Effects of seawater salinity on nitrite accumulation in short-range nitrification to nitrite as end product

The effect of seawater salinity on nitrite accumulation in short-range nitrification to nitrite as the end product was studied by using a SBR. Experimental results indicated that the growth of nitrobacteria was inhibited and very high levels of nitrite accumulation at different salinities were achieved under the conditions of 25—28℃, pH 7.5? ?.0 , and the influent ammonia nitrogen of 40—70 mg/L when seawater flow used to flush toilet was less than 35%(salinity 12393 mg/L, Cl - 6778 mg/L) of total domestic wastewater flow, which is mainly ascribed to much high chlorine concentration of seawater. Results showed that high seawater salinity is available for short-range nitrification to nitrite as the end product. When the seawater flow used to flush toilet accounting for above 70% of the total domestic wastewater flow, the removal efficiency of ammonia was still above 80% despite the removal of organics declined obviously(less than 60%). It was found that the effect of seawater salinity on the removal of organics was negative rather than positive one as shown for ammonia removal.

Experimental study of nitrite accumulation in pre-denitrification biological nitrogen removal process

The effect of dissolved oxygen(DO)concentration on nitrite accumulation was investigated in a pilot-scale pre-denitrification process at room temperature for 100 days.In the first 10 days,due to the instability of the system,the DO concentration fluctuated between 1.0 and 2.0 mg/L.In the next 14 days,the DO concentration was kept at 0.5 mg/L and nitrite accumulation occurred,with the average nitrite accumulation rate at 91%.From the 25th day,the DO concentration was increased to 2.0 mg/L to destroy the nitrite accumulation,but nitrite accumulation rate was still as high as 90%.From the 38th day the nitrite accumulation rate decreased to 15%–30%linearly.From the 50th day,DO concentration was decreased to 0.5 mg/L to resume nitrite accumulation.Until the 83rd day the nitrite accumulation rate began to increase to 80%.Dissolved oxygen was the main cause of nitrite accumulation,taking into account other factors such as pH,free ammonia concentration,temperature,and sludge retention time.Because of the different affinity for oxygen between nitrite oxidizing bacteria and ammonia oxidizing bacteria when DO concentration was kept at 0.5 mg/L,nitrite accumulation occurred.

Perturbation of clopyralid on bio-denitrification and nitrite accumulation:Long-term performance and biological mechanism

The contaminant of herbicide clopyralid(3,6-dichloro-2-pyridine-carboxylic acid,CLP)poses a potential threat to the ecological system.However,there is a general lack of research devoted to the perturbation of CLP to the bio-denitrification process,and its biological response mechanism remains unclear.Herein,long-term exposure to CLP was systematically investigated to explore its influences on denitrification performance and dynamic microbial responses.Results showed that low-concentration of CLP(<15 mg/L)caused severe nitrite accumulation initially,while higher concentrations(35e60 mg/L)of CLP had no further effect after long-term acclimation.The mechanistic study demonstrated that CLP reduced nitrite reductase(NIR)activity and inhibited metabolic activity(carbon metabolism and nitrogen metabolism)by causing oxidative stress and membrane damage,resulting in nitrite accumulation.However,after more than 80 days of acclimation,almost no nitrite accumulation was found at 60 mg/L CLP.It was proposed that the secretion of extracellular polymeric substances(EPS)increased from 75.03 mg/g VSS at 15 mg/L CLP to 109.97 mg/g VSS at 60 mg/L CLP,which strengthened the protection of microbial cells and improved NIR activity and metabolic activities.Additionally,the biodiversity and richness of the microbial community experienced a U-shaped process.The relative abundance of denitrification-and carbon metabolism-associated microorganisms decreased initially and then recovered with the enrichment of microorganisms related to the secretion of EPS and N-acyl-homoserine lactones(AHLs).These microorganisms protected microbe from toxic substances and regulated their interactions among interand intra-species.This study revealed the biological response mechanism of denitrification after successive exposure to CLP and provided proper guidance for analyzing and treating herbicide-containing wastewater.

Community analysis of ammonia and nitrite oxidizers in start-up of aerobic granular sludge reactor

A lab-scale sequencing batch reactor （SBR） was set-up and the aerobic granular sludge was successfully incubated using anaerobic granular sludge as seed sludge. Nitrogen was partially removed by simultaneous nitrification and denitrification （SND） via nitrite with free ammonia （FA） of about 10 mg/L. The denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis （DGGE） method was used to investigate community structure of α-Proteobacteria, β-Proteobacteria, ammonia oxidizing bacteria （AOB）, and Nitrospira populations during start-up. The population sizes of bacteria, AOB and Nitrospira were examined using real-time PCR method. The analysis of community structure and Shannon index showed that stable structure of AOB population was obtained at day 35, while the communities of α- Proteobacteria, β-Proteobacteria, and Nitrospira became stable after day 45. At stable stage, the average cell densities were 1.1× 10^12, 2.2×10^10 and 1.0×10^10 cells/L for bacteria, AOB and Nitrospira, respectively. The relationship between characteristics of nitrifying bacteria community and nitrogenous substrate utilization constant was discussed by calculating Pearson correlation. Certain correlation seemed to exist between population size, biodiversity, and degradation constant. And the influence of population size might be greater than that of biodiversity.

Achieving and maintaining biological nitrogen removal via nitrite under normal conditions

The principal aim of this paper is to develop an approach to realize stable biological nitrogen removal via nitrite under normal conditions. Validation of the new method was established on laboratory-scale experiments applying the sequencing batch reactor（SBR） activated sludge process to domestic wastewater with low C/N ratio. The addition of sodium chloride（NaCI） to influent was established to achieve nitrite build-up. The high nitrite accumulation, depending on the salinity in influent and the application duration of salt, was obtained in SBRs treating saline wastewater. The maintenance results indicated that the real-time SBRs can maintain stable nitrite accumulation, but conversion from shorter nitrification-denitrification to full nitrification-denitrification was observed after some operation cycles in the other SBR with fixed-time control. The presented method is valuable to offer a solution to realize and to maintain nitrogen removal via nitrite under normal conditions.

Model-based evaluation on the conversion ratio of ammonium to nitrite in a nitritation process for ammonium-rich wastewater treatment

Modeling for nitritation process was discussed and analyzed quantitatively for the factors that influence nitrite accumulation. The results indicated that pH, inorganic carbon source and Hydraulic Retention Time(HRT) as well as biomass concentration are the main factors that influenced the conversion ratio of ammonium to nitrite. A constant high pH can lead to a high nitritation rate and results in high conversion ratio on condition that free ammonia inhibition do not happen. In a CSTR system, without pH control, this conversion ratio can be monitored by pH variation in the reactor. The pH goes down far from the inlet level means a strongly nitrite accumulation. High concentration of alkalinity can promoted the conversion ratio by means of accelerating the nitritation rate through providing sufficient inorganic carbon source(carbon dioxide). When inorganic carbon source was depleted, the nitritation process stopped. HRT adjustment could be an efficient way to make the nitritation system run more flexible, which to some extent can meet the requirements of the fluctuant of inlet parameters such as ammonium concentration, pH, and temperature and so on. Biomass concentration is the key point, especially for a CSTR system in steady state, which was normally circumscribed by the characteristics of bacteria and may also affected by aeration mode and can be increased by prolonging the HRT on the condition of no nitrate accumulation when no recirculation available. The higher the biomass concentration is, the better the nitrite accumulation can be obtained.

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.

Nitrogen removal from municipal wastewater by limit-oxic/anoxic/oxic biological aerated filter system

In this study,a three-stage biological aerated filter(BAF) system was proposed for the enhancement of nitrogen removal in the treatment of low carbon-to-nitrogen ratio(C/N ratio) municipal wastewater.Operational parameters were studied for each process for maximum nitrite accumulation in the nitrification step and nitrite adaptation in the denitrification step.Nitrite accumulation during nitrification could be controlled by the dissolved oxygen(DO) concentration,presenting a mean value of 40% at around 1.0 mg DO/L.Denitrification could be adapted to nitrite and the process was stable if nitrite in the reactor was keep low.Once the operational parameters were established,the process was stable and a steady state was maintained for over 30 days,and the various indexes of discharged water were up to the Discharge standard of pollutants for municipal wastewater treatment plant(GB18918-2002) Level-one A.It was concluded that the three-stage BAF system proposed in this study was excellent in nitrogen removal performance by employing three-column functioning as short-cut nitrification,short-cut denitrification and secondary nitrification,respectively.

Optimize Operation of Partial Denitrification System for Simultaneous Treatment of Low C/N Municipal and Nitrate Wastewaters

In order to realize the simultaneous treatment of low C/N municipal and nitrate( NO3^--N) wastewaters,a sequencing batch reactor( SBR) was used to optimize the partial denitrification( PD),which the influent substrate and the anoxic reaction time were appropriately controlled. The carbon and nitrogen removal and the characteristic parameters of PD during long-term operation were studied. Experimental results showed that the PD showed stable characteristics of nitrogen and carbon removal and NO2^--N accumulation after an adaptation of 20 d with municipal wastewater used. The anoxic reaction time was extended from 50 to 70 min with the initial COD/NO3^--N decreased from 3. 0 to about 2. 5. When the influent NO3^--N was 117. 93 mg/L,the effluent NO2^--N and NAR were 23. 10 mg/L and 82. 26%,respectively,and the nitrogen and carbon removal rate reached 91. 76% and 65. 70%,respectively. The effluent NO2^--N/NH4^+ -N meantime reached 1.17-1. 22. Moreover,the cumulative concentration of NO2^--N and the system NAR increased linearly with the consumption of NO3^--N and COD,and the change trend was highly significant within 0-20 min,and gradually flattened.

Effects of Aeration on Nitrification Process in a Polluted Urban River

[Objective] The study aimed to discuss the effects of aeration on nitrification process in a polluted urban river, [Metbod] Through indoor simulation experiments, the effects of different aeration conditions （aerating water named Ew, aerating sediment named Es ） on nitrification process in a polluted urban river were studied.[ Result]The nitrification of the control group named Ec proceeded slowly, while two kinds of aeration promo- ted the process of nitrification, that is, the peak values of nitrate nitrogen of Ew and Es group were respectively 5.15 and 3.83 times that of Ec group. During aeration, NO2 --N accumulation in the overlying water of Ew and Es group lasted for 10 and 14 days separately, and the maximum concentrations reached 11.41 and 7.41 mg/L respectively. Nitrification process was not consistent during the two aeration conditions, that is, the rate of nitrite oxidation in Ew group was faster than that in Es group. Denitrification process was significant after aeration, and the concentration of nitrate nitrogen in Ew and Es group was 1.26 and 2.82 mg/L respectively at the end of the experiment. [ Conclusion]The research could provide scientific references for the restoration of polluted urban rivers.

DMPP mitigates N_(2)O and NO productions by inhibiting ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in an intensified vegetable field under different temperature and moisture regimes

Vegetable soils with high nitrogen input are major sources of nitrous oxide(N_(2)O)and nitric oxide(NO),and incorporation of the nitrification inhibitor 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate(DMPP)into soils has been documented to effectively reduce emissions.However,the efficiency of DMPP in terms of soil N_(2)O and NO mitigations varies greatly depending on soil temperature and moisture levels.Thus,further evaluations of DMPP efficiency in diverse environments are required to encourage widespread application.A laboratory incubation study(28 d)was established to investigate the interactive effects of DMPP,temperature(15,25,and 35?C),and soil moisture(55% and 80% of water-holding capacity(WHC))on net nitrification rate,N_(2)O and NO productions,and gene abundances of nitrifiers and denitrifiers in an intensive vegetable soil.Results showed that incubating soil with 1%DMPP led to partial inhibition of the net nitrification rate and N_(2)O and NO productions,and the reduction percentage of N_(2)O production was higher than that of NO production(69.3%vs.38.2%)regardless of temperature and soil moisture conditions.The increased temperatures promoted the net nitrification rate but decreased soil N_(2)O and NO productions.Soil moisture influenced NO production more than N_(2)O production,decreasing with the increased moisture level(80%).The inhibitory effect of DMPP on cumulative N_(2)O and NO productions decreased with increased temperatures at 55%WHC.Conversely,the inhibitory effect of DMPP on cumulative N_(2)O production increased with increased temperatures at 80%WHC.Based on the correlation analyses and automatic linear modeling,the mitigation of both N_(2)O and NO productions from the soil induced by DMPP was attributed to the decreases in ammonia-oxidizing bacteria(AOB)amoA gene abundance and NO_(2)^(-)-N concentration.Overall,our study indicated that DMPP reduced both N_(2)O and NO productions by regulating the associated AOB amoA gene abundance and NO_(2)^(-)-N concentration.These findings improve our insights regarding the implications of DMPP for N_(2)O and NO mitigations in vegetable soils under various climate scenarios.

Effect of temperature on anoxic metabolism of nitrites to nitrous oxide by polyphosphate accumulating organisms

Temperature is an important physical factor, which strongly influences biomass and metabolic activity. In this study, the effects of temperature on the anoxic metabolism of nitrite （NO2） to nitrous oxide （N2O） by polyphosphate accumulating organisms, and the process of the accumulation of N2O （during nitrite reduction）, which acts as an electron acceptor, were investigated using 91% ：e 4% Candidatus Accumulibacterphosphatis sludge. The results showed that N2O is accumulated when Accumulibacter first utilize nitrite instead of oxygen as the sole electron acceptor during the denitrifying phosphorus removal process. Properties such as nitrite reduction rate, phosphorus uptake rate, N2O reduction rate, and polyhydroxyalkanoate degradation rate were all influenced by temperature variation （over the range from 10 to 30℃ reaching maximum values at 25℃）. The reduction rate of N2O by N2O reductase was more sensitive to temperature when N2O was utilized as the sole electron acceptor instead of NO2, and the N2O reduction rates, ranging from 0.48 to 3.53 N2O-N/（hr.g VSS）, increased to 1.45 to 8.60 mg N2O-N/（hr·g VSS）. The kinetics processes for temperature variation of 10 to 30℃ were （01 = 1.140-1.216 and θ2 = 1.139-1.167）. In the range of 10℃ to 30℃, almost all of the anoxic stoichiometry was sensitive to temperature changes. In addition, a rise in N2O reduction activity leading to a decrease in N2O accumulation in long term operations at the optimal temperature （27℃ calculated by the Arrhenius model）.

Unveiling the interaction mechanisms of key functional microorganisms in the partial denitrification-anammox process induced by COD

Partial denitrification-anammox(PD-anammox)is an innovative process to remove nitrate(NO_(3)^(–)–N)and ammonia(NH4+–N)simultaneously from wastewater.Stable operation of the PD-anammox process relies on the synergy and competition between anammox bacteria and denitrifiers.However,the mechanism of metabolic between the functional bacteria in the PD-anammox system remains unclear,especially in the treatment of high-strength wastewater.The kinetics of nitrite(NO_(2)^–N)accumulation during denitrification was investigated using the Michaelis-Menten equation,and it was found that low concentrations of NO_(3)^–N had a more significant effect on the accumulation of NO_(2)^–N during denitrification.Organic matter was a key factor to regulate the synergy of anammox and denitrification,and altered the nitrogen removal pathways.The competition for NO_(2)^–N caused by high COD concentration was a crucial factor that affecting the system stability.Illumina sequencing techniques demonstrated that excess organic matter promoted the relative abundance of the Denitratesoma genus and the nitrite reductase gene nirS,causing the denitrifying bacteria Denitratisoma to compete with Cadidatus Kuenenia for NO_(2)^–N,thereby affecting the stability of the system.Synergistic carbon and nitrogen removal between partial denitrifiers and anammox bacteria can be effectively achieved by controlling the COD and COD/NO_(3)^(–)N.

Modification of nitrifying biofilm into nitritating one by combination of increased free ammonia concentrations, lowered HRT and dissolved oxygen concentration

Nitrifying biomass on ring-shaped carriers was modified to nitritating one in a relatively short period of time （37 days） by limiting the air supply, changing the aeration regime, shortening the hydraulic retention time and increasing free ammonia （FA） concentration in the moving-bed biofilm reactor （MBBR）. The most efficient strategy for the development and maintenance of nitritating biofilm was found to be the inhibition of nitrifying activity by higher FA concentrations （up to 6.5 mg/L） in the process. Reject water from sludge treatment from the Tallinn Wastewater Treatment Plant was used as substrate in the MBBR. The performance of high-surfaced biocarriers taken from the nitritating activity MBBR was further studied in batch tests to investigate nitritation and nitrification kinetics with various FA concentrations and temperatures. The maximum nitrite accumulation ratio （96.6%） expressed as the percentage of NO 2 ？ -N/NOx ？ -N was achieved for FA concentration of 70 mg/L at 36°C. Under the same conditions the specific nitrite oxidation rate achieved was 30 times lower than the specific nitrite formation rate. It was demonstrated that in the biofilm system, inhibition by FA combined with the optimization of the main control parameters is a good strategy to achieve nitritating activity and suppress nitrification.

Effects of C/N ratio on nitrate removal and floc morphology of autohydrogenotrophic bacteria in a nitrate-containing wastewater treatment process

The effects of C/N ratio of a nitrate-containing wastewater on nitrate removal performed by autohydrogenotrophic bacteria as well as on the morphological parameters of floc such as floc morphology, floc number distribution, mean particle size（MPS）, aspect ratio and transparency were examined in this study. The results showed that the nitrate reduction rate increased with increasing C/N ratio from 0.5 to 10 and that the nitrogen removal of up to 95% was found at the C/N ratios of higher than 5（between 0.5–10）. Besides, high C/N ratio values reflected a corresponding high nitrite accumulation after 12-hr operation, and a fast decreasing rate of nitrite in the rest of operational time. The final p H values increased with the C/N ratio increasing from 0.5 to 2.5, but decreased with the C/N ratio increasing from2.5 to 10. There were no significant changes in floc morphology with the MPSs ranging from35 to 40 μm. Small and medium-sized flocs were dominant in the sludge suspension, and the number of flocs increased with the increasing C/N ratios. Furthermore, the highest apparent frequency of 10% was observed at aspect ratios of 0.5 and 0.6, while the transparency of flocs changed from 0.1 to 0.7.

Production of N2O in two biologic nitrogen removal processes： a comparison between conventional and short-cut Nitrogen removal processes

The N2O production in two nitrogen removal processes treating domestic wastewater was investigated in laboratory-scale aerobic-anoxic sequencing batch reactors （SBRs）. Results showed that N2O emission happened in the aerobic phase rather than in the anoxic phase. During the aerobic phase, the nitrogen conversion to N2O gas was 27.7% and 36.8% of NH＋-N loss for conventional biologic N-removal process and short-cut biologic N-removal process. The dissolved N2O was reduced to N2 in the anoxic denitrification phase. The N2O production rate increased with the increasing of nitrite concentration and ceased when NH＋-N oxidation was terminated. Higher nitrite accumulation resulted in higher NEO emission in the short-cut nitrogen removal process. Pulse-wise addition of 20 mg NO2 -N. L- 1 gave rise to 3-fold of N2O emission in the conventional N-removal process, while little change happened with 20 mg NOS-N L-1 was added to SBR1.

Aerobic N_2O emission for activated sludge acclimated under different aeration rates in the multiple anoxic and aerobic process

Nitrous oxide（N_2O） is a potent greenhouse gas that can be emitted during biological nitrogen removal. N_2O emission was examined in a multiple anoxic and aerobic process at the aeration rates of 600 m L/min sequencing batch reactor（SBRL） and 1200 m L/min（SBRH）.The nitrogen removal percentage was 89% in SBRLand 71% in SBRH, respectively. N_2O emission mainly occurred during the aerobic phase, and the N_2O emission factor was 10.1%in SBRLand 2.3% in SBRH, respectively. In all batch experiments, the N_2O emission potential was high in SBRLcompared with SBRH. In SBRL, with increasing aeration rates, the N_2O emission factor decreased during nitrification, while it increased during denitrification and simultaneous nitrification and denitrification（SND）. By contrast, in SBRHthe N_2O emission factor during nitrification, denitrification and SND was relatively low and changed little with increasing aeration rates. The microbial competition affected the N_2O emission during biological nitrogen removal.