UNRAVELING MICROBIAL IMMOBILIZATION IMPACTS: FLOW CYTOMETRY ANALYSIS OF MORPHOLOGICAL DYNAMICS IN ANAEROBIC STRUCTURED-BED REACTORS

• Grant number: 25/07240-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: August 18, 2025
• End date: November 17, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Sanitary Engineering - Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment
• Principal Investigator: Lucas Tadeu Fuess
• Grantee: Kaio Gustavo Gomes
• Supervisor: Jo de Vrieze
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Ghent University (UGent), Belgium
• Associated to the scholarship: 24/04127-0 - IMPACTS OF UNPLANNED INTERRUPTIONS ON THE ANAEROBIC DIGESTION OF SUGARCANE VINASSE IN TWO-PHASE AND SINGLE-PHASE SYSTEMS, BP.MS

Abstract

The project aims to compare the efficiency of beet molasses treatment and the dynamics of the microbial community in UASB and AnSTBR systems, using flow cytometry to assess morphological variability in immobilized microbial communities. Molasses, a by-product of the sugar industry, has a high organic load (COD between 80-120 g L¿¹), requiring efficient and sustainable technologies for its treatment. The study proposes to operate the reactors in three phases: start-up, project load, and hydraulic retention time reduction (HRT), monitoring COD removal, biogas production, and the microbial community. Flow cytometry will be used for real-time analysis of cell viability, complemented by genetic sequencing techniques to quantify specific subpopulations. While this technique has been widely applied to assess granular sludge, there are no results in the case of cells immobilized in support media. The internship will be held at the Center for Microbial Ecology and Technology (CMET) at Ghent University, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Jo De Vrieze, an expert in anaerobic digestion. The expected results include advances in the microbial characterization of fixed-film systems, complementing previous research of the Brazilian group in which microbial taxonomy characterization if often the only aspect assessed regarding microbial communities.