Use of compounds derived from glycerol fermentation as carbon source for denitrification and biological phosphorus removal

• Grant number: 15/26431-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2016
• End date: November 14, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Sanitary Engineering - Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment
• Principal Investigator: Eugenio Foresti
• Grantee: Maria Eduarda Simoes Dias
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project aims to evaluate the possibility of using glycerol as a carbon source for denitrification associated with biological phosphorus removal of a synthetic effluent. The synthetic effluent composition is similar to the effluent of a UASB, largely used in treatment of domestic sewage. First, the main goal is to obtain a stable fermentation process of glycerol in sequential batch reactors (SBR), aiming to favor the formation of propionate relative to the formation of acetate and other volatile fatty acids (VFA). It is intended to obtain high concentrations of VFA allowing, when applied, denitrification associated with the biological removal of phosphorus. The variables to be tested will be the initial concentration of glycerol and the fermentation time to achieve suitable concentrations of VFA. The effect of pH on the composition of the VFA will also be investigated. In the second stage, the fermentation products will be applied for the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus biological accumulation in sequencing batch reactors (RSB). The addition of VFA will only occur during the anoxic phase. A high organic load demand is expected in the anoxic phase due the demand of carbon for the denitrification of the influent nitrate and the release of phosphate by the phosphate accumulating organisms (PAO). In the aerated stage, it is expected to occur phosphorus biological accumulation by the action of PAO. The process will be evaluated by varying the main factors that can interfere in the processes, which are cycle times, the duration of aerated and non-aerated stages and the ratios between carbon/nitrogen (C/N) and phosphorus/nitrogen (P/N).

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DIAS, MARIA E. S.; LOPES, JESSICA C.; CARNEIRO, RODRIGO B.; DAMIANOVIC, MARCIA H. R. Z.; FORESTI, EUGENIO. Using Compounds Derived from the Glycerol Fermentation as a Carbon Source for Denitrification and Biological Phosphorus Removal. WATER AIR AND SOIL POLLUTION, v. 232, n. 8, AUG 2021. (15/26431-3, 15/06246-7)