Abstract

Granular sludge aggregates are particular types of biofilms that display significantly different metrics and physical-chemical characteristics than activated sludge flocs. The efficiency of intensified processes using granularsludge relies on selection pressures created by engineering operational conditions to force microorganisms toform specific intrinsic physiological, phenotypic, and metabolic traits for granulation and high-rate biological removalof nutrients and/or recalcitrant organic matter. Granular sludge and conventional activated sludge sharea core microbiome, while the distribution of the underlying populations can significantly differ in relative abundanceand localization in the architecture of granules and flocs. Analogous ecological principles of microbialselection apply from activated sludge to granular sludge ecosystems with the essential difference that granules are governed by diffusion limitations through which different redox potentials are created on micrometre scale. Integrating the microbiology dimension together with the physical-chemical features of granules in engineering practice will make a difference at process level, besides offering new opportunities for bioaugmentation of granules in existing infrastructure. With this review article we critically examine the macro-scale factors impacting granulation, the physical-chemical characteristics of granular sludge, and fundamental and applied questions driven by the microbial ecology of granular sludge, toward the generation of useful concepts for process design and evaluation in engineering practice.

Autore Pugliese

• Di Iaconi Claudio

Tutti gli autori

• M.-K. Winkler; C. Meunier; O. Henriet; M.E. Suárez-Ojeda; G. Del Moro; M. De Sanctis; C. Di Iaconi ; D.G. Weissbrodt

Titolo volume/Rivista

Chemical engineering journal

Anno di pubblicazione

2018

ISSN

1385-8947

ISBN

Non Disponibile

Numero di citazioni Wos

Nessuna citazione

Ultimo Aggiornamento Citazioni

Non Disponibile

Numero di citazioni Scopus

Non Disponibile

Ultimo Aggiornamento Citazioni

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Settori ERC

Non Disponibile

Codici ASJC

Non Disponibile