Effects of enhanced biological phosphorus removal on rapid control of sludge bulking and fast formation of aerobic granular sludge

Yongjiong Ni; Jiaqi Yang; Jiyang Pan; Shuyun Wu; Jinte Zou; Jun Li

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2024.130820

Effects of enhanced biological phosphorus removal on rapid control of sludge bulking and fast formation of aerobic granular sludge

Bioresour Technol. 2024 May 8:402:130820. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2024.130820. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Yongjiong Ni¹, Jiaqi Yang¹, Jiyang Pan¹, Shuyun Wu², Jinte Zou³, Jun Li¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China.
² College of Geomatics and Municipal Engineering, Zhejiang University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Hangzhou 310018, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China; Shaoxing Research Institute, Zhejiang University of Technology, Shaoxing 312000, China. Electronic address: zoujinte@zjut.edu.cn.

PMID: 38729583
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2024.130820

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) on rapid sludge bulking control and fast aerobic granular sludge (AGS) formation by adding 20 % of EBPR activated sludge to the bulking activated sludge (BAS) reactor. The results indicate that activating EBPR activity swiftly improved BAS settleability within 16 days, thus resolving sludge bulking issues. Subsequently, a settling time-based selection was employed, resulting in the BAS granulation within another 16 days. The rapid achievement of EBPR activity improved the BAS settleability and facilitated the formation of sludge aggregates, thereby expediting BAS granulation. Inhibition of filamentous bacteria and enrichment of slow-growing organisms contributed to both sludge bulking control and aerobic granulation. Furthermore, the increase in proteins/polysaccharides ratio facilitated the granulation process. Additionally, total nitrogen removal increased from 59.4 % to 71.7 % because of the mature AGS formation. This study provided an approach to simultaneously control sludge bulking and promote aerobic granulation.

Keywords: Activated sludge bulking; Aerobic granulation; Microbial community; Phosphate-accumulating organisms; Settling ability.