Biochemistry of enhanced biological phosphorus removal and anaerobic COD stabilization.

Improved design strategies at BNR plants should include cost reductions so that the consumers and water authorities will be more willing to build EBPR plants instead of conventional activated sludge plants. Through efficient design, actual savings in construction and operation costs can be realized. For this reason, anaerobic stabilization of COD needs to be seriously considered during design for direct energy savings at the plants. The existence of anaerobic stabilization has been demonstrated through experimental work. Evaluation of operational data from existing plants has also indicated the definite presence of anaerobic stabilization at plants that include anaerobic zones for EBPR as part of their operation. By exploring the biochemical reactions taking place in EBPR process, particularly the involvement of the storage mechanisms for PHA, poly-P and glycogen storage, the potential mechanisms of the anaerobic stabilization of COD in EBPR systems was explored. The resultant balances pointed out the importance of glycogen metabolism in terms of conserving carbon and providing a sink for the reducing equivalents produced under aerobic conditions. This mechanism is different from those observed in anoxic-aerobic and conventional aerobic activated sludge systems, and appears to be at least partially responsible for the observed anaerobic stabilization of COD.

The competition between PAOs (phosphorus accumulating organisms) and GAOs (glycogen accumulating organisms) in EBPR (enhanced biological phosphorus removal) systems at different temperatures and the effects on system performance.

It is well known and firmly established that the rate of chemical and biochemical reactions slow down as temperature decreases. Nevertheless, several studies have reported that the efficiency of enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) improves as temperature decreases. However, several recent studies have reported that EBPR reaction rates decrease with temperature decrease in accordance with the Arrhenius relationship. This study was designed to more thoroughly investigate this controversy using two UCT plants fed with a synthetic wastewater consisting primarily of acetate as the COD form, and a small amount of supplemental yeast extract. Experiments were performed over temperatures ranging from 5 to 20 degrees C. The results showed that, even though the kinetic rates decrease as temperature decreases, EBPR systems perform better at colder temperatures. The reason for better system performance is apparently related to reduced competition for substrate in the non-oxic zones, which results in an increased population of PAOs and, thus, greater EBPR efficiency. The proliferation of PAOs apparently occurs because they are psychrophilic whereas their competitors are not. The experiments showed that the EBPR sludges accumulated high concentrations of both PHA and glycogen at 20 degrees C, but accumulated more PHA and much less glycogen at 5 degrees C. Although the results could be interpreted as the result of changes in the PAO-GAO competition, Mann-Whitney non-parametric comparisons of transmission electron microscopy examinations revealed no indication of the presence of GAOs population under any temperature conditions. Regardless, mass balances of the glycogen data showed that the involvement of glycogen is less at cold temperature, even though EBPR was greater. Unlike current EBPR models (e.g. Mino model), the results suggest that glycogen metabolism is not a precursor for EBPR biochemistry. The results also indicate that temperature not only may cause selective pressure on the dominant organisms, but also may force them to use a different metabolic pathway as temperature decreases.

A thermal adaptation of bacteria to cold temperatures in an enhanced biological phosphorus removal system.

Temperature is one of the key parameters that affects the reaction kinetics and performance of enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) systems. Although studies agree regarding the effect of temperature on kinetic reaction rates, there are contradictory results in the literature regarding the effect of temperature on EBPR system performance. Early investigators (Sell, Ekama et al., Daigger et al.) reported better performance with lower temperatures, but others have reported partial or complete loss of EBPR functions at low temperatures (McClintock et al., Brdjanovic et a., Beatons et al.). One speculation is that deterioration in the EBPR system performance at cold temperatures can be attributed to rigid-like behavior of the cell membranes. Most cells (not all) on the other hand have the ability to alter their membrane fatty acid composition as temperature changes in order to keep their membrane at nearly the same fluidity despite the temperature changes. This unique ability is known as homeoviscous adaptation. In this study, homeoviscous adaptation by EBPR activated sludge was investigated for a series of temperatures ranging from 20 degrees C to 5 degrees C using a lab scale continuous flow EBPR system fed with acetate and supplemental yeast extract. The fatty acid analysis results suggested that the unsaturated to saturated fatty acid ratio increased from 1.40 to 3.61 as temperature dropped from 20 to 5 degrees C. The increased cis-9-hexadecanoic acid (C 16:1) at 5 degrees C strongly indicated the presence of homeoviscous adaptation in the EBPR bacterial community. Thus the cell membranes of the EBPR community were still in a fluid state, and solute transport and proton motive force were operable even at 5 degrees C. It was concluded that loss of EBPR performance at low temperatures is not related to the physical state of the cellular membranes, but is possibly related to the application of unsuitable operational conditions (low SRT, excessive electron acceptors, low anaerobic detention time, non-acclimated sludge, etc.).