Screening of Bioflocculant-Producing Strains and Characteristics of Microbial Flocculation

A high effective bioflocculant-producing strain named LB1 was isolated and screened from the leachate by routine micro-method. The strain was identified as genus Pseudomonas according to the morphologic and physiological-biochemical characteristics of the strain. The biological characteristics of the microbial flocculants produced by LB1 were investigated. The results show that the optimal production period of microbial flocculant using LB1 is 96 h; and the products, found in the fermentation liquor, comprise the extracellular organic matter (EOM) of LB1 generated during LB1 growth and the secondary metabolites in the anaphase of LB1. Meanwhile, the mycelia can improve the performance of the microbial flocculants. Because heat has a greater influence on the active substance in the microbial flocculants than other factors, the activity of the flocculants decreases with increasing temperature and the time of heating. The flocculants can flocculate mud-containing and melanin-containing wastewater effectively with a flocculation ratio of 85.1% and 92.2%, respectively. The optimal heating temperature varies from 20 to 45 ℃. When flocculating the two wastewater, the flocculating activity of the flocculants is above 57.7% and 70.9%, respectively, in a wide pH range from 3 to 11.