title: Evaluation of sludge reduction by an environmentally friendly chemical uncoupler in a pilot-scale anaerobic/anoxic/oxic process.
abstract: An environmentally friendly chemical, tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)phosphonium sulfate (THPS), was used as a metabolic uncoupler to reduce sludge production in a pilot-scale anaerobic/anoxic/oxic process. The results show that the addition of THPS (1.08-1.86 mL/m(3) influent) in the sludge return section could reduce waste activated sludge by about 22.5 %, and decrease the sludge yield by about 14.7 % at the end of a run. At the same time, the addition of THPS slightly lowered the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD), soluble COD and NH4 (+)-N, and slightly improved removal of total nitrogen. The effects of THPS addition on two characteristics of activated sludge in oxic tank are discussed in detail and the results suggest that the settleability of sludge was reduced by addition of THPS, while the specific oxygen uptake rate was increased. Molecular biology analysis shows that the addition of THPS had little effect on the microbial communities of sludge.
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xuesong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Jianming
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Junxin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Benyi
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xiao
mesh_terms: D000641:Ammonia / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001483:Base Sequence; D057919:Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; D017931:DNA Primers; D058645:Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis; D064307:Microbiota; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010100:Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012722:Sewage
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D012722:Sewage; D000641:Ammonia; D009584:Nitrogen; D010100:Oxygen