Research Questions and Scientific Overview

EngineeringEngineering granular sludgeGranular sludge for a high-rateHigh-rate biological nutrient removalBiological nutrient removal (BNRBNR) from wastewaterWastewater thrives on reactorReactor and microbial community engineeringMicrobial community engineering. Ecological principlesEcological principles help manage microbial selectionMicrobial selection, granulationGranulation, and nutrientNutrient conversionsConversion. This research elucidated the microbial processesMicrobial process that govern granular sludgeGranular sludge developmentDevelopment and metabolic performancesPerformance. This fundamentalFundamental knowledge was used to develop applied methodologiesMethodology for sustaining robustRobust process performancesProcess performance in relation to identified operational and environmental main factorsFactors. Eight research chapters were designed to address this central question through methodsMethods developmentsDevelopment, mechanistic elucidations, and ecological engineeringEcological engineering. 1 A flexible reactorReactor infrastructureInfrastructure was designed for granular sludgeGranular sludge experimentations. 2 A rational wet-labWet-lab/dry-labDry-lab molecular biologyMolecular biology workflowWorkflow was established to profileProfile granular sludge microbiomesGranular sludge microbiome at fast throughputFast throughput and high resolutionResolution. 3 An on-line metabolic batch testMetabolic batch test based on electrical conductivityElectrical conductivity and a rapid polyphosphatasePolyphosphatase enzymatic assayEnzymatic assay were developed to characterize enrichmentsEnrichment of polyphosphatePolyphosphate-accumulating organisms and their dephosphatationDephosphatation potentialPotential in sludgeSludge. 4 Microbial selectionMicrobial selection phenomenaPhenomena were uncovered during the formation of granulesGranule. 5 Physiological principles were addressed to remediate filamentous bulkingFilamentous bulking and shape an efficient ecosystemEcosystem for bioaggregationBioaggregation and nutrient removalNutrient removal. 6 A conceptual modelConceptual model of the BNR granular sludgeBNR granular sludge ecosystemEcosystem was crafted to support functional analysesFunctional analyses and process controlProcess control. 7 Operational and environmental factorsEnvironmental factors that govern the selectionSelection of polyphosphatePolyphosphate- and glycogenGlycogen-accumulating organisms were identified using a multifactorial experimental designMultifactorial experimental design. 8 A mathematical modelMathematical model was built to analyze the impact of hydraulic transportHydraulic transport phenomenaPhenomena and microbial competitionMicrobial competition for organic substratesOrganic substrate during wastewaterWastewater supplySupply across granular sludgeGranular sludge bedsBed. This work made use of bioprocess engineeringBioprocess engineering, microbial ecologyMicrobial ecology, bioinformaticsBioinformatics, laser scanning microscopyLaser scanning microscopy, numerical ecologyNumerical ecology, and computational methodsComputational methods to designDesign, build, test, learn, and manage granular sludge microbiomesGranular sludge microbiome.