The morphological and settling properties of ANAMMOX granular sludge in high-rate reactors.

Digital macro photography and settling tests were carried out to investigate the morphological and settling characteristics of ANAMMOX granules in a high-rate reactor. The ANAMMOX granules could be divided into settling and floating granules. The settling granules with an average diameter of 2.96±0.99 mm were smaller than the floating granules with an average diameter of 4.58±1.22 mm. A settling model was established and validated to correlate the settling velocity with the density (ρG), mass shape factor (ψmass), shape-correction factor (characterized by sphericity (Φ(')) or roundness (ξ)) and projected area equivalent sphere diameter (dP) of ANAMMOX granules. The sphericity was more suitable than the roundness for describing the settling behavior. The sensitivity of four parameters was in the order of ρG,ψmass, dP and Φ('). Based on the settling model, ANAMMOX granules with diameter of 1.75-4.00 mm were supposed to be optimal for the ANAMMOX process.

The structure, density and settlability of anammox granular sludge in high-rate reactors.

Microscopic observation and settling test were carried out to investigate the structure, density and settlability of anammox granules taken from a high-rate upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor. The results showed that the anammox granules were irregular in shape and uneven on surface, and their structure included granule, subunit, microbial cell cluster and single cell. The gas pockets were often observed in the anammox granules, and they originated from the obstruction of gas tunnel by extracellular polymer substances (EPSs) and the inflation of produced dinitrogen gas. The volume of gas pockets became larger with the increasing diameter of anammox granules, which led to the decreasing density and the floatation of anammox granules. The diameter of anammox granules should be controlled at less than 2.20mm to avoid the granule floatation. A hypothesized mechanism for the granulation and floatation of anammox biomass was proposed.

Multiple organ injury at early stage of intestinal and hepatic ischemia-reperfusion in rats.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the early-stage multiple organ injuries in rats subjected to intestinal and hepatic ischemia-reperfusion. METHODS: Seventy-five normal male Wistar rats were randomized equally into hepatic ischemia, intestinal ischemia and intestinal-hepatic ischemia groups. Before and at the end of occlusion (45 min), as well as at the time points of 0.5, 2.0 and 6.0 h during the reperfusion, respectively, 5 rats from each group were killed to obtain samples for determination of the contents of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the blood, lung, kidney, pancreas and heart tissues, along with blood urea nitrogen (BUN), amylase (AMY), and creatine kinase MB (CK-MB). RESULTS: The activity of SOD was decreased (P<0.05) and MDA, BUN, AMY and CK-MB levels increased significantly (P<0.05) after ischemia-reperfusion as compared with those before ischemia. CONCLUSIONS: Intestinal and hepatic ischemia-reperfusion can induce injury of multiple organs at early stage. With the same duration of ischemia-reperfusion, intestinal ischemia may induce severer injury than hepatic ischemia.