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Aerobic granulation and nitrogen removal with the effluent of internal circulation reactor in start-up of a pilot-scale sequencing batch reactor

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Abstract

Aerobic granular sludge was successfully cultivated with the effluent of internal circulation (IC) reactor in a pilot-scale sequencing batch reactor (SBR) using activated sludge as seeding sludge. N removal was investigated in the start-up of aerobic granulation process. Initially, the phenomenon of partial nitrification was observed and nitrite accumulation rates (NO2 −-N/NO −x -N) were between 84.6 and 99.1 %. It was potentially caused by ammonium oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in the seeding activated sludge, high external environmental temperature (~32 °C) and free ammonia (FA) concentration. After 50 days’ running, the aerobic granules-based bioreactor demonstrated perfect performance in simultaneous removal of organic matter and ammonia nitrogen, and average removal efficiencies were maintained above 93 and 96 %, respectively. The maximum nitrogen removal efficiency of 83.1 % was achieved after the formation of aerobic granules. The average diameter of mature aerobic granular sludge mostly ranged from 0.5 to 1.0 mm. Furthermore, one typical cyclic test indicated that pH and DO profiles could be used as effective parameters for biological reactions occurring in the aerobic/anoxic process. The obtained results could provide further information on the cultivation of aerobic granular sludge with practical wastewater, especially with regard to nitrogen-rich industrial wastewater.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (ZR2010EM063), Special Research and Development Environmental Protection Industry of Shandong Province (THB1002) and the Doctor Foundation of Shandong Province (BS2010NJ002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Jinan, Jinan, Shandong, 250022, People’s Republic of China

    Dong Wei, Wei Si, Yongfang Zhang, Zhenxing Yao, Wei Zhao, Jie Zhao & Bin Du

  2. Shan Dong Mei Quan Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd, Jinan, 250032, People’s Republic of China

    Zhuangming Qiao

  3. Key Laboratory of Chemical Sensing & Analysis in Universities of Shandong, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan, 250022, China

    Guodong Chen & Qin Wei

Authors
  1. Dong Wei
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  2. Wei Si
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  3. Yongfang Zhang
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  4. Zhuangming Qiao
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  5. Zhenxing Yao
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  6. Wei Zhao
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  7. Jie Zhao
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  8. Guodong Chen
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  9. Qin Wei
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  10. Bin Du
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Correspondence to Bin Du.

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Wei, D., Si, W., Zhang, Y. et al. Aerobic granulation and nitrogen removal with the effluent of internal circulation reactor in start-up of a pilot-scale sequencing batch reactor. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 35, 1489–1496 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-012-0738-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-012-0738-9

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