A novel multistage anoxic/aerobic process with sludge regeneration zone (R-MAO) for advanced nitrogen removal from domestic sewage

To achieve advanced nitrogen removal from actual municipal sewage,a novel multistage anoxic/aerobic process with sludge regeneration zone(R-MAO)was developed.The reactor was used to treat actual domestic sewage and the nitrogen removal capacity of the sludge regeneration zone(R zone)was investigated during the long-term operation.The best performance was obtained at the R zone’s Oxidation-Reduction Potential(ORP)of-50±30 mV and hydraulic residence times(HRT)of 1.2 hr.The average effluent COD,TN,NH_(4)^(+)-N and NO_(3)^(−)-N of the R-MAO process were 18.0±2.3,7.5±0.6,1.0±0.5 and 4.6±0.4 mg/L,respectively,with the corresponding removal efficiency of COD,TN and NH_(4)^(+)-N were 92.9%±1.0%,84.1%±1.5% and 97.5%±1.1%.Compared to the sole MAO system,the TN removal efficiency of the R-MAO increased by 10.1%.Besides,under the optimal conditions,the contribution of the R zone in the R-MAO that removal COD,TN,NH_(4)^(+)-N and NO_(3)^(−)-N were 0.36,0.15,0.032 and 0.82 g/day.High-throughput sequencing results showed that uncultured_bacterium_f_Burkholderiaceae(5.20%),OLB8(1.04%)and Ottowia(1.03%)played an important role in denitrification in the R zone.This study provided effective guidance for the design and operation of the R-MAO process in domestic sewage treatment.