Estudio biológico y técnico de sistemas aeróbicos granulares para tratar aguas residuales urbanasEfecto de la temperatura

Abstract

This Ph.D. thesis is based on the start-up and operation of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) bioreactors for treating urban wastewater to contribute the expansion of acknowledge about the most effective way to cultivate and operate granular sludge under different thermal conditions using activated sludge as inoculums of wastewater treatment plants located on Polar Arctic Circle and of Mediterranean region. In this Ph.D. thesis had been described the challenges achieved in terms of stable granulation using diverse inoculum and at different temperatures in order to determine the best experimental approach for achieving stable granulation in different latitudes over the world from Polar regions (7°C) until tropical regions (28°C) at full-scale wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Three bioreactors were operated in a sequential batch mode feeding with synthetic medium simulating high-organic loading urban wastewater, which were operated with hydraulic retention time of 6.0 to 7.5 h. The temperatures studied were 8°C simulating northern latitudes, 15°C simulating mild temperature environments, and 26°C simulating warmer places such as tropical habitats. The activated sludges were taken from the WWTP located in Rovaniemi (Lapland, Finland) and in Granada (Andalusia, Spain). The analyses were classified as: physico-chemical performance and microbial ecology dynamics.