title: Modeling bioaugmentation with nitrifiers in membrane bioreactors.
abstract: Bioaugmentation with nitrifiers was studied using two pilot-scale membrane bioreactors, with the purpose of assessing the suitability of state-of-the-art activated sludge models (ASMs) in predicting the efficiency of bioaugmentation as a function of operating conditions. It was demonstrated that the temperature difference between seeding and seeded reactors (ΔT) affects bioaugmentation efficiency. Experimental data were accurately predicted when ΔT was within a range of up to 10 °C at the higher range, and when the temperature was significantly lower in the seeded reactor compared to the seeding one, standard ASMs overestimated the efficiency of bioaugmentation. A modified ASM, capable of accurately representing the behavior of seeded nitrifying biomass in the presence of high ΔT, would require the inclusion of the effect of temperature time gradients on nitrifiers. A simple linear correlation between ΔT and the Arrhenius coefficient was proposed as a preliminary step.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Florence, Via S. Marta n. 3, Florence 50139, Italy E-mail: alberto.mannucci@dicea.unifi.it.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mannucci
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Florence, Via S. Marta n. 3, Florence 50139, Italy E-mail: alberto.mannucci@dicea.unifi.it; Department of Civil Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 5V6, Canada.
authors.forename: Giulio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Munz
authors.affiliation: CER2CO, Consorzio Cuoiodepur Spa, San Romano - San Miniato, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Gualtiero
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Gdansk University of Technology, ul. Narutowicza 11/12, Gdansk 80-233, Poland.
authors.forename: Jacek
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Makinia
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Florence, Via S. Marta n. 3, Florence 50139, Italy E-mail: alberto.mannucci@dicea.unifi.it.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lubello
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 5V6, Canada.
authors.forename: Jan A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Oleszkiewicz
mesh_terms: D000641:Ammonia / Q000378:metabolism*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D019149:Bioreactors; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D008954:Models, Biological; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D058465:Nitrification; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012722:Sewage / Q000032:analysis*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D012722:Sewage; D000641:Ammonia