Influence of application of attapulgite on the structure and composition of self-dynamic membrane in bioreactors

The effect of application of attapulgite on the structure and composition of a dynamic membrane (DM) of a bioreactor was investigated by means of the electron microscopy, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). A significant increase of microbial floc size in the bioreactors upon attapulgite application was observed. The content of cake layer in the hybrid dynamic membrane (HDM) and in the dynamic membrane (DM) in the corresponding bioreactor systems were 44.73 g/m² and 38.12 g/m² respectively, while the contents of mineral – 6.09 g/m² and 5.34 g/m², respectively. Further, with addition of attapulgite, the concentration of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) in the HDM bioreactor system decreased, whereas the content of suspended particulate matter increased. Self-DM has a porous structure with high porosity. Mineral sub-stance, including O, Ka, Ca, P, S, Cl, Mg and Si, are the main elements in DM, but the main elements content exhibited an increase trend in DM with attapulgite administration. These results showed a positive correlation between the quantity of bacterial populations and biological removal improvement, which indicated that application of attapulgite could optimize the structure of self-DM in bioreactors.