title: Effect of granular activated carbon on the aerobic granulation of sludge and its mechanism.
abstract: The granulation of activated sludge and effect of granular activated carbon (GAC) was investigated under the alternative anaerobic and aerobic conditions. The results showed that GAC accelerated the granulation, but had no obvious effect on the bacterial community structure of granules. The whole granulation process could be categorized into three phases, i.e. lag, granulation and granule maturation phase. During lag period GAC provided nuclei for sludge to attach, and thus enhanced the morphological regularization of sludge. During granulation period the granule size increased significantly due to the growth of bacteria in granules. GAC reduced the compression caused by the inter-particle collisions and thus accelerate the granulation. GAC has no negative effect on the performance of SBR, and thus efficient simultaneous removal of COD, nitrogen and phosphorus were obtained during most of the operating time.
authors.affiliation: School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.affiliation: School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Lian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoying
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Bolin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Junnan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: You
authors.affiliation: School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Yitian
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China; Hubei Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources Processing and Environment, Wuhan 430070, China. Electronic address: xiaoguo_chen@whut.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xiaoguo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000332:Aerobiosis; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology*; D002606:Charcoal; D010758:Phosphorus; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid
chemical_list: D012722:Sewage; D002606:Charcoal; D010758:Phosphorus
keywords: Aerobic granule; EBPR; GAC; Granulation; Mechanism