Effect of Substrate Nitrogen/Chemical Oxygen Demand Ratio on the Formation of Aerobic Granules
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 131, Issue 1
Abstract
The effect of the substrate nitrogen/chemical oxygen demand (N/COD) (mg/mg) ratio on the formation and characteristics of aerobic granules for simultaneous organic removal and nitrification were studied in four sequencing batch reactors operated at different substrate N/COD ratios ranging from 5/100 to 30/100. Results showed that aerobic granules formed at the substrate N/COD ratios studied, and both nitrifying and heterotrophic activities of aerobic granules were governed by the substrate N/COD ratio. The nitrifying activity was significantly enhanced with the increase of the substrate N/COD ratio, while the heterotrophic activity decreased. By determining elemental compositions of aerobic granules cultivated at different substrate N/COD ratios, it was revealed that the cell hydrophobicity was inversely related to the ratio of cell oxygen content to cell carbon content of aerobic granule. The production of extracellular polysaccharides showed a decreasing trend as the substrate N/COD ratio increased. This is probably due to enriched nitrifying population with the high N/COD ratios. This study clearly demonstrated that an aerobic granule-based sequencing batch reactor would have a great potential for simultaneous organic oxidation and nitrification.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 131 • Issue 1 • January 2005
Pages: 86 - 92
Copyright
© 2004 ASCE.
History
Received: Sep 23, 2002
Accepted: Nov 14, 2003
Published online: Jan 1, 2005
Published in print: Jan 2005
Notes
Note. Associate Editor: Mark J. Rood
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