Evaluation of long-term preservation and reactivation efficiency of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) microorganisms based on activation energy

Abstract

The preservation efficiency of mainstream (M−ANA) and sidestream anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) (S-ANA) were evaluated based on their activation energy (Ea). The Ea of M−ANA cultivated under low nitrogen loads was lower than that of S-ANA, which greatly contributed to enhancing the viability of anammox during preservation at 4 °C. After preservation for 140 d, the decay rate (bAN) of M−ANA ranged from 0.0012 to 0.0013/d; the bAN of S-ANA was 0.0036–0.0041/d. The addition of hydrazine, which requires minimal energy to activate anammox metabolism, is highly beneficial for the viability of microorganisms. The low Ea of anammox contributes to efficient reactivation with rapid reactivation of heme c, and the addition of hydrazine makes the process more beneficial. Although the specific nitrogen removal rate of the M−SNA seed sludge was much lower than that of S-ANA, the rate of M−ANA became higher after 48 days of reactivation.