title: The activated sludge metabolic characteristics changing sole carbon source from readily biodegradable acetate to toxic phenol.
abstract: A sequencing batch reactor was used to investigate the effect of carbon sources on the metabolism of activated sludge. Acetate and phenol, with the chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 330-350 mg L(-1), was used as the carbon source in Periods I and II, respectively. Acetate decreased in the initial 120 min with the intracellular storage materials (XSTO), extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), and the soluble microbial products (SMP) accumulating to 131.0 mg L(-1), 347.5 mg L(-1), and 35.5 mg L(-1), respectively. Then, XSTO and EPS decreased to 124.5 mg L(-1) and 340.0 mg L(-1), respectively, in the following 120 min. When acetate was replaced by phenol, it could not be used at the beginning due to its toxicity. The XSTO decreased from 142 mg L(-1) to 54.6 mg L(-1) during the aeration period. The EPS had a significant increase, with the highest value of 618.1 mg L(-1), which then decreased to 245.6 mg L(-1) at 240 min. The phenol was gradually degraded with the acclimation and it can be fully degraded 18 d later. Meanwhile, the usage ratio of the internal carbon source decreased. The effluent SMP in Period II was 1.7 times that in Period I.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China E-mail: wuchangyong@vip.163.com; Research Center of Water Pollution Control Technology, Chinese Research Academy of Environment Sciences, Beijing 100012, China.
authors.forename: Changyong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China E-mail: wuchangyong@vip.163.com; Research Center of Water Pollution Control Technology, Chinese Research Academy of Environment Sciences, Beijing 100012, China.
authors.forename: Yuexi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Research Center of Water Pollution Control Technology, Chinese Research Academy of Environment Sciences, Beijing 100012, China.
authors.forename: Jiamei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D000085:Acetates / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D000332:Aerobiosis; D057919:Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; D019149:Bioreactors; D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism*; D019800:Phenol / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D000085:Acetates; D012722:Sewage; D019800:Phenol; D002244:Carbon