Aerobic Granular Sludge (AGS) formation - the impact of different influents

Most of the work on Aerobic Granular Sludge (AGS) has been either with synthetic wastewater (lab studies) or in domestic wastewater installations. In these cases, the AGS forms into irregular but tight granules that settle rapidly. AGS has great potential because:

• Allows for higher biomass concentrations than activated sludge - smaller footprint
• Removal of BOD5, Ammonia, Phosphate, and Nitrate/Nitrite all in one single basin
• Less energy use than conventional activated sludge

This brings me to think about the application of AGS to indsutrial wastewaters where you have lower concentrations of soluble organic compounds and more realcitrant/resistant chemicals that are traditionally difficult to treat. Fortuantely, I found a study that discusses AGS appearance and formation on simulated industrial influents. 

The authors created an excellent graphical abstract for evaluation of AGS appearance with different influents. 

Pronk, M., Abbas, B., Al-zuhairy, S.H.K. et al. Effect and behaviour of different substrates in relation to the formation of aerobic granular sludge. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 99, 5257–5268 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-014-6358-3