title: Full scale performance of the aerobic granular sludge process for sewage treatment.
abstract: Recently, aerobic granular sludge technology has been scaled-up and implemented for industrial and municipal wastewater treatment under the trade name Nereda(®). With full-scale references for industrial treatment application since 2006 and domestic sewage since 2009 only limited operating data have been presented in scientific literature so far. In this study performance, granulation and design considerations of an aerobic granular sludge plant on domestic wastewater at the WWTP Garmerwolde, the Netherlands were analysed. After a start-up period of approximately 5 months, a robust and stable granule bed (>8 g L(-1)) was formed and could be maintained thereafter, with a sludge volume index after 5 min settling of 45 mL g(-1). The granular sludge consisted for more than 80% of granules larger than 0.2 mm and more than 60% larger than 1 mm. Effluent requirements (7 mg N L(-1) and 1 mg P L(-1)) were easily met during summer and winter. Maximum volumetric conversion rates for nitrogen and phosphorus were respectively 0.17 and 0.24 kg (m(3) d)(-1). The energy usage was 13.9 kWh (PE150·year)(-1) which is 58-63 % lower than the average conventional activated sludge treatment plant in the Netherlands. Finally, this study demonstrated that aerobic granular sludge technology can effectively be implemented for the treatment of domestic wastewater.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands. Electronic address: m.pronk@tudelft.nl.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pronk
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands; Department of Water Management, Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1, 2628CN, Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: de Kreuk
authors.affiliation: Royal HaskoningDHV B.V., P.O Box 1132, 3800 BC Amersfoort, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: de Bruin
authors.affiliation: Waterschap Noorderzijlvest, Stedumermaar 1, 9735 AC Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kamminga
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kleerebezem
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M C M
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: van Loosdrecht
mesh_terms: D000332:Aerobiosis; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology*; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D012722:Sewage
keywords: Aerobic granular sludge; Energy; Full scale; Granulation; Nutrient removal; Sewage treatment; Sludge volume index