Production of polyhydroxyalkanoate during treatment of low-phosphorus-content wastewater.

To evaluate whether poly-beta-hydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production and wastewater treatment could be combined in a single biological process, a bench-scale sequencing batch reactor was operated with sequential anaerobic and aerobic stages and removal of excess sludge at different stages of treatment. The reactor treated synthetic wastewater with a high organic and low nutrient content, simulating industrial wastewater. Chemical oxygen demand removal efficiency was more than 90% in all cases. Poly-beta-hydroxyalkanoate accumulation was significant, although it did not appear to be induced by oxygen limitations during the anaerobic stage. Sphaerotilus natans was apparently the dominant PHA-accumulating organism at the end of each reactor run and corresponded to a PHA accumulation of 16 to 20% of the total dry cell mass. Before S. natans dominated the reactors, PHA accumulation was approximately 17% when biomass was removed at the end of the aerobic stage and 6.6% when sludge removal also occurred during the anaerobic stage.     

Effects of reduced return activated sludge flows and volume on anaerobic zone performance for a septic wastewater biological phosphorus removal system.

Enhanced biological phosphorous removal (EBPR) performance was found to be adequate with reduced return-activated sludge (RAS) flows (50% of available RAS) to the anaerobic tank and smaller-than-typical anaerobic zone volume (1.08 hours hydraulic retention time [HRT]). Three identical parallel biological nutrient removal pilot plants were fed with strong, highly fermented (160 mg/L volatile fatty acids [VFAs]), domestic and industrial wastewater from a full-scale wastewater treatment facility. The pilot plants were operated at 100, 50, 40, and 25% RAS (percent of available RAS) flows to the anaerobic tank, with the remaining RAS to the anoxic tank. In addition, varying anaerobic HRT (1.08 and 1.5 hours) and increased hydraulic loading (35% increase) were examined. The study was divided into four phases, and the effect of these process variations on EBPR were studied by having one different variable between two identical systems. The most significant conclusion was that returning part of the RAS to the anaerobic zone did not decrease EBPR performance; instead, it changed the location of phosphorous release and uptake. Bringing less RAS to the anaerobic and more to the anoxic tank decreased anaerobic phosphorus release and increased anoxic phosphorus release (or decreased anoxic phosphorus uptake). Equally important is that, with VFA-rich influent wastewater, excessive anaerobic volume was shown to hurt overall phosphorus removal, even when it resulted in increased anaerobic phosphorus release.     

COD对强化生物除磷系统的影响及OUR的变化规律

以实际生活污水为研究对象,在SBR系统中采用厌氧/好氧运行方式,考察强化生物除磷(EBPR)系统中好氧阶段COD浓度对聚磷菌除磷性能的影响以及不同好氧阶段COD浓度下的OUR变化规律.实验分4个阶段进行,分别为不投加外碳源、厌氧结束时投加不同体积的乙酸钠作为外碳源,使COD分别提高50、100和300mg/L.4种工况...     

催化铁与生物法耦合除磷工艺特性

为了研究催化铁与生物耦合后对生物除磷特性的影响,实验采用人工配水用厌氧／好氧间歇流式富集培养聚磷微生物。对比发现,催化铁与生物耦合组中厌氧末段ORP降低了约60mV,pH值小幅度的上升（≤0．3）,整个培养过程中铁离子的浓度开始快速增加,之后趋于稳定（约40mgFe／gMLSS）。对好氧末段污泥SVI值比较发现,耦合工艺污泥沉降性能得到改善。除磷曲线比较发现,耦合组中厌氧末段磷的释放量下降,而好氧阶段磷的吸收速率增加;胞内聚合物提取表明,耦合组厌氧末段聚磷菌细胞内PHA含量有提高,好氧末段糖原含量有下降。磷形态提取分析表明,耦合组好氧末段污泥中无机态PO3 4-- P含量更高。低浓度铁离子可以起到与生物耦合同步除磷的目的,本工艺长期运行未发现耦合体系中催化铁对除磷的抑制作用。     

Prevention of struvite scaling in digesters combined with phosphorus removal and recovery--the FIX-Phos process

The fixation of phosphorus (FIX-Phos) combines struvite prevention and phosphorus recovery by the addition of calciumsilicatehydrate (CSH) particles into the anaerobic digester. The CSH fixates phosphorus as calcium phosphate and reduces the phosphorus concentration in the sludge water that allows for control of struvite formation. The phosphorus-containing recovery product can be separated and recovered from the digested sludge. In pilot plant experiments, 21% to 31% of phosphorus contained in digested sludge could be recovered when CSH was added at concentrations of 2 g/L to 3.5 g/L to a mixture of primary sludge and waste activated sludge (WAS) from enhanced biological phosphorus removal. The recovery product contained few heavy metals and a phosphorus content of 18 wt % P2O5, which allows for recycling as fertilizer. The fixation of phosphorus within the digester may increase wastewater sludge dewaterability. The phosphorus recycle stream to the headworks of the wastewater treatment plant is reduced.     

The effect of Mg<Superscript>2+</Superscript> on digestion performance and microbial community structures in sludge digestion systems

The important criteria in anaerobic digestion is the rate-limiting step which decides the fate of value-added products especially from waste-activated sludge (WAS). Hence, the present study investigated the effect of magnesium (Mg²⁺) addition on anaerobic digestion of WAS. The lab-scale experiments were conducted at 25 °C with Mg²⁺ doses ranging from 0.01 to 0.2 mol/L. Maximum total volatile fatty acids (VFAs) production (372.78 mg COD/L) occurred at a Mg²⁺ dose of 0.2 mol/L, which was about eight times higher than the control tests. Further, Mg²⁺ addition facilitated sludge dewaterability and phosphorus removal. The mechanism of improved VFAs generation was analyzed from the view of both chemical and biological effects. Chemical effect significantly enhanced the release of calcium and iron in WAS, resulting in the disintegration of WAS, which benefited hydrolysis and acidification processes. Illumina MiSeq sequencing analysis revealed that enrichment of functional bacteria and the increase of bacterial diversity were obtained in the 0.2 mol Mg²⁺/L experiment, while the influence was negative on the reactor with 0.025 mol/L Mg²⁺. Meanwhile, methanogens were accordantly inhibited in the experiments with Mg²⁺ addition.     

剩余污泥水解酸化液磷去除的影响因素研究

城市污水厂剩余污泥水解酸化后可产生高浓度挥发性有机酸(VFAs),其中的乙酸和丙酸是增强生物除磷(EBPR)工艺的有利基质.但水解酸化液中含有大量的磷,如不进行处理就作为碳源回用到污水处理工艺中,势必增加除磷负荷.利用鸟粪石沉淀法可以去除污水中的磷.对城市污水厂剩余污泥水解酸化液形成鸟粪石的影响因素进行了试验研究.结果表明,在最佳工艺条件下,正磷和总磷的去除率分别可达92.5%和83.8%.     

Integrated physicochemical and biological treatment process for fluoride and phosphorus removal from fertilizer plant wastewater

The phosphate fertilizer industry produces highly hazardous and acidic wastewaters. This study was undertaken to develop an integrated approach for the treatment of wastewaters from the phosphate industry. Effluent samples were collected from a local phosphate fertilizer producer and were characterized by their high fluoride and phosphate content. First, the samples were pretreated by precipitation of phosphate and fluoride ions using hydrated lime. The resulting low- fluoride and phosphorus effluent was then treated with the enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) process to monitor the simultaneous removal of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus. Phosphorus removal included a two-stage anaerobic/aerobic system operating under continuous flow. Pretreated wastewater was added to the activated sludge and operated for 160 days in the reactor. The operating strategy included increasing the organic loading rate (OLR) from 0.3 to 1.2 g chemical oxygen demand (COD)/L.d. The stable and high removal rates of COD, NH4(+)-N, and PO4(3-)-P were then recorded. The mean concentrations of the influent were approximately 3600 mg COD/L, 60 mg N/L, and 14 mg P/L, which corresponded to removal efficiencies of approximately 98%, 86%, and 92%, respectively.     

Enhancement of batch waste activated sludge digestion by microwave pretreatment.

Batch anaerobic digesters were used to stabilize microwave (MW)-irradiated waste activated sludge (WAS). A low temperature range (50-96 degrees C) MW irradiation was applied. Effects of pretreatment temperature (T) and intensity (I), concentration (C) and percentage of sludge pretreated (PT) were investigated in a multilevel factorial statistical design containing 54 mesophilic batch reactors by monitoring cumulative biogas production (CBP). Variance analysis (ANOVA) determined that the most important factors affecting WAS solubilization were temperature, intensity, and sludge concentration. Improvements in CBP from WAS were significantly affected by sludge percentage pretreated, temperature, and concentration. Pretreatment resulted in 3.6 +/- 0.6 and 3.2 +/- 0.1 fold increases in soluble to total chemical oxygen demand (SCOD/TCOD) at high and low sludge concentrations, respectively. WAS, microwaved to 96 degrees C, produced the greatest improvement in CBP with 15 +/- 0.5 and 20 +/- 0.3% increases over controls after 19 d of digestion at low and high WAS concentrations. Dewaterability of microwaved sludge was enhanced after anaerobic digestion.     

VFA generation from waste activated sludge: effect of temperature and mixing

The success of enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) depends on the constant availability of volatile fatty acids (VFAs). To reduce costs, waste streams would be a preferred source. Since VFAs were shown to vary in the incoming sewage and fermentate from primary sludge the next available source is waste activated sludge (WAS). The opportunity is particularly good in plants where WAS is stored before shipment. Little information is however available on the rate of VFA release from such sludge, especially at the lower temperatures and under the storage conditions typically found in colder climates. Bench-scale batch tests were performed to investigate the effect of temperature and requirement for mixing on VFA generation from WAS generated in full scale non-EBPR wastewater treatment plant. WAS fermentation was found highly temperature-dependent. Hydrolysis rate constant (k_h) values of 0.17, 0.08 and 0.04 d⁻¹ at 24.6, 14 and 4 °C were obtained, respectively. Arrhenius temperature coefficient was calculated to be 1.07. It took 5 d to complete hydrolysis at 24.6 °C, 7 d at 14 °C, and 9 d at 4 °C. The fermentation lasted for 20 d. At 24.6 °C the mixed reactor reached 84% of the overall VFA production only in 5 d. When temperature dropped to 14 and 4 °C, the ratio of VFA production at day 10 to overall VFA production in the mixed reactor were 62% and 48%, respectively. The overall VFA-COD concentration in the non-mixed reactors was much lower than the mixed reactors. The information is important for the designer as there was uncertainty with the effect of temperature and mixing on sludge fermentation.     

The mechanism of enhanced biological phosphorus removal washout and temperature relationships.

In this study, the combined effects of temperature and solids retention time (SRT) on enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) performance and the mechanism of EBPR washout were investigated. Two pilot-scale University of Cape Town (South Africa) systems fed with synthetic wastewater were operated at 5 and 10 degrees C. The results showed that the phosphorus removal performance was optimum at total SRT ranges of 16 to 24 days and 12 to 17 days for 5 and 10 degrees C, respectively, and steady-state phosphorus removal was greater at the lower temperature. Higher SRT values of up to 32 days at 5 degrees C and 25 days at 10 degrees C slightly reduced EBPR performance as a result of increased extent of endogenous respiration, which consumed internally stored glycogen, leaving less reducing power for poly-hydroxy alkanoate (PHA) formation in anaerobic stages. The phosphorus-accumulating organism (PAO) washout SRTs of the systems were determined as 3.5 days at 5 degrees C and 1.8 days at 10 degrees C, considerably less than the washout SRTs of nitrifiers. Polyphosphorus, the main energy reserve of the EBPR bacterial consortium, was not completely depleted, even at washout points. The inability of EBPR biomass to use glycogen to generate reducing power for PHA formation was the major reason for washout. The results not only suggest that glycogen mechanism is the most rate-limiting step in EBPR systems, but also that it is an integral part of EBPR biochemistry, as proposed originally by Mino et al. (1987), and later others (Pereira et al., 1996, Erdal et al., 2002; Erdal, Z. K., 2002). The aerobic washout SRT values (2.1 and 1.2 days for 5 and 10 degrees C, respectively) of this study did not fit the linear line for PAO washout developed by Mamais and Jenkins (1992). Perhaps this was because the feeds used during this study were chemical-oxygen-demand-limited (acetate-based synthetic feed), whereas the feeds used for their study were phosphorus-limited (external acetate added to domestic wastewater), resulting in different ratios of PAOs and nonPAOs in the biomass.     

Understanding the granulation process of activated sludge in a biological phosphorus removal sequencing batch reactor

The granulation of activated sludge was investigated using two parallel sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) operated in biological nitrogen and phosphorus removal conditions though the reactor configuration and operating parameters did not favor the granulation. Granules were not observed when the SBR was operated in biological nitrogen removal period for 30 d. However, aerobic granules were formed naturally without the increase of aeration intensity when enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) was achieved. It can be detected that plenty of positive charged particles were formed with the release of phosphorus during the anaerobic period of EBPR. The size of the particles was about 5-20 μm and their highest positive ζ potential was about 73 mV. These positive charged particles can stimulate the granulation. Based on the experimental results, a hypothesis was proposed to interpret the granulation process of activated sludge in the EBPR process in SBR. Dense and compact subgranules were formed stimulated by the positive charged particles. The subgranules grew gradually by collision, adhesion and attached growth of bacteria. Finally, the extrusion and shear of hydrodynamic shear force would help the maturation of granules. Aerobic granular SBR showed excellent biological phosphorus removal ability. The average phosphorus removal efficiency was over 95% and the phosphorus in the effluent was below 0.50 mg L⁻¹ during the operation.     

污泥加热预处理对中温厌氧消化的影响

对污泥加热预处理给中温厌氧混合消化和污泥单独消化带来的影响进行了研究.研究结果表明,污泥加热预处理有利于提高混合消化对 COD 的去除率,尤其是 SCOD 的去除率由 77%增长到 93%,但不利于 TS 和 VS 的去除;而对污泥单独消化,预处理则不利于有机物的去除.采用加热预处理后的污泥进样,混合消化和污泥单独消化的甲烷产气量均有所提高.     

A practical method for quantification of phosphorus- and glycogen-accumulating organism populations in activated sludge systems.

Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) from wastewater relies on the enrichment of activated sludge with phosphorus-accumulating organisms (PAOs). The presence and proliferation of glycogen-accumulating organisms (GAOs), which compete for substrate with PAOs, may be detrimental for EBPR systems, leading to deterioration and, in extreme cases, failure of the process. Therefore, from both process evaluation and modeling perspectives, the estimation of PAO and GAO populations in activated sludge systems is a relevant issue. A simple method for the quantification of PAO and GAO population fractions in activated sludge systems is presented in this paper. To develop such a method, the activity observed in anaerobic batch tests executed with different PAO/GAO ratios, by mixing highly enriched PAO and GAO cultures, was studied. Strong correlations between PAO/GAO population ratios and biomass activity were observed (R2 > 0.97). This served as a basis for the proposal of a simple and practical method to quantify the PAO and GAO populations in activated sludge systems, based on commonly measured and reliable analytical parameters (i.e., mixed liquor suspended solids, acetate, and orthophosphate) without requiring molecular techniques. This method relies on the estimation of the total active biomass population under anaerobic conditions (PAO plus GAO populations), by measuring the maximum acetate uptake rate in the presence of excess acetate. Later, the PAO and GAO populations present in the activated sludge system can be estimated, by taking into account the PAO/GAO ratio calculated on the basis of the anaerobic phosphorus release-to-acetate consumed ratio. The proposed method was evaluated using activated sludge from municipal wastewater treatment plants. The results from the quantification performed following the proposed method were compared with direct population estimations carried out with fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis (determining Candidatus Accumulibacter Phosphatis as PAO and Candidatus Competibacter Phosphatis as GAO). The method showed to be potentially suitable to estimate the PAO and GAO populations regarding the total PAO-GAO biomass. It could be used, not only to evaluate the performance of EBPR systems, but also in the calibration of potential activated sludge mathematical models, regarding the PAO-GAO coexistence.     

Changes in anoxic denitrification rate resulting from prefermentation of a septic, phosphorus-limited wastewater.

A preliminary bench-scale study of parallel University of Cape Town (UCT) biological nutrient removal systems showed improvement in anoxic denitrification rates resulting from prefermentation of a septic (i.e., high volatile fatty acid [VFA] content), phosphorus-limited (i.e., total chemical oxygen demand/total phosphorus [TP] ratio < 40:1) wastewater. Net phosphorus removals due to enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) were only improved marginally by prefermentation in spite of significant increases in anaerobic phosphorus release, polyhydroxyalkanoate formation, and higher anoxic and aerobic uptakes. This probably was due to the high VFA/TP ratio in the raw influent relative to the VFA requirements for EBPR because enough VFAs were already present for phosphorus removal prior to prefermentation. An additional assessment of prefermentation using parallel UCT systems with step feed of 50% of the influent to the anoxic zone was completed. This second phase quantified the effect of prefermentation in a step-feed scenario, which prioritized prefermentation use to enhance denitrification rather than EBPR. While specific denitrification rates in the anoxic zone were significantly improved by prefermentation, high denitrification in the clarifiers and aerobic zones (simultaneous denitrification) made definitive conclusions concerning the potential improvements in total system nitrogen removal questionable. The prefermented system always showed superior values of the zone settling velocity and sludge volume index and the improvement became increasingly statistically significant when the prefermenter was performing well.     

An observation on sludge granulation in an enhanced biological phosphorus removal process

A sequencing batch reactor (SBR) seeded with flocculated sludge and fed with synthetic wastewater was operated for an enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) process. Eight weeks after reactor startup, sludge granules were observed. The granules had a diameter of 0.5 to 3.0 mm and were brownish in color and spherical or ellipsoidal in shape. No significant change was observed in sludge granule size when operational pH was changed from 7 to 8. The 208-day continuous operation of the SBR showed that sludge granules were stably maintained with a sludge volume index (SVI) between 30 to 55 mL/g while securing a removal efficiency of 83% for carbon and 97% for phosphorus. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) confirmed the enrichment of polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs) in the SBR. The observations of sludge granulation in this study encourage further studies in the development of granules-based EBPR process.     

Microalgae growth using high-strength wastewater followed by anaerobic co-digestion

Integration of algal biofuel production to wastewater anaerobic digestion infrastructure has the potential to increase biogas production, decrease high and variable internal nitrogen loads, and improve sludge digestibility and dewaterability. In this research, two species of microalgae, Spirulina platensis and Chlorella sp., were grown on sludge centrate and a centrate and nitrified wastewater effluent mixture. Harvested algae were co-digested with waste activated sludge (WAS) at varying ratios. High-growth (6.8 g m(-2) x d(-1)), nitrogen (36.5 g m(-3) x d(-1)), and phosphorus (6.5 g m(-3) x d(-1)) uptake rates were achieved with Chlorella on centrate. No growth was observed with S. platensis under the same conditions; however, both organisms grew well on the centrate and effluent mixture. Co-digestion of algae with WAS improved volatile solids reduction. Although co-digestion with S. platensis improved biosolids dewaterability, Chlorella had a slight negative effect on dewaterability compared to WAS alone. The efficiency of energy conversion from photons to biogas generated from Chlorella was estimated at 1.4%.     

A2O工艺好氧末段溶解氧变化对脱氮除磷影响

采用连续流A2O工艺处理实际的生活污水,研究好氧末段在不同溶解氧（DO）浓度条件下对污泥沉降性能、系统脱氮除磷的影响,同时考察了DO对污泥硝化活性、厌氧释磷速率和反硝化脱氮速率的影响。结果表明,随着末段溶解氧的提高,污泥容积指数SVI从140降至100左右,后又升高到120~170;系统的硝化效果提高,氨氮的去除率从60%升高到80%以上再到90%以上;总氮的去除效果也有显著提高,平均去除率从54%升高到63%再到67%;虽然磷的去除效果有所加强,总磷的平均去除率从41%升高到59%再到69%,但仍难达标。     

基于不同基质的强化生物除磷系统中生化反应机理研究进展

阐述了3种不同基质(乙酸盐、丙酸盐和葡萄糖)在强化生物除磷系统中的生化模型反应机理.重点介绍了聚磷菌(PAOs)、聚糖菌(GAOs)和产乳酸菌在厌氧/好氧条件下对能量及还原力(NADH2)的利用方式;聚-β-羟基链烷酸盐(PHA)的合成方式及存在形式,糖原、乳酸(L型)的代谢途径等.虽然控制基质条件可以实现稳定的强化生物除磷效果,但目前的生化模型并不能完全解释所有的代谢过程,今后要在分离纯种的PAOs及相关生化代谢过程中酶的活动等方面进行深入研究.     

Competition between polyphosphate- and glycogen-accumulating organisms in enhanced-biological-phosphorus-removal systems: effect of temperature and sludge age.

Temperature and sludge age were found to be important factors in determining the outcome of competition between polyphosphate-accumulating organisms (PAOs) and glycogen-accumulating non-polyphosphate organisms (GAOs) and the resultant stability of enhanced-biological-phosphorus removal (EBPR). At 20 degrees C and a 10-day sludge age, PAOs were dominant in an anaerobic/aerobic (A/O) sequencing-batch reactor (SBR), as a result of their higher anaerobic-acetate-uptake rate and aerobic-biomass yield than GAOs. However, at 30 degrees C and a 10-day sludge age, GAOs were able to outcompete PAOs in the A/O SBR because of their higher anaerobic-acetate-uptake rate than PAOs. At 30 degrees C and a 5-day sludge age, GAOs coexisted with PAOs in the A/O SBR, resulting in unstable EBPR performance. At 30 degrees C, reducing the sludge age from 5 to 3 days improved the EBPR efficiency drastically, and the EBPR performance was stable. The maximum specific-anaerobic-acetate-uptake rates of GAO-enriched sludge were affected by temperature with the Arrhenius temperature coefficient theta of 0.042 (degrees C(-1) between 10 and 30 degrees C. The effect of sludge age (5 and 10 days) on the maximum specific-anaerobic-acetate-uptake rates of GAO-enriched activated sludge, however, was not significant. For the PAO-enriched activated sludge, the maximum specific-anaerobic-acetate-uptake rate did not change significantly between 20 and 30 degrees C, but significantly increased from 0.38 to 0.52 mmol-C/ mmol-C/h as the sludge age decreased from 10 to 3 days at 30 degrees C.