• Blog
  • Lab Testing
  • Bioaugmentation Applications
  • Useful Information
  • About Us
BIOLOGICAL WASTE TREATMENT EXPERT
Contact Us

High strength industrial influent & hydrophobic cultures

3/3/2016

 
I have been bench testing another unique industrial wastewater. This water contains multiple resistant compounds and long chain polymers that are difficult to degrade. When this influent is added to MLSS from mixed industrial and municipal systems, the biomass deflocculates and becomes very viscous with a 24 hours of feeding 100% the influent. Seeing this as a challenge, I started screening several blends of chemical wastewater microbial isolates to see if any of the strains could work with this water. What I looked for in lab testing:
  • ​Could the isolates grow on the influent as a sole carbon source
  • Determine the rate of growth on the influent at mesophilic temperatures (30oC)
  • Did the cultures form floc and no produce the viscous solids seen in the existing biomass.
After some failures using some of the previously mixed culture blends developed by Aster Bio. (All had the same viscous or slow growth seen in the indigenous microbes). I found a unique microbe that proved very good at initiating biodegradation of the main problem compounds.

​The microbe tested was a interesting Rhodococcus strain that was originally isolated for chlorinated hydrocarbon and herbicide degradation. What is interesting is that within 24 hours of growing on the influent, the Rhodococcus cultures entered log phase growth. What is interesting is that in response to the waste, the Rhodococcus formed a hydrophobic mass that floated and was very stable. With continued feeding of the influent, we added other Pseudomonas cultures that had previously not done well on the waste. Interestingly, with the addition of the Pseudomonas strains the floc started to form without the hydrophobic or viscous biopolymers seen earlier. This is an very noticeable case of how finding the right cultures can create the needed biomass. It is rare to see a true hydrophobic growth phase, and every less common to see how the hydrophobic phase ends with the addition of a secondary culture. I'm including a photo of the test flask. I am continuing the test to see what increasing F/M ratio does to floc formation.
​
Picture
Hydrophobic culture floating on high strength influent

Comments are closed.

    Author

    Erik Rumbaugh has been involved in biological waste treatment for over 20 years. He has worked with industrial and municipal wastewater  facilities to ensure optimal performance of their treatment systems. He is a founder of Aster Bio (www.asterbio.com) specializing in biological waste treatment.

    View my profile on LinkedIn

    RSS Feed

    Click to set custom HTML

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    December 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014

Proudly powered by Weebly
Photos from Picturepest, marcoverch, perzonseowebbyra, Picturepest, Picturepest, dsearls, dungodung, Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism, aqua.mech, vastateparksstaff, hile, Aaron Volkening, amishsteve, Neil DeMaster, mklwong88, KOMUnews, Picturepest, kaibara87, Bernd Thaller