Segregation of Biomass in Cyclic Anaerobic/Aerobic Granular Sludge Allows the Enrichment of Anaerobic Ammonium Oxidizing Bacteria at Low Temperatures

A cyclic anaerobic/aerobic bubble column reactor was run for 420 days to study the competition for nitrite between nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) and anaerobic ammonium oxidizing bacteria (Anammox) at low temperatures. An anaerobic feeding period with nitrite and ammonium in the influent followed by an aerated period was applied resulting in a biomass specific conversion rate of 0.18 ± 0.02 [gN 2 – N·gVSS –1·day –1] when the dissolved oxygen concentration was maintained at 1.0 mgO2·L–1. An increase in white granules was observed in the reactor which were mainly located at the top of the settled sludge bed, whereas red granules were located at the bottom. FISH, activity tests, and qPCR techniques revealed that red biomass was dominated by Anammox bacteria and white granules by NOB. Granules from the top of the sludge bed were smaller and therefore had a higher aerobic volume fraction, a lower density, and consequently a slower settling rate. Sludge was manually removed from the top of the settled sludge bed to selectively remove NOB which resulted in an increased overall biomass specific N-conversion rate of 0.32 ± 0.02 [gN 2 – N·gVSS –1·day –1]. Biomass segregation in granular sludge reactors gives an extra opportunity to select for specific microbial groups by applying a different SRT for different microbial groups.