Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
JOURNAL OF WATER PROCESS ENGINEERING, cilt.79, 2025 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Mycelium pellet technology was evaluated in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) for its potential as a sustainable and circular economy-based alternative to conventional domestic wastewater treatment under varying operational conditions. The study assessed the effects of sludge retention time (SRT) and organic loading rate (OLR) on chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonium removal efficiencies. COD and ammonium removal efficiencies reached 93 % and 80 % at 48 h, respectively; however, these values declined under steady-state conditions. This highlights the need for long-term reactor operation to accurately evaluate the feasibility and potential of mycelium pellet technology for domestic wastewater treatment. Reducing the SRT from 5 to 2.5 days significantly improved COD removal efficiencies from 42.6 f 9.4 % to 78.6 f 1.9 % and ammonium removal efficiencies from 35.6 f 9.6 % to 56.9 f 4.0 %. The results indicate that increased biomass at longer SRTs led to larger pellet sizes, which limited mass transfer and reduced treatment performance. Organic loading rate of 500 mg/L center dot d and 1000 mg/L center dot d, reflecting medium-strength and high-strength wastewater characteristics, OLR conditions achieved similar COD and ammonium removal efficiencies, demonstrating rapid adaptation to dynamic wastewater conditions. Furthermore, chitin was extracted from the daily removed waste biomass and converted into chitosan biopolymer, which was characterized by SEM, XRD and FTIR. The results showed that mycelium pellet technology offers a promising alternative approach for domestic wastewater treatment and resource recovery.