Nitritation via heat shock using immobilized active sludge aggregates

Abstract

AbstractThe nitritation process is considered to be one of the most energy-saving and efficient methods for treating polluted water. In this study, active sludge was immobilized with waterborne polyurethane (WPU), and a heat-shock method was employed to treat the immobilized aggregates. When environmental factors that adversely affect nitritation (pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature, etc.) were controlled, steady nitrite nitrogen accumulation was also successfully achieved. We investigated the effect of temperature and timing of the heat-shock method on the activity of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) using polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE). Subsequently, temperatures of 60 and 70°C were selected to evaluate the nitritation stability of the heat-shocked immobilized aggregates, and continuous-flow experiments were conducted. The results of preliminary experiments indicated that NOB can be completely deactivated at temperatures ab...