Simultaneous nitrification and autotrophic denitrification in fluidized bed reactors using pyrite and elemental sulfur as electron donors

In this study, simultaneous nitrification and autotrophic denitrification (SNAD) with either elemental sulfur or pyrite were investigated in fluidized bed reactors in mesophilic conditions. The reactor performance was evaluated at different ammonium (12-40 mg/L of NH4+-N), nitrate (35-45 mg/L of NO3--N), and dissolved oxygen (DO) (0.1-1.5 mg/L) concentrations, with a hydraulic retention time of 12 h. The pyrite reactor supported the SNAD process with a maximum nitrogen removal efficiency of 139.5 mg/(L·d) when the DO concentration was in the range of 0.8-1.5 mg/L. This range, however, limited the denitrification efficiency of the reactor, which decreased from 90.0% ± 5.3% in phases II-V to 67.9% ± 7.2% in phases VI and VII. Sulfate precipitated as iron sulfate (FeSO4/Fe2(SO4)3) and sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) minerals during the experiment. The sulfur reactor did not respond well to nitrification with a low and unstable ammonium removal efficiency, while denitrification occurred with a nitrate removal efficiency of 97.8%. In the pyrite system, the nitrifying bacterium Nitrosomonas sp. was present, and its relative abundance increased from 0.1% to 1.1%, while the autotrophic denitrifying genera Terrimonas, Ferruginibacter, and Denitratimonas dominated the community. Thiobacillus, Sulfurovum, and Trichlorobacter were the most abundant genera in the sulfur reactor during the entire experiment.

Organic matter and concentrated nitrogen removal by shortcut nitrification and denitrification from mature municipal landfill leachate

An UASB＋Anoxic/Oxic （A/O） system was introduced to treat a mature landfill leachate with low carbon-to-nitrogen ratio and high ammonia concentration. To make the best use of the biodegradable COD in the leaehate, the denitrifieation of NOx^--N in the reeireulation effluent from the elarifier was carried out in the UASB. The results showed that most biodegradable organic matters were removed by the denitrifieation in the UASB. The NH4^＋-N loading rate （ALR） of A/O reactor and operational temperature was 0.28- 0.60 kg NH4^＋-N/（m^3-d） and 17-29℃ during experimental period, respectively. The short-cut nitrification with nitrite accumulation efficiency of 90%-99% was stabilized during the whole experiment. The NH4^＋-N removal efficiency varied between 90% and 100%. When ALR was less than 0.45 kg NH4^＋-N/（m^3.d）, the NH4^＋-N removal efficiency was more than 98%. With the influent NH4^＋-N of 1200-1800 mg/L, the effluent NH4^＋-N was less than 15 mg/L. The shortcut nitrification and denitrifieation can save 40% carbon source, with a highly efficient denitrifieation taking place in the UASB. When the ratio of the feed COD to feed NH4^＋-N was only 2-3, the total inorganic nitrogen （TIN） removal efficiency attained 67%-80%. Besides, the sludge samples from A/O reactor were analyzed using FISH. The FISH analysis revealed that ammonia oxidation bacteria （AOB） accounted for 4% of the total eubaeterial population, whereas nitrite oxidation bacteria （NOB） accounted only for 0.2% of the total eubaeterial population.

Alternating shortcut nitrification-denitrification for nitrogen removal from soybean wastewater by SBR with real-time control

A novel treating technology for nitrogen removal from soybean wastewater was studied. The process for nitrogen removal was achieved by alternating aeration and mixing, combined with real\|time control strategies. Results showed that the COD and total nitrogen removal rates are more than 90% and 92% at COD and total nitrogen loads of 1\^0-1\^2 kg COD/(kgMLSS·d) and 0\^20-0\^27 kg TN/(kgMLSS·d), respectively. In addition, it could improve sludge settling property. SVI value is less than 70 g/ml during the whole cycles. The method not only may be adapted to treat soybean wastewater with high nitrogen, but also may be applied to treat other high nitrogen wastewater.

An innovative membrane bioreactor and packed-bed biofilm reactor combined system for shortcut nitrification-denitrification

An innovative shortcut biological nitrogen removal system, consisting of an aerobic submerged membrane bioreactor （MBR） and an anaerobic packed-bed biofilm reactor （PBBR）, was evaluated for treating high strength ammonium-bearing wastewater. The system was seeded with enriched ammonia-oxidizing bacteria （AOB） and operated without sludge purge with a decreased hydraulic retention time （HRT） through three phases. MBR was successful in both maintaining nitrite ratio over 0.95 and nitrification efficiency higher than 98% at HRT of 24 h, and PBBR showed satisfactory denitrification efficiency with very low effluent nitrite and nitrate concentration （both below 3 mg/L）. By examining the nitrification activity of microorganism, it was found that the specifc ammonium oxidization rate （SAOR） increased from 0.17 to 0.51 g N/（g VSS.d） and then decreased to 0.22 g N/（g VSS.d） at the last phase, which resulted from the accumulation of extracellular polymers substances （EPS） and inert matters enwrapping around the zoogloea. In contrast, the average specific nitrite oxidization rate （SNOR） is 0.002 g N/（g VSS.d）, only 1% of SAOR. Because very little Nitrobactor has been detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization （FISH）, it is confirmed that the stability of high nitrite accumulation in MBR is caused by a large amount of AOB.

Effects of Aeration Rates and Patterns on Shortcut Nitrification and Denitrification

The effects of aeration rates and aeration patterns on the oxidation of ammonia-nitrogen into nitrite were investigated. The influent high ammonia-nitrogen synthetic wastewater resembled to those of the catalytic process of the petrochemical refinery. The method involved the biological shortcut nitrification and denitrification lab-scale’s sequencing batch reactor (SBR) process based on intermittent aerations and aeration patterns. All the operations were carried out in a 20 L working volume SBR bioreactor, and the influent synthetic wastewater’s concentration was always 1000 mg/L ammonia-nitrogen NH4-N concentration at a C/N (carbon/nitrogen) ratio of 2.5:1. Effective shortcut nitrification to nitrite was registered at 1.1 mg-O2/L (i.e. 9 L-air/min) with 99.1% nitrification efficiency, 99.0% nitritation rate and 2.6 mg-NO3--N/L nitrate concentration. The best results with 99.3% nitrification efficiency were recorded when operating at 1.4 mg-O2/L (i.e. 12 L-air/min). According to these experiments, it results that the nitrite accumulation rate was related to aeration rate and cycle’s duration. However, at 1.7 mg-O2/L (i.e. 15 L-air/min), the system was limited by an increase in nitrate concentration with more than 5 mg/L which could be a point of reverse to conventional nitrification. The best total nitrogen (TN) removal was about 71.5%.

Nitrification and Denitrification Activities and N_2O Emission of Orchard Soils Cultivated for Different Periods of Time

[Objective] The aim was to investigate the differences in nitrification and denitrification activities and the N20 emission of orchard soils cultivated for different periods of time. [Method] Incubation experiment was conducted to determine the ni- trification and denitrification activities and N20 emission of three types of orchard soil samples that had been cultivated for 5, 12 and 20 years, respectively, by using the virgin soil sample as control. [Result] After 26 d of incubation, the nitrification rates of nitrogen fertilizer in the virgin soil sample and the orchard soil samples cultivated for 5, 12 and 20 years were 6.85%, 10.26%, 13.29% and 12.90%, respectively, which were positively correlated with content of soil organic matter, ammonium nitro- gen and total nitrogen （P〈0.05）, and negatively correlated with soil carbon-nitrogen ratio and pH value （P〈0.05）. The denitrification activities of these soil samples in- creased with the increase of cultivation years. The amount of nitrogen loss by deni- trification accounted for 0.01%-3.11% of the amount of fertilizer nitrogen, and had a positive correlation with the content of soil organic matter （P〈0.05）. The N20 emis- sions of orchard soil samples were higher than that of the virgin soil samples （P〈 0.05）. [Conclusion] In South China, the nitrification activity of orchard soil is relatively low, but it has a tendency to increase as the cultivation years increases; the denitri- fication activity is relatively high, and increases significantly with the increase of culti- vation years.

Nitrogen Release Kinetics and Nitrification-Denitrification on Surface Sediments under Aerating Disturbance Condition

[Objective] This study aimed to investigate the nitrogen release kinetics and nitrification-denitrification on surface sediments under aerating disturbance condition, with the purpose to solve the sediment nitrogen release and secondary pollution problems. [Method] The effect of in situ sediments aeration on the release of nitrogen pollutants was investigated, and the nitrogen release kinetics parameters were analyzed. The process of nitrification and denitrification under sediments aeration condition was investigated in laboratory. [Result] The nitrogen released from sediments was enhanced by aeration disturbance. The concentration of NH4＋-N and TN reached the maximum value in 30 min, and release rates were proportional to the disturbance strength. In this study, with the distance of aerator to the sediments surface of 0, 1, 2 and 3 cm, the suspended sediments concentrations were 3.52, 3.41, 3.26 and 3.01 g/L, respectively. Maximum release concentration of NH4＋-N and TN were 14.3, 13.8, 13.2, 12.2 mg/L and 33.21, 30.98, 29.83, 27.30 mg/L, respec- tively. In addition, both NH4＋-N and TN release kinetics could be described by Double Constant Equation as InC=A＋Blnt. Nitrification reaction occurred and was promoted by continued aerating to sediments.The concentration of NH4＋-N dropped down from 12.4 mg/L to 0.2 mg/L in 8 d, with the concentration of NO3--N increased to the maximum value of 10.8 mg/L. In addition, concentration of NO3--N and TN decreased from 10.8 mg/L and 37.4 mg/L to 0.36 mg/L and 23.2 mg/L after the stop of aeration for 12 d, indicating the occurrence of denitdfication reaction. Therefore, sediment aeration could accelerate nitrogen release and nitrification reaction, and with intermittent aeration, nitrogen could be removed from sediments in-situ by nitrification and denitrification. [Conclusion] The results provided technical reference for the in situ sediment remediation for the black-odor rivers in cities.

Effects of chlorothalonil and carbendazim on nitrification and denitrification in soils

The effects of chlorothalonil and carbendazim on nitrification and denitrification in six soils in upland and rice paddy environments were investigated. Laboratory aerobic （60% water holding capacity） and anaerobic （flooded） conditions were studied at 25℃ and fungicide addition rates of 5.5 mg/kg A. I. （field rate, FR）, 20 times （20FR） and 40 times （40FR） field rate, respectively. The results indicated that chlorothalonil at the field rate had a slight inhibitory effect on one soil only, and that soil did not nitrify much in the first place. But chlorothalonil at higher rates inhibited nitrification significantly in all soils. For soils JXP and JXU with a pH of less than 5.0, chlorothalonil almost completely stopped their nitrification at 20FR and 40FR during the whole 14 d incubation period. For soils HNP and HNU with a pH of greater than 8.0, chlorothalonil also significantly inhibit nitrification at 20FR and 40FR （p 〈 0.05）. However, NH4＋ that was added to the soil was also almost completely nitrified by the end of the incubation period in these two soils. The effects of chlorothalonil at 20FR and 40FR on the nitrification of JSP and JSU soils, with a pH of 5.4 and 7.2, respectively, were intermediate between the other soil types. Chlorothalonil had no effect on denitrification at the field rate and had little effect at the higher rates of application in some soils. Carbendazim had essentially no effect on nitrification and denitrification in soils assessed.

Simultaneous nitrification and denitrification in step feeding biological nitrogen removal process

The simultaneous nitrification and denitrification in step-feeding biological nitrogen removal process were investigated under different influent substrate concentrations and aeration flow rates. Biological occurrence of simultaneous nitrification and denitrification was verified in the aspect of nitrogen mass balance and alkalinity. The experimental results also showed that there was a distinct linear relationship between simultaneous nitrification and denitrification and DO concentration under the conditions of low and high aeration flow rate. In each experimental run the floc sizes of activated sludge were also measured and the results showed that simultaneous nitrification and denitrification could occur with very small size of floc.

Temperature effect on aerobic denitrification and nitrification

Nitrogen loss without organic removal in biofilter was observed and its possible reason was explained. A lower hydraulic loading could improve aerobic denitrification rate. Aerobic denitrification was seriously affected by low temperature(below 10℃). However, nitrification rate remained high when the temperature dropped from 15℃ to 5℃. It seemed the autotrophic biofilm in BAF could alleviate the adverse effect of low temperature.

Determination of respiration, gross nitrification and denitrification in soil profile using BaPS system

A facility of BaPS （Barometric Process Separation） was used to determine soil respiration, gross nitrification and denitrification in a winter wheat field with depths of 0-7, 7--14 and 14-21 cm. N2O production was determined by a gas chromatograph. Crop root mass and relevant soil parameters were measured. Results showed that soil respiration and gross nitrification decreased with the increase of soil depth, while denitrification did not change significantly. In comparison with no-plowing plot, soil respiration increased significantly in plowing plot, especially in the surface soil of 0-7 cm, while gross nitrification and denitrification rates were not affected by plowing. Cropping practice in previous season was found to affect soil gross nitrification in the following wheat-growing season. Higher gross nitrification rate occurred in the filed plot with preceding crop of rice compared with that of maize for all the three depths of 0-7, 7-14 and 14-21 cm. A further investigation indicated that the nitrification for all the cases accounted for about 76% of the total nitrogen transformation processes of nitrification and denitrification and the N2O production correlated with nitrification significantly, suggesting that nitrification is a key process of soil N2O production in the wheat field. In addition, the variations of soil respiration and gross nitrification were exponentially dependent on root mass （p〈0.00l）.

Removal of organic matter and nitrogen from distillery wastewater by a combination of methane fermentation and denitrification/nitrification processes

The distillery wastewater of Guangdong Jiujiang Distillery, which is characteristic of containing high organic matters and rich total nitrogen, was treated by a combination of methane fermentation and denitrification/nitrification processes. 80% of COD in the raw wastewater was removed by methane fermentation at the COD volumetric loading rate of 20 kg COD/（m^3·d） using the expanded granule sludge bed （EGSB） process. However, almost all the organic nitrogen in the raw wastewater was converted into ammonia by ammonification there. Ammonia and volatile fatty acids （VFA） remaining in the anaerobically treated wastewater were simultaneously removed utilizing VFA as an electron donor by denitrification occurring in the other EGSB reactor and nitrification using PEG-immobilized nitrifying bacteria with recirculation process. An aerobic biological contact oxidization reactor was designed between denitrification/nitrification reactor for further COD removal. With the above treatment system, 18000-28000 mg/L of COD in raw wastewater was reduced to less than 100 mg/L. Also, ammonia in the effluent of the system was not detected and the system had a high removal rate for 900-1200 mg/L of TN in the raw wastewater, only leaving 400 mg/L of nitrate nitrogen.

Nitrogen removal influence factors in A/O process and decision trees for nitrification/denitrification system

In order to improve nitrogen removal in anoxic/oxic(A/O) process effectively for treating domestic wastewaters, the influence factors, DO(dissolved oxygen), nitrate recirculation, sludge recycle, SRT(solids residence time), influent COD/TN and HRT(hydraulic retention time) were studied. Results indicated that it was possible to increase nitrogen removal by using corresponding control strategies, such as, adjusting the DO set point according to effluent ammonia concentration; manipulating nitrate recirculation flow according to nitrate concentration at the end of anoxic zone. Based on the experiments results, a knowledge-based approach for supervision of the nitrogen removal problems was considered, and decision trees for diagnosing nitrification and denitrification problems were built and successfully applied to A/O process.

Cultivation of aerobic granules for simultaneous nitrification and denitrification by seeding different inoculated sludge

Cultivation of aerobic granules for simultaneous nitrification and denitrification in two sequencing batch airlift bioreactors was studied. Conventional activated floc and anaerobic granules served as main two inoculated sludge in the systems. Morphological variations of sludge in the reactors were observed. It was found that the cultivation of aerobic granules was closely associated with the kind of inoculated sludge. Round and regular aerobic granules were prevailed in both reactors, and the physical characteristics of the aerobic granules in terms of settling ability, specific gravity, and ratio of water containing were distinct when the inoculate sludge was different. Aerobic granules formed by seeding activated floc are more excellent in simultaneous nitrification and denitrification than that by aerobic granules formed from anaerobic granules. It was concluded that inoculated sludge plays a crucial role in the cultivation of aerobic granules for simultaneous nitrification and denitrification.

Effects of COD/N ratio and DO concentration on simultaneous nitrification and denitrification in an airlift internal circulation membrane bioreactor

The effects of chemical oxygen demand and nitrogen(COD/N)ratio and dissolved oxygen concentration(DO)on simultaneous nitrification and denitrification(SND)were investigated using an airlift internal circulation membrane bioreactor(AIC-MBR)with synthetic wastewater.The results showed that the COD efficiencies were consistently greater than 90% regardless of changes in the COD/N ratio.At the COD/N ratio of 4.77 and 10.04,the system nitrogen removal efficiency became higher than 70%.However,the nitrogen remova...

Nitrogen Removal by Simultaneous Nitrification and Denitrification via Nitrite in a Sequence Hybrid Biological Reactor

Sequence hybrid biological reactor （SHBR） was proposed, and some key control parameters were investigated for nitrogen removal from wastewater by simultaneous nitrification and denitrification （SND） via nitrite. SND via nitrite was achieved in SHBR by controlling demand oxygen （DO） concentration. There was a programmed decrease of the DO from 2.50 mg·L^-1 to 0.30 mg·L^-1, and the average nitrite accumulation rate （NAR） was increased from 16.5% to 95.5% in 3 weeks. Subsequently, further increase in DO concentration to 1.50 mg·L^-1 did not destroy the partial nitrification to nitrite. The results showed that limited air flow rate to cause oxygen deficiency in the reactor would eventually induce only nitrification to nitrite and not further to nitrate. Nitrogen removal efficiency was increased with the increase in NAR, that is, NAR was increased from 60% to 90%, and total nitrogen removal efficiency was increased from 68% to 85%. The SHBR could tolerate high organic loading rate （OLR）, COD and ammonia-nitrogen removal efficiency were greater than 92% and 93.5%, respectively,, and it even operated under low DO concentration （0.5 mg·L^-1） and maintained high OLR （4.0 kg COD·m^-3·d^-1）. The presence of biofilm positively affected the activated sludge settling capability, and sludge volume index （SVI） of activated sludge in SHBR never hit more than 90 ml·L^-1 throughout the experiments.

Nitrous oxide concentration and nitrification and denitrification in Zhujiang River Estuary,China

The concentrations of nitrous oxide varies between 57 and 329 nmol/dm3, saturation is 674%～4 134% in the Zhujiang River Estuary. This suggests that the area is an emissive source of nitrous oxide. The acetylene inhibition technique is employed to evaluate the rates of nitrification, denitrification and nitrate reduction by bacterial activities in the sediments at three sites. The average of nitrification, denitrification and nitrate reduction rates ranges from 0.32 to 2.43, 0.03 to 0.84 and 4.17 to 13.06 mmol/(m2·h), respectively. The ver- tical profiles of the sediments show that the nitrification and denitrification processes mainly take place in the depth from 0 to 4 cm and depend on regional conditions. The rates of nitrification, denitrification and nitrate reduction are dominated by Eh, nitrate and ammoni- um concentrations in sediments and DO in overlay water. There is a coupling between nitrification and denitrification.

Effects of Heavy Metals on Ammonification, Nitrification and Denitrification in Maize Rhizosphere

The ammonification, nitrification and denitrification in maize rhizosphere of alluvial soils were compared with those in the bulk soil after exposure to different kinds of heavy metals. The addition of cadmium at low levels (2 mg kg-1 and 5 mg kg-1) could stimulate the ammonification and nitrification in the soils, while inhibition influences were found at high levels of Cd addition (10 mg kg-1 and 20 mg kg-1). The relationship between microbial activity and cadmium concentration varied with the kind of microorganisms. The nitrifying bacteria were more sensitive to cadmium pollution than the ammonifying bacteria. When Cd(II), Cu(II) and Cr(VI) were compared at the same addition concentration of 20 mg kg-1 soil, Cd(II) was the most effective inhibitor of ammonification and denitrification among the three investigated heavy metals, and Cr(VI) had the most strong inhibitory influence on the nitrifying bacteria. The microbial activities in rhizosphere were higher than those in the bulk soil for most of the treatments. Cr(VI) proved to be the most effective in enhancing the microbial activities in rhizosphere, and this could be caused by the positive reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) in rhizosphere, and the relatively sufficient existence of organic matter which intensified the adsorption of the metal. It seemed that the rhizosphere had some mitigation effect on heavy metal toxicity.

Simultaneous heterotrophic nitrification and aerobic denitrification at high initial phenol concentration by isolated bacterium Diaphorobacter sp. PD-7

A strain capable of phenol degradation, hetemtrophic nitrification and aerobic denitrification was isolated from activated sludge of coking-plant wastewater ponds under aerobic condition. Based on its morphology, physiology, biochemical analysis and phylogenetic characteristics, the isolate was identified as Diaphorobacter sp. PD-7. Biodegradation tests of phenol showed that the maximum phenol degradation occurred at the late phase of exponential growth stages, with 1400 mg·L^-1 phenol completely degraded within 85 h. Diaphorobacter sp. PD-7 accumulated a vast quantity of phenol hydroxylase in this physiological phase, ensuring that the cells quickly utilize phenol as a sole carbon and energy source. The kinetic behavior ofDiaphorobacter sp. PD-7 in batch cultures was investigated over a wide range of initial phenol concentrations （0-1400mg·L^-1） by using the Haldane model, which adequately describes the dynamic behavior of phenol biodegradation by strain Diaphombacter sp. PD-7. At initial phenol concentration of 1400mg· L^-l, batch experiments （0.25 L flask） of nitrogen removal under aerobic condition gave almost entirely removal of 120.69mg· L^- 1 ammonium nitrogen within 75 h, while nitrate nitrogen removal reached 91% within 65 h. Moreover, hydroxylamine oxidase, periplasmic nitrate reductase and nitrite reductase were successfully expressed in the isolate.

Mitrification－Denitrification Lossof Added Nitrogenin Flooded Rice Rhizosphere

Nitrification-denitrification losses of ￣15N-labelled nitrate and ammonium applied to the rhizosphere andnonrhizosphere of flooded rice were evaluated in 2 greenhouse rhizobox experiments. The loss of added Nvia denitrification was estimated directly by measuring the total fluxes of (N_2O+N_2)￣15N. It was found that 67% and51%-56% of ￣15N-nitrate added to rice rhizosphere were lost as (N_2O+N_)-￣15N in the 2 experiments, respectively,which were comparable to that added to nonrhizosphere soil (70%and47%, respectively), implying that tbedenitrifying activity in rice rhizosphere was as high as that in nonrhizosphere soil. However, only trace amounts(0-0.3% of added N) were recovered as (N_2O+N_2)-￣15N when ￣15N-ammonium was applied to either rhizosphere ornonrhizosphere, which seems to indicate that the nitrifying activity in the either rhizosphere or nonrhizosphere soilswas quite low. The apparent denitrification calculated from ￣15N balance studies was 10%-47% higher than the totalflux of (N_2O+N_2)-￣15N. Reasons for the large differences can not be explained satisfactorily. Though the denitrifyingactivity in rhizospbere was high and comparable to that in nonrhizosphere soil, presumably due to the low nitrifyingactivity and/ or the strong competition of N uptake against denitrification, the nitrification-denitrification takingplace in rhizosphere could not be an important mechanism of loss of ammonium N in flooded rice-soil system.