| Autotrophic granular sludge was developed in an SBR reactor using inorganic carbonal substrate. The variation of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) during the densification process and their effects on granulation have been evaluated. It was found that the autotrophic bacteria granular sludge was compact with the density reached up to 1.06 g/mL, and the rod-like bacteria predominated in granules on the evidence of scanning electron microscopic (SEM) results. Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in the effluent were 4.5-15.2 mg/L, 10.2-20.3 mg/L and 17.9-30.1 mg/L, respectively, and the ammonia removal efficiency was 78%-92%. By evaluating the profile of various types of nitrogen and their conversion rates, it was found that short settling time was the main factor that enriched the AOB at the beginning of this experiment, and the granulation did not correlate with AOB. On the contrary, nitrification rate well correlated with granulation, and evidence demonstrated that the formation of granulation was in favorate of imoblization of NOB and the metabolite of NOB stabilized granules, therefore granules and NOB mutually enhanced. Additionally, it was found that the autotrophic denitrification was gradually increased with the process of granulation. |
