INVESTIGADORES
CONTRERAS edgardo Martin
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF FILAMENTOUS AND FLOC-FORMING MICROORGANISMS GROWING IN A MODEL SYSTEM
Autor/es:
CONTRERAS E.; GIANNUZZI L.; ZARITZKY N.
Lugar:
Puebla, Mexico
Reunión:
Congreso; ICEF8; 2000
Resumen:
Food processing industries usually discharge large volumes of wastewater characterized by high organic load creating a pollution problem that affects water quality. The activated sludge process is a widely used method for treating food industrial wastewaters. One of the most common problems in the operation of activated sludge plants, known as filamentous bulking, is caused by excessive growth of microorganisms such as Sphaerotilus natans. Biological methods to control filamentous bulking comprise preventive actions to suppress filamentous microorganisms and selectively support the growth of floc-forming bacteria (FFB). The objective of the present work was to study the growth kinetics of Sphaerotilus natans and a FFB (isolated from our lab-scale activated sludge plant) in a model system of a food industry wastewater (potato processing plant). The isolated FFB was identified as Acinetobacter anitratus. Growth of S. natans and FFB were analyzed in a culture medium with citric acid as a sole carbon source. Monod kinetic coefficients, determined for both strains, showed that FFB have higher maximum specific growth rate (mmax) and maintenance coefficient (mS) than S. natans; however similar biomass growth yield was found for both strains. The obtained parameters are useful in modeling the growth of filamentous and floc-forming bacteria in a potato processing wastewater or in other effluents under carbon-limiting conditions (especially when citrate is the main component) in order to control filamentous bulking by kinetic selection.