Investigation of the Fate and Dynamics of Extracellular Polymeric Substances (EPS) during Sludge-Based Photogranulation under Hydrostatic Conditions.

Oxygenic photogranules have received increasing interest due to their ability to treat wastewater without aeration and recover wastewater's chemical energy and solar energy. It has been reported that these photogranules can be produced under both hydrostatic and hydrodynamic conditions, and enrichment of filamentous cyanobacteria is required for this photogranulation to occur. Despite the critical role extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) play in granulation, EPS in photogranulation is yet virtually unknown.

The Oxygenic Photogranule Process for Aeration-Free Wastewater Treatment.

This study presents the oxygenic photogranule (OPG) process, a light-driven process for wastewater treatment, developed based on photogranulation of filamentous cyanobacteria, nonphototrophic bacteria, and microalgae. Unlike other biogranular processes requiring airlift or upflow-based mixing, the OPG process was operated in stirred-tank reactors without aeration. Reactors were seeded with hydrostatically grown photogranules and operated in a sequencing-batch mode for five months to treat wastewater.

The importance of filamentous cyanobacteria in the development of oxygenic photogranules.

Microorganisms often respond to their environment by growing as densely packed communities in biofilms, flocs or granules. One major advantage of life in these aggregates is the retention of its community in an ecosystem despite flowing water. We describe here a novel type of granule dominated by filamentous and motile cyanobacteria of the order Oscillatoriales.

Kinetics of nutrient removal and expression of extracellular polymeric substances of the microalgae, Chlorella sp. and Micractinium sp., in wastewater treatment.

Two species of green algae, Chlorella sp. and Micractinium sp., were cultivated in primary effluent wastewater and high-strength wastewater (a mixture of anaerobic digestion centrate and primary effluent) to study nutrient removal and EPS (extracellular polymeric substances) expression during their growth.