Nascent application of aerobic granular sludge for recirculating aquaculture system effluent treatment : Performance, granule formation, and microbial community

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Volume Title

A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä

Date

2023-11

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Mcode

Degree programme

Language

en

Pages

10

Series

Aquacultural Engineering, Volume 103

Abstract

This study presents for the first time an evaluation of the feasibility of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) for treating recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) effluent in a sequential batch reactor configuration for nutrient removal. An AGS process was started using synthetic wastewater to grow the granules, and the feed was then switched to RAS effluent, and a systematically decreasing carbon supplementation was applied. Total nitrogen removal significantly decreased from around 75 % to as low as 13 %, but granules could restore their performance when allowed enough time (2 weeks) to acclimate to the change in feed. The dynamics of AGS microbial communities were followed by Illumina sequencing. A high abundance of microbial populations—indicating dense and stable granules—was observed after 97 days of operation with RAS wastewater. In particular, the genera Neomegalonema, Hydrogenophaga, Thauera, Bdellovibrio, Flavobacterium, and Pseudomonas represented most of the community, showing the heterotrophic, denitrifying, and phosphorus-accumulating potential of the studied operational design. The AGS showed promising results for a small-footprint solution for RAS treatment, but the energy consumption of aeration and carbon addition still requires further development.

Description

Funding Information: This research has received funding from EU Maritime and Fisheries Fund Operational Program for Finland 2014–2020 Project 33436 . Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors

Keywords

Aerobic granular sludge, Microbial community, Nitrogen removal, Recirculating aquaculture system

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Citation

Suhonen, T, Al-Juboori, R A, Kruglova, A, Pulkkinen, J, Vielma, J & Mikola, A 2023, ' Nascent application of aerobic granular sludge for recirculating aquaculture system effluent treatment : Performance, granule formation, and microbial community ', Aquacultural Engineering, vol. 103, 102361 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaeng.2023.102361