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Kinetics of Particulate Organic Matter Removal as a Response to Bioflocculation in Aerobic Biofilm Reactors
Author(s) -
Boltz Joshua P.,
La Motta Enrique J.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
water environment research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.356
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1554-7531
pISSN - 1061-4303
DOI - 10.2175/106143007x156718
Subject(s) - biofilm , particulates , organic matter , kinetics , chemistry , environmental chemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , environmental engineering , waste management , environmental science , pulp and paper industry , bacteria , biology , organic chemistry , genetics , physics , quantum mechanics , engineering
Recent research has identified that the major fraction of chemical oxygen demand in domestic wastewaters is in particulate form. The research presented herein develops the kinetics of particle removal as a response to bioflocculation at the surface of aerobic biofilms. This study focuses on the removal of particles that are maintained in aqueous suspension after 30 minutes of gravity settling. It is helpful to consider the particulate organics removal process in biofilms as the sum of four steps, namely (1) external transport of the particles to the biofilm surface, (2) bioflocculation, (3) organic particulate hydrolysis, and (4) diffusion and reaction of the solubilized organics by the bacterial cells comprising the biofilm. Organic (native corn starch) and inorganic particle (Min‐U‐Sil 10 [U.S. Silica Company, Berkeley Springs, West Virginia]) suspensions, with micronutrients, were continuously fed to a rotating disc biofilm reactor to verify a first‐order kinetic expression that has been used to describe bioflocculation and to demonstrate that bioflocculation is the primary particle removal mechanism. Extracellular polymeric substances were extracted and quantified to describe the role they play in the bioflocculation process.