Modelling the influence of physical properties of extracellular polymeric substances in aerobic granule morphology

Master thesis (2018)

Authors

S. de Bruin Applied Sciences

Contributors

Y. Lin (mentor)
R.M.H Merks (coach)
Mark C.M. van Loosdrecht (graduation committee member)
R. Mans (graduation committee member)
Faculty
Applied Sciences, Applied Sciences
Copyright: © 2018 Stefan de Bruin
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Published Date

19-07-2018

Language

English

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Faculty

Applied Sciences

Abstract

This thesis examines the influence of physical properties of structural EPS on granule morphology. Two types of structural EPS are found to be important. These types of structural EPS are: surface bound EPS and hydrogel forming EPS matrix. VirtualLeaf is used to model granules which contain only binding surface bound EPS. The TST model is used to find the influence of both structural EPS components. In VirtualLeaf compact granules are formed with slight bulging features, similar to granules found in literature. The TST shows that binding surface binding EPS increase the compactness of granules. Furthermore it is shown that porosity of the EPS matrix also determines compactness and maximum size of granules. The strength and measure of the EPS matrix is shown to influence granule stability.