Organic and nitrogen removal with minimal COD requirement by integration of sequestered denitrification and separate nitrification in a low-loaded activated sludge process

Abstract

A separate sludge system incorporating sequencing batch reactor (SBR) for sequestered denitrification and an immobilized fixed-film reactor for nitrification was investigated in this study. Emphases were placed on the preservation of organic matter as an electron donor for denitrification and the improvement of nitrification efficiency by using an immobilization technique with alginate coating. To preserve organic materials in the sludge required for denitrification, a study was made with a contact process. The contactor, when operated with a short detention time, gave incomplete metabolism of organic matter. With 64% of the influent soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) was adsorbed to activated sludge within 30 min. The specific mass of organic matter uptaken was 55 mg SCOD/g mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS), which enhanced the denitrification efficiency up to 63% in the following denitrification step. Thus, the required COD in the proposed system can be saved up to 63% as an available electron donor for the conventional aerobic process. The immobilized nitrification unit showed over 90% of nitrate production rate up to 50 mg/l of influent ammonia load.