title: Effects of packing rates of cubic-shaped polyurethane foam carriers on the microbial community and the removal of organics and nitrogen in moving bed biofilm reactors.
abstract: The effects of packing rates (20%, 30%, and 40%) of polyurethane foam (PUF) to the removal of organics and nitrogen were investigated by continuously feeding artificial sewage in three aerobic moving bed biofilm reactors. The results indicated that the packing rate of the PUF carriers had little influence on the COD removal efficiency (81% on average). However, ammonium removal was affected by the packing rates, which was presumably due to the different relative abundances of nitrifying bacteria. A high ammonium removal efficiency of 96.3% at a hydraulic retention time of 5h was achieved in 40% packing rate reactor, compared with 37.4% in 20% packing rate. Microprofiles of dissolved oxygen and nitrate revealed that dense biofilm limits the DO transfer distance and nitrate diffusion. Pyrosequencing analysis of the biofilm showed that Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Verrucomicrobia were the three most abundant phyla, but the proportions of the microbial community varied with the packing rate of the PUF carriers.
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
authors.forename: Quan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Yuxiao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Tianmin
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Libing
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: Chong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Hongzhang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Xiuqin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.forename: Xin-Hui
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Xing
mesh_terms: D000641:Ammonia / Q000378:metabolism; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development*; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental / Q000187:drug effects; D018441:Biofilms / Q000187:drug effects*; D057919:Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology*; D007753:Laboratories; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D009566:Nitrates / Q000032:analysis; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction / Q000187:drug effects; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism; D010802:Phylogeny; D011140:Polyurethanes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012995:Solubility / Q000187:drug effects; D013696:Temperature; D018508:Water Purification / Q000295:instrumentation*
chemical_list: D009566:Nitrates; D009930:Organic Chemicals; D011140:Polyurethanes; D000641:Ammonia; C028279:polyurethane foam; D009584:Nitrogen; D010100:Oxygen