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PROMETEO group
Line 7. Biological wastewater treatment. Reduction of the sludge production and sludge valorization
In this line of research, aspects related to the biological treatment of wastewater are studied. In particular, the treatment of wastewater that is difficult to degrade (due to refractory organic substances or salinity) is studied, as well as the reduction in the generation of sludge in biological wastewater treatment processes.
The generation of sludge constitutes a serious problem for wastewater treatment plants, since large quantities are generated and there are hardly any management alternatives. Therefore, the reduction of its production is of capital importance.
For this line of research, sequencing biological reactors are available that can be adapted to study the biodegradability of wastewater and to evaluate different ways of varying the activated sludge process that generates less sludge, such as promoting cell lysis and cryptic growth, uncoupling metabolism and the promotion of endogenous respiration.
Regarding the sludge recovery part, the line of research focuses on the study of the bacterial production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) in biological reactors due to the need to find sustainable alternatives to the production of plastics of petrochemical origin.
 
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