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Effect of extracellular polymeric substances on sludge reduction potential of Bacillus licheniformis

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Abstract

The disposal of wastewater sludge generated during the treatment of the various municipal and industrial wastewaters is a major environmental problem. In this study the thermophilic bacterium Bacillus licheniformis, which enhances the efficiency of sludge reduction, was isolated from waste activated sludge acclimated to 55 °C. The resulting suspended solids’ degradation was 12 % and chemical oxygen demand solubilization was 18 %. To further enhance the sludge reduction potential, extra polymeric substances, which play a major role in the formation of flocs, were removed. A chemical extractant, ethylenediaminetetraacetate that is also a cation binding agent, was used to remove the extra polymeric substances. After the removal of extra polymeric substances, the suspended solids’ degradation increased from 12 to 23 % and the chemical oxygen demand solubilization increased from 18 to 25 %. These observations confirm that Bacillus licheniformis enhanced sludge reduction in non-flocculated sludge (with the removal of extra polymeric substances) as compared to flocculated sludge (without the removal of extra polymeric substances).

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Department of Biotechnology, India for financial assistant for this project (BT/PR13124/GBD/27/192/2009) under their Rapid Grant for Young Investigator (RGYI) scheme.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Science, Department of Civil Engineering, Regional Centre of Anna University, Tirunelveli, Tamilnadu, India

    J. Merrylin & Banu J. Rajesh

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Korea

    I. T. Yeom

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, Regional Centre of Anna University, Tirunelveli, Tamilnadu, India

    S. Adish Kumar

  4. Department of Civil Engineering, Ponjesley College of Engineering, Nagercoil, Tamilnadu, India

    S. Kaliappan

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  1. J. Merrylin
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Correspondence to Banu J. Rajesh.

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Merrylin, J., Kaliappan, S., Adish Kumar, S. et al. Effect of extracellular polymeric substances on sludge reduction potential of Bacillus licheniformis . Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 10, 85–92 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-012-0141-8

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