engleski

Commercial materials as carriers of phosphate-accumulating bacteria

Two commercially available materials, MiraCarbon® carbon fibers (CF) and CultiSpher-S® microcarrier (CS), were used as support materials for immobilization of phosphate (P)-accumulating bacterium Acinetobacter junii. The CF are filamentous microscopic fibers intended to be used for mass adhesion of activated sludge thus preventing excess of waste sludge. The CS are macroporous gelatin spheres intended to be used as support for growth of animal cells. The immobilization of A. junii was performed by aerobically incubating the pure bacterial culture and selected materials in simulative wastewater with low P concentrations (2 mg L-1) for 24 h. After the incubation the numbers of immobilized bacteria were 1.97±0.95×109 CFU g-1 of CF and 4.96±1.0×109 CFU g-1 of CS. The materials with immobilized bacteria were now transferred to simulative wastewater with high P concentrations (20 mg L-1) to test the P-removing capacity of such prepared substrate. During 24 h of aerobic incubation a part of the cells were detaching from the surface of the CF thus bioaugmenting the surrounding media while majority of the bacteria remained firmly in the biofilm ; the bacteria were metabolically active and removed 50% of starting P from the wastewater. On the other hand, the CS dissolved after 24 h of incubation resulting in blur and gelatinous solution which excluded CS for potential usage in the treatment systems, although the bacteria were still viable and metabolically active. The CF were rigid throughout the experiment, showed great potential for implementation and should further be tested in activated sludge systems.

carbon fibers; CultiSpher-S microcarrier; Acinetobacter junii

nije evidentirano