Abstract
The study investigated the effect of high substrate loading on substrate utilization kinetics, and changes inflicted on the composition of the microbial community in a superfast submerged membrane bioreactor. Submerged MBR was sequentially fed with a substrate mixture and acetate; its performance was monitored at steady-state, at extremely low sludge age values of 2.0, 1.0 and 0.5. d, all adjusted to a single hydraulic retention time of 8.0. h. Each MBR run was repeated when substrate feeding was increased from 200. mg. COD/L to 1000. mg. COD/L. Substrate utilization kinetics was altered to significantly lower levels when the MBR was adjusted to higher substrate loadings. Molecular analysis of the biomass revealed that variable process kinetics could be correlated with parallel changes in the composition of the microbial community, mainly by a replacement mechanism, where newer species, better adapted to the new growth conditions, substituted others that are washed out from the system.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 118-127 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Bioresource Technology |
| Volume | 159 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - May 2014 |
Funding
This study was conducted as part of a research & development project funded by The Scientific & Technological Research Council of Turkey (Project no. 109Y261). TUBITAK is kindly acknowledged for its financial support.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Scientific & Technological Research Council of Turkey | 109Y261 |
| TUBITAK |
Keywords
- Microbial diversity
- Modeling
- Process kinetics
- Respirometry
- Superfast membrane bioreactor