Fractal characteristics of filamentous bacteria in activated sludge and its significance

On the basis of fractal theory, the fractal characteristics of filamentous bacteria in activated sludge are studied by image dissector system. The results show that the spatial distribution structure of filamentous bacteria in activated sludge has high self similarity in statistics and the filamentous bacteria have clear phenomenon of fractal growth. The critical fractal dimension values of filamentous bacteria bulking such as Eikelboom 021N, Eikelboom 1701, Sphaerotilus natans and Eikelboom 0041 are determined initially. The fractal dimensions can be taken as a parameter to describe filamentous bacteria of activated sludge quantitatively and bring to light the disorder in appearance and the rule in inherence of filamentous bacteria system.