conventional activated sludge. This study showed the feasibility of aerobic granular sludge to be developed using low-strength domestic wastewater. Moreover, this study demonstrated the long-term application of aerobic granular sludge in domestic wastewater treatment.

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