Research on rapid cultivation of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) with different feast-famine strategies in continuous flow reactor and achieving high-level denitrification via utilization of soluble microbial product (SMP)

The mixture of partial AGS and flocculent sludge in continuous flow reactors were operated with periodic famine (PF) strategy and continuous feast (CF) strategy to reveal the impact of the feast-famine strategies on cultivation of AGS and the dynamics of microbial communities. The experimental results showed that the mature AGS were cultivated with PF and CF strategy on the 31st and the 71st days respectively, which was the result of good extra cellular polymeric substance (EPS) secretion with PF strategy. It could accelerate the formation of microbial aggregates due to the conditions of periodic famine. High-level denitrification with PF strategy via utilization of SMP was examined by EEM-PARAFAC on cycle test. The high-throughput pyrosequencing showed that the dominant bacteria with PF strategy involved functional bacteria of nutrient removal and EPS secreting bacteria, while the dominant bacteria were fast-growing heterotrophic organisms with CF strategy . (c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study showed that using periodic famine and continuous feast strategies can cultivate mature AGS and promote the formation of microbial aggregates. The PF strategy can achieve high-level denitrification via SMP utilization, while the dominant bacteria under the CF strategy are fast-growing heterotrophic organisms.