Abstract
Investigations of metabolic uncouplers in growth systems such as activated sludge treatment are increasing because of their ability to decrease biomass growth. As of 2011, more than 10 metabolic uncouplers were reported to significantly decrease biomass yield by between 21% and 87%. In this paper, we present a detailed review of metabolic uncoupling, different metabolic uncouplers, current applications in waste water treatment systems and their possible use in biological air pollution control systems such as biofiltration in order to improve the substrate degradation rate. This paper will be useful for those who are interested in using metabolic uncouplers to improve the performance of growth or non-growth systems.
About the authors
Swaminathan Detchanamurthy obtained his B.Tech. in Chemical Engineering from Bharathidasan University, India during 2002 and his M.Tech. in Industrial Biotechnology from SASTRA University, India during 2005. He worked as a lecturer in the Department of Biotechnology in two different universities in Chennai, India for 4.5 years before he began his PhD in the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Canterbury, New Zealand. His research interests are in the areas of bioprocess engineering. His current research focuses on improving biofilter performance through the addition of metabolic uncouplers. He is an active member of different professional societies in the field of chemical and biochemical engineering around the globe.
Peter Gostomski obtained his BS in Chemical Engineering at Pennsylvania State University during 1985 and worked for 2 years at an acrylic sheet plant as a product development engineer. He obtained his PhD from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York during 1993 and spent 4 years with the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) in Idaho Falls, Idaho. He joined the University of Canterbury, New Zealand during 1998 and is currently serving as the Head of Department in the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering at University of Canterbury. His research interests include air pollution control technologies (APCT) and a wide area of bioprocess engineering. He is a fellow in IChemE, UK.
©2012 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
