Drying and re-cultivation of aerobic granules.
Aerobic granules stored in liquid medium can lose structural integrity during storage. This study demonstrated that the aerobic granules cultivated by seeding activated sludge into column-type sequential batch reactors and fed with synthetic wastewater at organic loading rate of 1.5 kg/m3-d can be dried by acetone gradient method to moisture content less than 1%. Then, the dried granules can be reactivated through a re-cultivation process to recover their organic degradation capacity in 12 h, or their appearance in 5 d. During the drying and recovery, the granules experienced volume and weight losses by >80% and >85%, respectively, with minimal loss in structural integrity. The microbial communities of the dried and re-cultivated granules were probed using polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis technique. The family Xanthomonadaceae and the family Comamonas can survive in dried granules and could contribute to maintain structural integrity in re-cultivation stage.
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, 220 Handan Road, Shanghai 200433, China.
Yi
Y
Lv
Chunli
C
Wan
Xiang
X
Liu
Yi
Y
Zhang
Duu-Jong
DJ
Lee
Joo-Hwa
JH
Tay
D001420:Bacteria, Aerobic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000254:growth & development*; D061249:Batch Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology*; D002449:Cell Aggregation / Q000502:physiology; D003890:Desiccation / Q000379:methods*; D059013:Microbial Consortia / Q000502:physiology*; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology
D012722:Sewage