Influent Ammonium Concentration Research Articles

Enhanced ammonia recovery from wastewater by a transmembrane electro-chemisorption system directly connecting anode chamber and cathode chamber with gas permeable membrane

A transmembrane electro-chemisorption (TMECS) system was developed via directly connecting anode chamber (AnC) and cathode chamber (CaC) with a hydrophobic gas permeable membrane (GPM). The special structure of the TMECS system with AnC and CaC at two sides of GPM contributed to both forming localized extreme pH layers at two sides of GPM and using electrical field forces to enrich NH4+, thus realizing on-site utilization of authigenic acid and base to enhance the ammonia recovery from wastewater. Increasing applied voltage (from 2.0 to 6.0 V) and salt concentration (from 80 to 500 mM) could improve the system performance by promoting water splitting and reducing internal resistance, respectively. The system showed wide applicability for the influent ammonia concentration (from 560 to 5000 mg NH4+-N/L) with the ammonia removal and recovery efficiencies of 61.9 %–77.1 % and 78.5 %–91.9 % at 24 h, respectively. For high influent ammonia concentration (5000 mg NH4+-N/L), a specific energy consumption of 21.8 kWh/kg N could be reached. Moreover, the system can be easily scaled up by stacking the TMECS units. Therefore, the system shows good prospects in saving chemicals, wide applicability and easy scale-up for ammonia recovery from wastewater.

Assessing operational issues in a modular sewage treatment plant and providing remedies via comprehensive modeling and simulation through GPS-X

In this study, an existing but faulty modular sewage treatment plant (STP) with a capacity of 100 m3/day has been modeled and assessed using GPS-X software, combined with sensitivity analysis to confirm an underlying but critical operational issue of an STP. Currently, the STP shows <5 % ammonia removal at an average influent ammonia concentration of 50 mg/L, along with the problem of partial BOD removal. The treatment units comprise an equalization tank, two moving bed biofilm reactors (MBBRs) in series, a tube settler and a sand filtration unit. Sensitivity analysis helped decipher the most influential kinetics/stoichiometric parameters, which assisted in achieving a precise model calibration. Post calibration, the modified model was re-simulated for each constituent treatment unit based on the mass balance of four major output parameters viz. NH4-N, biochemical oxygen demand, dissolved oxygen and alkalinity. Real experimental/measured values spanning over 8 months were analyzed during the calibration phases (including both static and dynamic calibration phases). The calibrated GPS-X model was simulated using various input factors to find a possible remedial solution and understand the critical limitation of the existing plant. As a remedial measure, a pre-anoxic tank with an operational volume of 15 m3 and a recirculation ratio of 3 was proposed for the existing STP. A proper experimental design and statistical tools further helped achieve the most optimum and techno-economically feasible solution for an MBBR-based biological treatment unit. This helped effectively manage wastewater pollution in a modular treatment system.

Achieving simultaneous removal of carbon and nitrogen by an integrated process of anaerobic membrane bioreactor and flow-through biofilm reactor

In this study, a combined system consisting of an anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) and flow-through biofilm reactor/CANON (FTBR/CANON) was developed to simultaneously remove carbon and nitrogen from synthetic livestock wastewater. The average removal efficiencies of total nitrogen (TN) were 64.2 and 76.4% with influent ammonium (NH4+-N) concentrations of approximately 200 and 500 mg/L, respectively. The COD removal efficiencies were higher than 98.0% during the entire operation. Mass balance analysis showed that COD and TN were mainly removed by the AnMBR and FTBR/CANON, respectively. The anammox process was the main nitrogen removal pathway in the combined system, with a contribution of over 80%. High functional bacterial activity was observed in the combined system. Particularly, an increase in the NH4+-N concentration considerably improved the anammox activity of the biofilm in the FTBR/CANON. 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing revealed that Methanosaeta, Candidatus Methanofastidiosum, and Methanobacterium were the dominant methanogens in the AnMBR granular sludge. In the CANON biofilm, Nitrosomonas and Candidatus Kuenenia were identified as aerobic and anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria, respectively. In summary, this study proposes a combined AnMBR and FTBR/CANON process targeting COD and nitrogen removal, and provides a potential alternative for treating high-strength wastewater.

Nitrospira dominant pin-point flocs with granule-like settleability in stirred tank reactors with oxic/hypoxic/oxic zones.

The characteristics of biomass and microbial community dynamics, in relation to autotrophic nitrification, were studied in two 20 L stirred tank reactors (STR) with oxic/hypoxic/oxic zones. The bioreactors were fed with synthetic wastewater with stepwise increasing ammonia concentrations (50-200 N mg/L) without organic substrate in the first phase (autotrophic phase) for 35 days (R1) and 15 days (R2), followed by a heterotrophic phase (with supplementation of organic substrate). The settling properties of the biomass, represented by pin-point flocs, gradually improved in both reactors during the autotrophic phase. The pin-point flocs of R1 exhibited granule-like settling properties. The SVI30 in RI gradually improved to 29 mL/g MLSS, and the corresponding SVI30/ SVI10 gradually improved to 0.88 during the autotrophic phase. The settling properties of the biomass deteriorated in both bioreactors during the heterotrophic phase. The protein to polysaccharide ratio (PN:PS ratio) gradually increased in the extracted EPS (in both, loosely bound (LB) and tightly bound (TB) EPS) during the autotrophic phase, in both bioreactors. The TB:LB EPS ratio was higher when the pin-point flocs of R1 showed granule-like settling properties, followed by a decline in TB:LB EPS ratio during the heterotrophic phase. A combination of molecular approaches (droplet digital-PCR (dd-PCR) and 16S rRNA gene sequencing) revealed that Nitrospira were the predominant nitrifying bacteria in the pin-point flocs that show granular sludge-like settling properties during autotrophic phase in R1. Comammox Nitrospira was the dominant ammonia oxidizer in seed biomass and at low ammonia concentrations in both bioreactors. The relative abundance of canonical ammonia-oxidizing bacteria increased with an increase in influent-ammonia concentrations.

Wastewater Treatment System Optimization for Sustainable Operation of the SHARON–Anammox Process under Varying Carbon/Nitrogen Loadings

Partial nitritation (PN) coupled with the anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Anammox) process has improved ammonium removal in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The operation conditions of this process, i.e., the dissolved oxygen (DO) and the influent ammonium and nitrite concentrations, drive the process to an equilibrium to suppress nitrite-oxidizing bacteria and achieve a proper nitrite over ammonium (NO2/NH4) ratio. This study aimed to implement a set of control strategies in a WWTP model BSM2-SHAMX, combining PN in a single reactor system for high-activity ammonia removal over nitrite (SHARON) to an Anammox reactor, using proportional–integrative–derivative (PID) control and model predictive control (MPC) in a cascade. For correct coupling, the PN should maintain an output NO2/NH4 ratio between 1 and 1.3, suitable for the Anammox process. In the cascade controller feedback loop, the primary control loop controls the NO2/NH4 ratio through the DO concentration from the secondary control loop, which guarantees better effluent nitrogen removal. The performance of the plant was assessed by evaluating the control strategies with different influent carbon/nitrogen (C/N) loadings. The study results showed that the MPC controllers provided better results, with an improvement of 36% in the operational cost compared to the base case with a cost around 26,000 EUR/d, and better nitrogen removal surpassing 90% removal, 10% more than the base case.

Coupled systems of pre-denitrification and partial nitritation/anammox improved functional microbial structure and nitrogen removal in treating swine manure digestate

This study evaluated the functional activity and microbial structure of a pre-denitrification and single-stage partial nitritation/anammox process (DB-SNAP) coupled system for effectively treating swine manure digestate (SMD). At influent ammonium concentrations of (1000 to 1500) mg/L, the pre-denitrification reactor increased the nitrogen removal efficiency (NRE) by 5%, resulting in an average NRE of 96%. The DB-SNAP and nitrogen-limited strategy facilitated the rapid adoption of anammox bacteria (AnAOB) in the SMD, maintaining a high specific rate of 0.3gN/gVSS/d. A high secretion of tightly bound extracellular polymeric substances (76 mg/gVSS to 102 mg/gVSS) promoted micro-granule aggregation and stability. Moreover, Ca. Kuenenia, an AnAOB genus, was highly enriched from 21% to (27 to 30) %, whereas Nitrospira, a nitrite-oxidizing bacteria, was significantly suppressed to (0 to 0.05) %. These findings will provide valuable guidance in implementing the anammox process in swine wastewater treatment.

One-stage partial nitrification/anammox system with short sludge retention time and low mixed liquor suspended solids long-term control: Establishment, performance and sludge characteristics

Anammox is a green, economical and efficient nitrogen removal process. Most successful anammox studies are based on biofilm- or granule-based systems, but pure floc sludge partial nitrification (PN) and anammox (A) systems that are not inoculated with anaerobic ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AnAOB) are rarely reported. If the anammox process occurs in floc-based systems, the large specific surface areas provide more efficient nitrogen removal, and are much more economical in terms of construction and investment. This study investigated the establishment, performance and sludge characteristics of a one-stage PN/A system with pure floc sludge and exhibited a short sludge retention time (SRT) and low mixed liquor suspended solids (SS) content. The experiment was run for approximately 1260 days and divided into five stages based on the SRTs and influent ammonia concentrations treating synthetic wastewater with no organic matter. The results showed that the AnAOB were successfully cultivated and enriched with ordinary nitrification and denitrification sludge, which formed a pure floc-based anammox system with a short SRT (at least 14 days) and a low SS control. The maximum nitrogen removal efficiency and sludge removal loading rate reached 87.1 % and 3.16 kg N/(kg VSS·d) with ammonia loading rates = 0.55 and 0.56 kg-N/(m3·d), dissolved oxygen = 0.2 and 0 mg/L, temperature = 30 and 28 °C, mixed liquor volatile suspended solid (VSS) = 800 and 130 mg/L, free ammonia (FA)/VSS = 3.5 and 47.5 mg NH3-N/g VSS and SRT = 30 and 15 days, respectively. Moreover, the FA/VSS ratio was used to determine the operating performance of the PN/A system, and the thresholds for inhibiting nitrite-oxidizing bacteria and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, including AnAOB, were 0.5–50 and above 50 mg NH3-N/g VSS, respectively. The floc-based one-stage PN/A systems proposed in this study provide reductions in the volumes, and floor areas for the reactor tanks, and in the cost of the carrier.

Performance Analysis of Anaerobic Digestion Coupled with Simultaneous Nitrification and Denitrification Process for Treating Alcohol Precipitation Wastewater of Chinese Patent Medicine

The alcohol precipitation wastewater discharged from the production of Chinese patent medicine (CPM) has an extremely high chemical oxygen demand (COD) and poor biodegradability. In this study, the biological treatment method of anaerobic digestion coupled with simultaneous nitrification and denitrification (SND) was adopted to investigate its efficiency and to explore the mechanism of pollutant degradation in this process. The results showed that after 220 days of debugging, the coupled process operated stably. The influent COD, total nitrogen (TN), ammonium (NH4+-N), and lignin concentrations were 21,000 mg/L, 400 mg/L, 200 mg/L, and 1800 mg/L, respectively. The removal efficiencies of COD, TN, NH4+-N, and lignin were 97%, 85%, 96%, and 75%, respectively. Spectral detection technology analysis revealed that the wastewater contained alkanes, olefins, phenols, alcohols, unsaturated organics, aromatic compounds, and humic acids. After the treatment by each unit of the process, the three-dimensional fluorescence intensity decreased by 86%; the standard volume of fluorescence area integration declined by 78%; the stretching vibration band of aromatic compounds showed peak splitting; and the molecular weight parameter value in the ultraviolet region increased. These findings demonstrated that the humic acid substances in the wastewater were degraded, and the effect of removal of the macromolecular organic matter was remarkable.

Multi-scale Investigation of Ammonia-Oxidizing Microorganisms in Biofilters Used for Drinking Water Treatment.

Ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms (AOMs) include ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), archaea (AOA), and Nitrospira spp. sublineage II capable of complete ammonia oxidation (comammox). These organisms can affect water quality not only by oxidizing ammonia to nitrite (or nitrate) but also by cometabolically degrading trace organic contaminants. In this study, the abundance and composition of AOM communities were investigated in full-scale biofilters at 14 facilities across North America and in pilot-scale biofilters operated for 18 months at a full-scale water treatment plant. In general, the relative abundance of AOM in most full-scale biofilters and in the pilot-scale biofilters was as follows: AOB > comammox Nitrospira > AOA. The abundance of AOB in the pilot-scale biofilters increased with increasing influent ammonia concentration and decreasing temperature, whereas AOA and comammox Nitrospira exhibited no correlations with these parameters. The biofilters affected AOM abundance in the water passing through the filters via collecting and shedding but exhibited a minor influence on the composition of AOB and Nitrospira sublineage II communities in the filtrate. Overall, this study highlights the relative importance of AOB and comammox Nitrospira compared to AOA in biofilters and the influence of filter influent water quality on AOM in biofilters and their release into the filtrate.

Composite carrier enhanced bacterial adhesion and nitrogen removal in partial nitrification/anammox process

The rapid start-up and stable operation of one-stage (Partial nitrification/anammox) PN/A process for low-ammonium wastewater are difficult to be achieved, and many carriers are designed to solve this problem. Here, a composite carrier was developed, in which sepiolite and non-woven fabrics were assembled in polypropylene spherical shells. At the start-up phase, PA reactor using the composite carriers reached a higher nitrogen removal rate of 134.50 ± 19.60 mg·N·L−1d−1, in contrast to that of 48.85 ± 19.64 mg·N·L−1d−1 in the PB reactor without sepiolite carriers. When the final influent ammonium concentration of PN/A process is 100 mg/L, the total nitrogen removal efficiency can reach 72 ± 0.03 %. High biomass immobilization ability of composite carrier was evidenced by the greater adsorption trend between sludge and sepiolite than that between sludge and non-woven fabrics, where hydrophobic interaction and Van der Waals interaction played a major role. Extracellular protein (PN) content and the ratio of PN and extracellular polysaccharide of samples in PA were significantly higher than those in PB, verifying higher biofilm formation ability on the composite carrier. The composite carrier also increased the abundance of dominant bacteria in PN/A process, especially AOB, the relative abundance of which reached 46.11 %. And it increased the abundance of essential functional genes for nitrogen conversion as their perfect acid neutralizing effects. This study is of great significance in improving the start-up speed and stable operation of this process.

Alleviating the adverse impacts of high influent ammonium on an activated sludge system by adding Fe salts and ballasted media

High influent ammonium often leads to sludge disintegration and solubilization in activated sludge systems and thereby deteriorates pollutant removal, due to the presence of free ammonium at high concentrations. The effects of adding Fe(II)/Fe(III) salts and ballasted media (magnetic powder, PAC and quartz sand) into activated sludge systems to alleviate the adverse impacts imposed by high influent ammonium were investigated in lab-scale continuously operated SBRs. When influent ammonium was approximately 500 mg N/L, the beneficial effects of Fe salts and ballasted media addition on pollutant removal were not significant, although they showed elevated aggregation of activated sludge flocs as reflected by the values of SV30 and MLVSS. When the influent ammonium concentration was increased to as high as 700 mg N/L, the pollutant removal and sludge properties in all the reactors deteriorated. Fe salts and ballasted media addition alleviated such deterioration by retaining sludge settleability and relatively stable biomass and resulted in better pollutant removal compared to no additive addition. Microbial analyses also revealed that the abundance of flocculation bacteria (Zoogloea and Haliscomenobacter) and nitrifiers (Nitrosomonas and Nitrosopira) were higher in Fe salts or ballasted media-supplemented reactors, which correlated well with the maintenance of sludge settleability and nitrification under high ammonium stress. When the influent ammonium concentration was increased to approximately 900 mg N/L, rapid collapse occurred in all reactors regardless of whether Fe salts and ballasted media were added, indicating that activated sludge systems cannot withstand such a high influent ammonium concentration. According to the continuous monitoring of pollutants removal, nitrification, and changes in sludge properties, the degree of alleviating high ammonium stress follows the order (from high to low) of magnetic powder, PAC, Fe(II), Fe(III), and quartz sand. According to an operation cost analysis, Fe(II) had the least additional cost (0.4–0.5%). The additional costs of MP and PAC were same (4–5.33%). Fe(II) was recommended based on an overall balance in technical and cost aspects.

Integrated effects of operational temperature, HRT, and influent ammonium concentration on a CANON coupling with denitrification process treating for digested piggery wastewater: performance and microbial community.

In this study, an improved system called the completely autotrophic nitrogen removal over nitrite (CANON) process was presented and coupled with denitrification for the treatment of digested piggery wastewater (DPW). The effects of operating parameters, including hydraulic retention time (HRT) (1.6d → 1.0d), influent NH4+-N concentration (350mgL-1 → 600mgL-1), and temperature (41℃ → 17℃), on the nitrogen removal performance and response characteristics of microbial population were investigated. Results showed that all considered parameters caused a remarkable effect on NH4+-N and total nitrogen removal efficiencies, and the chemical oxygen demand was more markedly affected by temperature. Candidatus_Kuenenia, Candidatus_Brocadia, Denitratisoma, norank_o_Xanthmonadales, norank_p_WWE3, and SM1A02 were the dominant genera influencing nitrogen removal in the improved CANON system for treating DPW. Redundancy discriminant analysis showed that the biological structure was positively correlated with the influent ammonium concentration, temperature, and HRT. The relative abundance of Candidatus_Kuenenia was perfectly correlated with HRT and temperature. However, environmental factors did not affect Candidatus_Brocadia and norank_p_WWE3. norank_c_Ardenticatenia, SM1A02, and norank_f_SJA-28 were all positively correlated with influent ammonium nitrogen concentration, but not correlated with HRT and temperature. The improved CANON process realized the nitrogen removal under high ammonium (NH4+-N) concentration and low C/N wastewater.

Start-up and optimization of a one-stage partial nitrification-anammox (PN-A) process treating low ammonium concentration wastewater: experimental results and modeling investigation.

Although the partial nitrification-anammox process (PN-A) has achieved great success in nitrogen removal for the high ammonium concentration wastewater, its application is still limited in low ammonium concentration wastewater treatment due to its instability and low nitrogen removal efficiency. In this study, a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) with continuous aeration was employed to enrich ammonia oxidation bacteria (AOB) and suppress nitrite oxidation bacteria (NOB) first; then, the SBR was operated intermittently aerated SBR (IASBR), to which the anammox granular sludge (AMX) was added to achieve complete autotrophic nitrogen removal under low influent ammonium concentration of 100mg/L. A mathematical model was used to optimize the IASBR aeration strategy to achieve sub-optimal nitrogen removal. The experimental results showed that high nitrite accumulation efficiency (above 80%) in the SBR and a fast start-up within 100days and a stable TN (total nitrogen) removal efficiency of 70% were achieved in the IASBR. Meanwhile, the simulation results indicated that keeping aeration duration at 4h, kLa (oxygen transfer coefficient) at 50day-1, or aeration duration at 2.5h, kLa at 80day-1 could obtain a higher total nitrogen removal efficiency (TNR) (TNR > 80%), and the TN removal could also be improved by increasing hydraulic retention time (HRT) under the optimal oxygen supply rate.

Optimization of Ammonia Nitrogen and Phosphorus Removal Performance and Analysis of Microbial Community Structure in Microbial Fuel Cells

In order to study the effects of operating conditions on the performance of a microbial fuel cell (MFC) for treating ammonia nitrogen (NH4+-N) and phosphate and the changes in the microbial community under optimized conditions, in this study, the response surface method (RSM) and central composite design (CCD) were used to carry out experiments and construct a model of the system to analyze the influence of the hydraulic retention time (HRT) and initial influent ammonia concentration on NH4+-N and the total phosphorus (TP) removal performance of the MFC, and the changes in the microbial community structure were analyzed. The results showed that: (1) the initial influent ammonia concentration had a greater impact than the HRT; (2) after optimizing the reaction conditions, the actual removal rates of NH4+-N and TP of the system were 94.88% and 59.39% (the predicted values were 90.18% and 56.25%), respectively; and (3) the total number of species in the optimization group decreased, and the richness of the microbial community decreased. The system conducted the orthoselection of the microbial community and optimized the structure of the microbial community. After the optimization, the dominant strains for ammonia and phosphorus removal on the cathode reactor of each system were strengthened at the phylum and genus levels. Under the coaction of the dominant strains, the efficiencies of nitrogen removal and phosphorus removal in the reactor were significantly improved. The performance optimization of and microbial community change in NH4+-N and TP removal in the MFC system were studied using RSM, which was helpful to improve the effect of nitrogen and phosphorus removal.

Design methodologies to determine optimal staging of membrane-aerated biofilm reactors for mainstream treatment with anammox.

Partial nitritation anammox (PNA) membrane-aerated biofilm reactors (MABRs) can be used in mainstream nitrogen removal to help facilities reduce their energy consumption. Previous PNA MABR research has not investigated the impacts of staging, i.e. arraying MABRs in series, on their nitrogen removal performance, operation, and ability to suppress nitrite oxidizing bacteria. In this paper, a mathematical model simulated PNA MABR performance at different influent total ammonia concentrations and loadings. A design methodology for staging PNA MABRs was created and found that the amount of membrane surface area is dependent upon the total ammonia-nitrogen concentration and loading, and the air loading to the membrane must be proportional to the total ammonia-nitrogen loading to maximize the total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) removal rate. This led to approximately equal-sized stages that each had a TIN removal percentage of 71% of the influent total ammonia nitrogen. Staging a treatment train resulted in 9.8% larger total ammonia and 9.3% larger total nitrogen removal rates when compared with an un-staged reactor. The un-staged reactor also was not able to produce an effluent total ammonia concentration below 5 mg N/L which would be necessary for many facilities' permits.

Simultaneous methanogenesis and denitrification coupled with nitrifying biofilm for high-strength wastewater treatment: Performance and microbial mechanisms

A combined system consisting of an upflow blanket filter (UBF) and a moving-bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) was developed for the simultaneous removal of organic matters and ammonia from high-strength wastewater. With a constant COD of approximately 2000 mg/L and ammonium nitrogen in a series of concentrations (e.g., 50, 200 and 400 mg/L in stages I to III) of the influent wastewater, the removal efficiencies of COD, ammonium nitrogen and total nitrogen reached 96.10%-98.19%, 100%, and 79.12%-82.15%, respectively. With the increase of influent ammonia nitrogen concentration, the specific methanogenic activity of the UBF granules decreased significantly, while the specific denitrification rates of the UBF granules and specific nitrification rates of the MBBR biofilms increased significantly. Microbial community analysis showed that Methanobacterium and Methanosaeta were the dominant methanogens in the UBF granules, while Candidatus Competibacter, Thauera and Acinetobacter were identified as dominant denitrifiers. In addition, nitrifiers were enriched in MBBR biofilms at 11.33% and 13.87% of the average abundance of Nitrosomonas and Nitrospira, respectively, at stage III (influent ammonium at 400 mg/L, COD/NH4+-N = 5). The ecological network analysis, including full-networks and sub-networks, indicated that the interactions between methanogens and denitrifiers in the UBF granules were strong when the influent ammonium concentration reached 400 mg/L. No intensive interactions were observed among the functional bacteria in the MBBR biofilms over the entire operation. Overall, this study provides a new strategy for the application and construction of efficient biological processes to achieve simultaneous removal of organic matter and nitrogen for high-strength wastewater treatment.

Impact of nitrite on partial nitrification in aerobic sewage treatment reactors under mainstream conditions

Stable partial nitrification is still difficult to achieve under mainstream conditions. High and low nitrite concentrations were established in two identical, completely mixed, continuous aerobic reactors in parallel to determine the effect of nitrite on partial nitrification under mainstream conditions. Influent ammonium (NH4+-N) concentrations of 50 ± 3 and 10 ± 2 mg/L were used to create high and low nitrite concentrations. Partial nitrification in the two reactors was established through an influent NH4+-N loading of 0.12 kg/(m3·d) and dissolved oxygen (DO) levels of 0.1–0.3 mg/L. In a low nitrite-type reactor, the specific activity of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) was 0.061 ± 0.005 kg/(kg volatile suspended solids [VSS]·d), which was lower than that in the high nitrite reactor (0.085 ± 0.010 kg/(kg VSS·d)). Real-time quantitative PCR showed a significant correlation between the percentage of NOB in the bacterial communities and nitrite levels in the reactor. Compared to the NOB percentage in the high nitrite reactor (0.074 %), a lower percentage (0.049 %) occurred in the low nitrite reactor. A supplementary mathematical simulation indicated that a low nitrite concentration was critical for NOB repression at DO concentrations of 0.2–0.3 mg/L. Finally, the feasibility of the low nitrite strategy was demonstrated in a PN-ANAMMOX reactor with effluent recycling. Ammonium conversion efficiencies > 40.6 % and nitrite accumulation efficiencies > 43.1 % could be achieved at recycling ratios of 250–300 %, which created low nitrite concentrations (below 1.5 mg/L) in the aerobic zone.

Determining Factors for Nitrite Accumulation in an Acidic Nitrifying System: Influent Ammonium Concentration, Operational pH, and Ammonia-Oxidizing Community.

Acidic nitrification is attracting wide attention because it can enable robust suppression of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) in wastewater treatment. This study reports a comprehensive assessment of the novel acidic nitrification process to identify the key factors that govern stable nitrite accumulation. A laboratory-scale moving-bed biofilm reactor receiving low-alkalinity wastewater was continuously operated under acidic conditions (pH < 6) for around two years, including nine stages varying influent and operational conditions. The results revealed that nitrite accumulation was related to three factors, i.e., influent ammonium concentration, operating pH, and ammonia-oxidizing microbial community. These three factors impact nitrite accumulation by altering the in situ concentration of free nitrous acid (FNA), which is a potent inhibitor of NOB. The critical FNA concentration is approximately one part per million (ppm, ∼1 mg HNO2-N/L), above which nitrite accumulation is stably maintained in an acidic nitrifying system. The findings of this study suggest that stable nitrite accumulation via acidic ammonia oxidation can be maintained under a range of influent and operational conditions, as long as a ppm-level of FNA is established. Taking low-strength mainstream wastewater (40-50 mg NH4+-N/L) with limited alkalinity as an example, stable nitrite accumulation was experimentally demonstrated at a pH of 4.35, under which an in situ FNA of 2.3 ± 0.6 mg HNO2-N/L was attained. Under these conditions, Candidatus Nitrosoglobus became the only ammonia oxidizer detectable by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The results of this study deepen our understanding of acidic nitrifying systems, informing further development of novel wastewater treatment technologies.

Control strategy and performance of simultaneous removal of nitrogen and organic matter in treating swine manure digestate using one reactor with airlift and micro-granule

A simultaneous partial nitritation, anammox, denitrification, and COD oxidation (SNADCO) process was used to evaluate the nitrogen and biodegradable organic matter removal of swine manure digestate based on a nitrite limitation and ammonium surplus strategy. As influent ammonium concentration increased from 500 mg/L to 2100 mg/L, the 5 day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) maintained at a high removal efficiency of 95.4%. However, nitrogen removal efficiency (NRE) decreased from 90.9% to 68.2% due to the inhibition of AnAOB caused by an ammonium concentration of 2100 mg/L. The contribution of AnAOB to nitrogen removal was 75.6–86.5%, while that of denitrifying bacteria was 4.6–7.0%. In the case of COD removal, the contributions were from ordinary heterotrophic organisms and denitrifying bacteria, at 27.1–64.9% and 11.2–22.1%, respectively. The results of specific bacteria activity tests and microbial analysis showed that a highly efficient synergism between functional microorganisms is essential for the stability of the SNADCO process.

Performance of partial nitrification process in a zeolite biological aerated filter with the addition of sulfamethoxazole

Due to the rapid development of medical industries, wastewater treatment plants have become sinks for residual antibiotics. However, the contribution of novel partial nitrification processes to the bioremediation of antibiotics remains unclear. In this study, the removal rate of a partial nitrification process on the biotransformation of sulfamethoxazole (SMZ) was evaluated. A biological aerated filter made from zeolite successfully achieved stable partial nitrification. A nitrite accumulation percentage (NAP) greater than 85% was obtained when the influent ammonium concentration was increased to 300 mg/L with a nitrogen loading rate of 1.24 kg/(m3 d). Batch tests were performed on support collected from different heights of the up-flow reactor at the end of the pilot monitoring experiment. The maximum ammonium oxidation rate of 5.63 mg/(g VSS·L) in one hour was recorded at a height of 0.32–0.48 m in the reactor, indicating nitrifying bacteria activity link between the free ammonia (FA) and biomass concentration was found. After the addition of SMZ (2.5 mg/L), the NAP declined to approximately 70%, and the abundance of Nitrosomonas (the main ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) genus in the zeolite biological aerated filter (ZBAF)) decreased 7.24–6.10%. Lower abundance and activity of AOB oxidized ineffectively the primary amine of SMZ, which led to lower than 19% of the SMZ removal efficiency.