Abstract
In this work, a new kinetic approach was proposed to describe the microbial growth, substrate consumption, and formation and utilization of the intracellular storage products (X STO) in activated sludge. It was found that the formation of X STO was coupled with energy generation and respiration and that the X STO formation rate was proportional to the substrate utilization rate. A high amount of external substrate resulted in a relatively rapid storage process with a large fraction of substrate electrons for X STO formation. The maximum growth rate of active biomass on X STO and the yield coefficient for growth on the storage polymers were estimated as 0.12 h−1 and 0.60 g chemical oxygen demand (COD)X g−1 CODSTO, respectively. This established model was verified with the experimental results from two different case studies with pure and mixed cultures. Results showed that this kinetic model was able to accurately and mechanistically describe the microbial storage processes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
APHA (1995) Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 19th edn. American Public Health Association, Washington, DC
Beccari M, Dionisi D, Giuliani A, Majone M, Ramadori R (2002). Effect of different carbon sources on aerobic storage by activated sludge. Water Sci Technol 45:157–168
Beun JJ, Dircks K, van Loosdrecht MCM, Heijnen JJ (2002) Poly-Bhydroxybutyrate metabolism in dynamically fed mixed microbial cultures. Water Res 36:1167–1180
Bormann EJ, Leissner M, Beer B (1998) Growth-associated production of poly(hydroxybutyric acid) by Azotobacter beijerinckii from organic nitrogen substrates. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 49:84–88
Dias JML, Serafim LS, Lemos PC, Reis MAM, Oliveira R (2005) Mathematical modelling of a mixed culture cultivation process for the production of polyhydroxybutyrate. Biotechnol Bioeng 92:209–222
Gujer W, Henze M, Mino T, van Loosdrecht MCM (1999) Activated sludge model NO. 3. Water Sci Technol 39:183–193
Henze M, Grady CPLJr, Gujer W, Marais GVR, Matsuo T (1987) Activated sludge model no. 1. Scientific and Technical Report No. 1 IAWPRC, London
Jendrossek D, Selchow O, Hoppert M (2007) Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) granules at the early stages of formation are localized close to the cytoplasmic membrane in Caryophanon latum. Appl Environ Microbiol 73:586–593
Karahan-Gul O, van Loosdrecht MCM, Orhon D (2003) Modification of Activated Sludge Model no. 3 considering direct growth on primary substrate. Water Sci Technol 47:219–225
Karahan O, van Loosdrecht MCM, Orhon D (2006) Modeling the utilization of starch by activated sludge for simultaneous substrate storage and microbial growth. Biotechnol Bioeng 94:43–53
Krishna C, van Loosdrecht MCM (1999) Substrate flux into storage and growth in relation to activated sludge modelling. Water Res 33:3149–3161
Makinia J, Rosenwinkel KH, Phan LC (2006) Modification of ASM3 for the determination of biomass adsorption capacity in bulking sludge control. Water Sci Technol 53:91–99
Mu Y, Yu HQ (2006) Biological hydrogen production in a UASB reactor with granules I: Physicochemical characteristics of hydrogen-producing granules. Biotechnol Bioeng 94:980–987
Nicolella C, van Loosdrecht MCM, Heijnen JJ (1998) Mass transfer and reaction in a biofilm airlift suspension reactor. Chem Eng Sci 53:2743–2753
Oehmen A, Yuan Z, Blackall LL, Keller J (2005) Comparison of acetate and propionate uptake by polyphosphate accumulating organisms and glycogen accumulating organisms. Biotechnol Bioeng 91:162–168
Pratt S, Yuan Z, Keller J (2004) Modelling aerobic carbon oxidation and storage by integrating respirometric, titrimetric, and off-gas CO2 measurements. Biotechnol Bioeng 88:135–147
Quillaguaman J, Munoz M, Mattiasson B, Hatti-Kaul R (2007) Optimizing conditions for poly(beta-hydroxybutyrate) production by Halomonas boliviensis LC1 in batch culture with sucrose as carbon source. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 74:981–986
Reichert P (1998) Aquasim 2.0-user manual, computer program for the identification and simulation of aquatic systems; EAWAG: Dübendorf, Switzerland (ISBN 3 906484 16 5)
Sin G, Guisasola A, de Pauw DJW, Baeza JA, Carrera J, Vanrolleghem PA (2006) A new approach for modelling simultaneous storage and growth processes for activated sludge systems under aerobic conditions. Biotechnol Bioeng 92:600–613
Su KZ, Yu HQ (2006) A generalized model for aerobic granule-based sequencing batch reactor. 2. Parametric sensitivity and model verification. Environ Sci Technol 40:4709–4713
van Aalst-van Leeuwen MA, Pot MA, van Loosdrecht MCM, Heijnen JJ (1997) Kinetic modeling of poly(b-hydroxybutyrate) production and consumption by Paracoccus pantotrophus under dynamic substrate supply. Biotechnol Bioeng 55:773–782
van Loosdrecht MCM, Pot M, Heijnen J (1997) Importance of bacterial storage polymers in bioprocesses. Water Res 35:41–47
Winkler S, Muller-Rechberger H, Nowak O, Svardal K, Wandl G (2001) A new approach towards modelling of the carbon degradation cycle at two-stage activated sludge plants. Water Sci Technol 43:19–27
Yezza A, Fournier D, Halasz A, Hawari J (2006) Production of polyhydroxyalkanoates from methanol by a new methylotrophic bacterium Methylobacterium sp GW2. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 73:211–218
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank the Natural Science Foundation (NSFC) of China (Grants. 20577048 and 50625825), and the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education for the partial support of this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ni, BJ., Yu, HQ. A new kinetic approach to microbial storage process. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 76, 1431–1438 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-007-1104-8
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-007-1104-8