Aims: The effect of high organic loading rate (OLR) on the physical characteristics of aerobic granules was studied. Methods and Results: Two column-type sequential aerobic sludge blanket reactors were fed with either glucose or acetate as the main carbon source, and the OLR was gradually raised from 6 to 9, 12 and 15 kg chemical oxygen demand (COD) m )3 d )1 . Glucose-fed granules could sustain the maximum OLR tested. At a low OLR, these granules exhibited a loose fluffy morphology dominated by filamentous bacteria. At higher OLRs, these granules became irregularly shaped, with folds, crevices and depressions. In contrast, acetate-fed granules had a compact spherical morphology at OLRs of 6 and 9 kg COD m )3 d )1 , with better settling and strength characteristics than glucose-fed granules at similar OLRs. However, acetate-fed granules could not sustain high OLRs and disintegrated when the OLR reached 9 kg COD m )3 d )1 . Conclusions: The compact regular microstructure of the acetate-fed granules appeared to limit mass transfer of nutrients at an OLR of 9 kg COD m )3 d )1 . The looser filamentous microstructure of the glucose-fed granules and the subsequent irregular morphology delayed the onset of diffusion limitation and allowed significantly higher OLRs to be attained. Significance and Impact of the Study: High organic loading rates are possible with aerobic granules. This research would be helpful in the development of aerobic granule-based systems for high-strength wastewaters.

Owing to a fast growth rate, aerobic granules display a wide range of sizes, approximately 0.3-5.0 mm in diameter. As the diameter increases, the aerobic granule undergoes serial morphological and physical changes that could cause problems to the reactor operation, a phenomenon which, however, has not been fully studied hitherto. In this study, aerobic granules from a sequencing batch reactor were mechanically separated into various size-categories in order to investigate their physical properties, including sludge volumetric index (SVI), settling velocity (sv), specific surface hydrophobicity, granule strength, total solids, percentage volatile solids and other structural properties. Also, the live and dead biomass distribution was examined under a confocal laser scanning microscope after treatment with nucleic acid viability stains. Regardless of size, the biomass (both live and dead) was densest in the outer layer of the granule, which was about 600+/-50 microm thick. The live cells appeared only in the peripheral zone, while dead biomass spread into the inner zone. The biomass distribution pattern justified the changing physical properties of the granules as they grew bigger. As size increased, the sv, granule total density and biomass density increased but not in parallel with the size increment, while the granule strength, specific surface hydrophobicity and SVI decreased. Nonetheless, beyond a threshold size (4.0 mm diameter), the granules presented peculiar values in those properties, deviating from the initial trends. This was due to both inner and outer structural changes. The physical properties associated significantly with the size factor, for which the correlation coefficients were above 0.67. In view of biological viability and physical properties, the operational size-range suggested for optimal performance and economically effective aerobic SBR granular sludge is a diameter of 1.0-3.0 mm.

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Activated sludge and acetate-fed granules were used as microbial inocula to start up two sequencing batch reactors (R1, R2) for phenol biodegradation. The reactors were operated in 4-h cycles at a phenol loading of 1.8 kg m(-3) day(-1). The biomass in R1 failed to remove phenol and completely washed out after 4 days. R2 experienced initial difficulty in removing phenol, but the biomass acclimated quickly and effluent phenol concentrations declined to 0.3 mg l(-1) from day 3. The acetate-fed granules were covered with bacterial rods, but filamentous bacteria with sheaths, presumably to shield against toxicity, quickly emerged as the dominant morphotype upon phenol exposure. Bacterial adaptation to phenol also took the form of modifications in enzyme activity and increased production of extracellular polymers. 16S rRNA gene fingerprints revealed a slight decrease in bacterial diversity from day 0 to day 3 in R1, prior to process failure. In R2, a clear shift in community structure was observed as the seed evolved into phenol-degrading granules without losing species-richness. The results highlight the effectiveness of granules over activated sludge as seed for reactors treating toxic wastewaters.