Ampu Marojahan Resmanto. Granulation of Substrate-Adapted Microorganisms with Cationic Polymer Addition. Master's Degree(Biotechnology). King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi. KMUTT Library. : King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, 2010.
Granulation of Substrate-Adapted Microorganisms with Cationic Polymer Addition
Abstract:
The successful operation of anaerobic reactor was related with the active biomass
concentration within the system. The microorganisms inside should have high activity
and high concentration to get a good and stable performance of reactor. In this study,
adaptation of anaerobic microorganisms into specific substrates was done to acclimatize
and enrich the specific microorganism. Furthermore, the granulation of substrate
adapted microorganism with cationic polymer addition was studied. Therefore this
study was aimed to investigate the effect of cationic polymer addition on the granulation
of substrate-adapted microorganisms. The adaptation process was conducted by
inoculated 8.5 g VSS/I of seed sludge into six glass reactors and fed with 0.1% of
glucose, lactic acid, ethanol, butyric acid, propionic acid and acetic acid for enrichment
of glucose-adapted microorganism (GAM), lactic acid-adapted microorganism (LAM),
ethanol-adapted microorganism (EAM), butyric acid-adapted microorganism (BAM),
propionic acid-adapted microorganism (PAM) and acetic acid-adapted microorganism
(AAM), respectively. Substrate utilization rate of each microorganism was analyzed
every month to investigate the effect of adaptation process on microbial activity. After
adaptation for 6 months, the six substrate-adapted microorganisms were grouped to
represent three main groups of anaerobic microorganism. GAM was represented a group
of fermentative bacteria (FB), LAM, EAM, BAM and PAM were represented a group of
acetogenic bacteria (AB), and AAM was represented a group of acetoclastic
methanogens (AcM). Three kinds of cationic polymers namely HIM 3150, MEM 8265
and chitosan were used to select the most suitable polymer for coagulation of substrateadapted
microorganisms based on the jar test analysis and specific methanogenic
activity. The granulation study was done by inoculation of three microbial groups into
three continuous stirrer tank reactor (CSTR) and operated until 2 months with addition
of polymer as periodically. Agitation and recirculation were constantly maintained to
support the granular formation. The effect of polymer on the granule formation was
evaluated by measuring VSS concentration, sludge volume index (SVI), extracellular
polymeric substances (EPS) concentration, size distribution and methanogenic activity.
The morphology and microbial composition in granules were visualized by scanning
electron microscope (SEM) and fluorosence in-situ hybridization (FISH) combining
with confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM), respectively.
The results showed that adaptation process increased the substrate utilization rate of
each microorganism to use their own substrate. GAM, LAM, EAM, BAM, PAM and
AAM have the highest activity in using glucose, lactic acid, ethanol, butyric acid,
propionic acid and acetic acid, respectively. It was found that cationic polymer MEM
8265 with concentration 2 mg/g SS was the most suitable polymer for coagulation of
substrate-adapted microorganisms and used for granulation study of three microbial
groups. After operation for 2 months, the SVI of all microbial groups were significantly
decreased comparing to the initial stage of granulation. The VSS concentration
increased to 11.1, 6.6 and 4.5 g VSS/I for FB, AB and AcM, respectively. EPS
production of three microbial groups increased in terms of protein and carbohydrate
content. Moreover, the granular size of 2.0 mm was found in all reactors. The good
characteristic of granules is not only considering the size but also the metabolic activity.
The methanogenic activity of FB, AB and AcM increased to 0.10, 0.26, 0.27 g CODCH4/
g VSS.d, respectively. The photograph electron microscope showed that the
morphology of three microbial granules were different. Enriched-fermentative (FB)
granule had the microorganisms with coccoid and rod-shape as a predominant
microorganisms. Enriched-acetogenic (AB) granule contained Methanosaeta-like
microorganisms with short and long rod-shape as a dominant species. The most
microorganisms in enriched-acetoclastic methanogens granule was Methanosaeta-like
microorganism with short rod-shape. In term of microbial composition, the enrichedfermentative
(FB) granule was dominated by Eubacteria, while the enriched-acetogenic
(AB) granule was contained both of Eubacteria and Archaea. Archaea group was found
as a predominant microorganism in enriched-acetoclastic methanogen (AcM).
King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi. KMUTT Library