Bioaugmentation as a strategy to reduce the uncertainty of biological nutrient removal in granular sludge systems

该研究计划将解决与废水处理相关的一个主要问题：如何减少生物营养物去除的不确定性。研究方法将结合联合收割机的数学建模和实验测试的创新战略，生物过程工程。营养物（氮和磷）的去除在废水处理的总成本中起着重要作用。生物脱氮是最经济和环境可持续的最先进的技术。然而，一定程度的不确定性仍然与BNR的设计和操作有关。微生物菌群的筛选和分离是生物降解和营养物质去除面临的主要问题。聚磷菌（PAO）的选育是实现磷的可持续去除和回收的有效途径。此外，颗粒污泥技术的最新发展和应用代表了一种有前途的方法，以改善固液分离和减少工厂的规模，特别是在寒冷的气候地区。这两种解决方案并不总是适合的，这取决于上下文，与实际技术。颗粒污泥的形成是影响颗粒污泥形成和稳定性的关键因素，而聚磷菌的选择严格依赖于与糖原积累菌的竞争。由于废水的高流速，控制废水的一些重要参数（如组成、pH和温度）用于过程控制过于昂贵。因此，重要的是找到替代策略来驱动植物生态系统中的选择。我和我的团队提出了一种创新的方法，基于在受控侧流反应器中选择所需的微生物群落，用作主流反应器的连续接种物（生物强化）。这将促进废水处理厂的设计和操作，以生物营养物去除，并将提供一个深入了解环境生物过程工程的新方面。研究结果将对BNR以外的环境技术产生潜在的影响和未来的应用。

This research program will address a major problem related to wastewater treatment: how to reduce the uncertainty of biological nutrient removal. The approach to the research will combine mathematical modelling and experimental testing of an innovative strategy for bioprocess engineering. The removal of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) plays a major role in the overall cost of wastewater treatment. Biological nutrient removal (BNR) is the most economically and environmentally sustainable state-of-the-art technology. However, a degree of uncertainty is still related to BNR design and operation. The selection and the separation from the liquid of the microbial consortia operating biodegradation and nutrient removal are the main problems to be faced. The selection of phosphorus accumulating bacteria (PAO) is a very effective strategy for a sustainable removal and recovery of phosphorus. Moreover, the recent development and application of granular sludge technologies represents a promising approach to improve solid-liquid separation and to reduce the size of the plants especially in cold climate regions. Both solutions are not always suitable, depending on the context, with actual technologies. Granular sludge formation presents some critical aspects related to granules formation and stability and the selection of PAO strictly depend on the competition with glycogen accumulating bacteria. Due to the high flow rates of wastewater, it is too expensive to control some important parameters of wastewater (such as the composition, pH and temperature) for process control. Thus, it is important to find alternative strategies to drive the selection in the plant ecosystem. My team and I propose an innovative approach, based on the selection of the desired microbial community in a controlled side stream reactor, to be used as continuous inoculum for mainstream reactors (bioaugmentation). This will facilitate the design and operation of wastewater treatment plants for biological nutrient removal and will offer an insight in to new aspects of environmental bioprocess engineering. The results of the research will have a potential impact and future application in environmental technologies other than BNR.