Sains Malaysiana 46(12)(2017): 2497–2506

http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/jsm-2017-4612-27

 

Characterization of Aerobic Granular Sludge Developed under Variable and Low Organic Loading Rate

(Pencirian Enap Cemar Berbutir Aerobik Dibangunkan di bawah Pemboleh Ubah dan Kadar Pemuatan Organik Rendah)

 

NIK AZIMATOLAKMA AWANG¹, MD GHAZALY SHAABAN^1*, LEE CHOON WENG²

& BONG CHUI WEI²

 

¹Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory, Malaysia

 

²Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory, Malaysia

 

Received: 14 January 2017/Accepted: 14 May 2017

 

ABSTRACT

Understanding the formation of aerobic granules sludge (AGS) under the variations of organic loading rate (OLR) could give a different insight on AGS stability, which had become the bottleneck for practical application in sewage treatment. This study demonstrates the formation of AGS that had previously been stored for eight months at 5ºC in sequencing batch reactor (SBR) with sewage as substrate. Despite being redeveloped under variable OLR of 0.26 to 0.81 kg CODs/m³ d and low superficial air velocity (SAV) of 1.33 cm/s, the loose structure of AGS during storage can be recovered within 46 days of formation process. Variations in OLR intrude the formation process particularly during low OLR, resulting in longer period to achieve mature AGS or full granulation of biomass in reactor. The next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis indicated that the shift in microbial community from Rhodocyclaceae to Comamonadaceae class for denitrification process was accommodated with the changes in the AGS size from 326 μm to more than 600 μm.

 

Keywords: Aerobic granular sludge; next generation sequencing; sewage; stability

 

ABSTRAK

Memahami pembentukan enap cemar berbutir aerobik (AGS) di bawah variasi kadar pembebanan organik (OLR) boleh memberikan pandangan yang berbeza pada kestabilan AGS, yang menjadi masalah utama untuk aplikasi praktik dalam rawatan kumbahan. Kajian ini menunjukkan pembentukan semula AGS yang sebelum ini telah disimpan selama 8 bulan pada 5ºC, dalam reaktor penjujukan berkumpulan (SBR) dengan kumbahan sebagai substrat. Walaupun dibangunkan semula di bawah pemboleh ubah OLR daripada 0.26 kepada 0.81 CODs kg/m³ d dan halaju udara cetek rendah (SAV) 1.33 cm/s, struktur longgar AGS semasa penyimpanan dapat dipulihkan dalam tempoh 46 hari daripada proses pembentukan semula. Variasi dalam OLR mengganggu proses pembentukan terutamanya semasa OLR rendah dan menyebabkan tempoh yang lebih lama untuk mencapai AGS matang atau pembutiran penuh biojisim dalam reaktor. Analisis penjujukan generasi akan datang (NGS) menunjukkan pertukaran komuniti mikrob daripada kelas Rhodocyclaceae kepada Comamonadaceae untuk proses denitrifikasi adalah disebabkan oleh perubahan dalam saiz AGS daripada 326 μm kepada lebih 600 μm.

 

Kata kunci: Enap cemar berbutir aerobik; kestabilan; kumbahan; penjujukan generasi akan datang

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*Corresponding author; email: ghazaly@um.edu.my