From waste to wealth: Exploring the effect of particle size on biopolymer harvesting from aerobic granular sludge

초록

This study aimed to examine the impact of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) sizes on its properties and alginate-like exopolymers (ALE) recovery potential. The AGS was cultivated in a lab-scale bioreactor and categorized into six size classes with 200 mu m intervals. There appeared a critical size (400-800 mu m) for developing stable AGS structure and excellent ALE recovery. A higher hydrophobicity (74.36 %) and density (1,037 g/L) was observed in AGS400-600 mu m than other sizes. Moreover, the highest ALE yield was obtained in ALE600-800 mu m (388 mg/g VSS) for its higher abundance of EPS-producers (35.1 %), while the PN content of ALE400-600 mu m was higher than other samples. Meanwhile, the concentrations of metal elements within the ALE and AGS identified that there was no bio-accumulation of metal elements in the ALE. This study offers an in-depth understanding of biopolymer recovery from AGS, paving the way for a novel resource recovery strategy through the regulation of AGS sizes.

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