Electron Equilibrium Analysis of Integrated Autotrophic and Heterotrophic Denitrification Process Under Micro-aerobic Conditions

Abstract

The integrated autotrophic and heterotrophic denitrification (IAHD) process, which can simultaneously degrade sulfide, nitrate, and organic carbon with nitrate as a solo electron acceptor, has gained increasing attention as a key unit in industrial wastewater treatment. Micro-aerobic technology, which introduces trace oxygen as an additional electron acceptor, has been demonstrated as an effective strategy for enhancing the IAHD performance. This study focus on the electronic balance calculation of the IAHD process and reveals for the first time that the IAHD process can efficient proceed with an insufficient supply of electron acceptors (nitrate) under micro-aerobic conditions. In the IAHD batch tests, the highest sulfide, nitrate, and acetate removal efficiencies and rates were obtained with an electronic deletion rate peak at 55.1%. Further sulfide oxidizing batch tests demonstrated that the electronic deletion rates were 18.7% and 38.2% under oxygen contents of 5 mL and 10 mL, respectively, in the biological sulfide oxidizing process. Illumina sequencing was used to analyze the microbial community structure in the sulfide oxidation process and indicated Thiobacillus, Thauera, Mangroviflexus, and Erysipelothrix dominated in all community compositions, in which the relative abundance of Thiobacillus increased with an increase in the electronic deletion rate. This study reveals a potential linkage between the electronic gap and the enhanced IAHD performance, which proves new insights into the simultaneous sulfur, nitrogen, and organic carbon removal process.