Effects of carbon source on the formation, stability, bioactivity and biodiversity of the aerobic granule sludge

Abstract

Three aerobic granular sludge systems were operated as sequencing batch reactors (SBR) with acetate, ethanol and glucose as carbon source. The SBR cycle was 6 h, with an anaerobic phase followed by an aerobic phase. The acetate granules (>1.5 mm) had the greatest microbial diversity and better results in terms of removal efficiency for carbon and nutrients (TN ≈ 72% and TP ≈ 42%) and also in the resistance tests. However, partial disintegration was observed. On the other hand, when ethanol was the substrate, the granules were stable, good nitrogen removal was achieved (TN ≈ 53%), but phosphorus removal was not favored (TP ≈ 31%). Glucose presented the lowest efficiency values for nitrogen (TN ≈ 44%) and phosphorous removal (TP ≈ 21%), and the granules formed (<1 mm) had the lowest microbial diversity. Therefore, the carbon source had a high impact on the characteristics of the granules.