Effects of Fermented Leachate of Food Waste (FLFW) and Temperature on Nutrient Removal in Sequencing Batch Reactor

Abstract

This study examined effects of the fermented leachate of food waste (FLFW) on nitrogen and phosphorous removal for domestic wastewater containing a low carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio in sequencing batch reactor (SBR). When the FLFW was not supplied in the process, release of phosphorus and excessive intake was not observed at both anaerobic and aerobic stages. On the other hand, when the FLFW was gradually added, active release of phosphorus and intake of phosphorus was noticed at an anaerobic stage and aerobic stage, respectively, resulting in improved phosphorus removal efficiency. The removal efficiency of nitrogen and phosphorus was increased from 75% and 37% (R-1, control test) to 97% and 80% (R-4, the highest substrate ratio test), respectively. In addition, although activity of the nitrogen oxidizing microorganisms was reduced when the reaction temperature was decreased to 10°C, the phosphorus removal efficiency was shown to increase with the addition of FLFW, indicating an independence from temperature. Overall, this study suggests that an efficient nutrients removal process can be successfully employed into a SBR when the FLFW is added to a wastewater which has a low C/N ratio.