Abstract
An internal loop airlift reactor was constructed with zeolite spheres as biofilm carriers (ZS-ALR), and the performance and mechanism of nitrogen removal were investigated. The results indicated that the TN, NH4+-N and TOC removal efficiencies of ZS-ALR reached 96.12%, 100% and 94.54% under appropriate conditions (HRT of 6–8 h, aeration rates of 80–120 mL/min, C/N ratios of 4–6), and the highest TN removal rate constant was 0.01156 min−1. Further investigating the influence of ammonia-N concentrations on nitrogen removal and biofilm stability revealed that catabolism was important in TN removal, and the prominent genera for nitrogen removal included Sphaerotilus (42.20%), Flavobacterium (17.47%) and Fusibacter (6.14%). Meanwhile, the abundance of amoA, napA, narG and nosZ genes was markedly influenced by ammonia-N concentrations. The nitrogen removal of ZS-ALR was mainly through ammonia-N adsorption by zeolite spheres and simultaneous nitrification and denitrification by biofilm.
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