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.

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...

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.

Nitrogen removal and simultaneous nitrification and denitrification in a fluidized bed step-feed process

For urban wastewater treatment,we conducted a novel four-stage step-feed wastewater treatment system combined with a fluidized bed laboratory experiment to investigate chemical oxygen demand（COD）,NH4＋-N,and total nitrogen（TN） removal performance.The removal rates of COD,NH4＋-N and TN were 88.2%,95.7%,and 86.4% with e？uent concentrations of COD,NH4＋-N and TN less than 50,8,and 10 mg/L,respectively.Biomass and bacterial activities were also measured,with results showing more nitrobacteria in the activated sludge than in the biofilm;however,bacterial activity of the biofilm biomass and the activated sludge were similar.Nitrogen concentrations during the process were also detected,with simultaneous nitrification and denitrification found to be obvious.

Factors affecting simultaneous nitrification and denitrification in an SBBR treating domestic wastewater

An aerobic sequencing batch biofilm reactor(SBBR)packed with Bauer rings was used to treat real domestic wastewater for simultaneous nitrification and deni-trification.The SBBR is advantageous for creating an anoxic condition,and the biofilm can absorb and store carbon for good nitrification and denitrification.An average concentra-tion of oxygen ranging from 0.8 to 4.0 mg/L was proved very efficient for nitrification and denitrification.Volumetric loads of TN dropped dramatically and effluent TN concentra-tion increased quickly when the concentration of average dissolved oxygen was more than 4.0 mg/L.The efficiency of simultaneous nitrification and denitrification(SND)increased with increasing thickness of the biofilm.The influent concen-tration hardly affected the TN removal efficiency,but the effluent TN increased with increasing influent concentration.It is suggested that a subsequence for denitrification be added or influent amount be decreased to meet effluent quality requirements.At optimum operating parameters,the TN removal efficiency of 74%-82%could be achieved.

Simultaneous nitrification and denitrification in activated sludge system under low oxygen concentration

Simultaneous nitrification and denitrification(SND),which is more economical compared with the tradi-tional method for nitrogen removal,is studied in this paper.In order to find the suitable conditions of this process,a mixed flow activated sludge system under low oxygen concentration is investigated,and some key control parameters are exam-ined for nitrogen removal from synthetic wastewater.The results show that SND is accessible when oxygen concentra-tion is 0.3-0.8 mg/L.The nitrogen removal rate can be obtained up to 66.7%with solids retention time(SRT)of 45 d,C/N value of 10,and F/M ratio of 0.1 g COD/(g MLSS·d).Theoretical analysis indicates that SND is a physical phenomenon and governed by oxygen diffusion in flocs.

Nitrogen and phosphorus removal in pilot-scale anaerobic-anoxic oxidation ditch system

To achieve high efficiency of nitrogen and phosphorus removal and to investigate the rule of simultaneous nitrification and denitrification phosphorus removal （SNDPR）, a whole course of SNDPR damage and recovery was studied in a pilot-scale, anaerobicanoxic oxidation ditch （OD）, where the volumes of anaerobic zone, anoxic zone, and ditches zone of the OD system were 7, 21, and 280 L, respectively. The reactor was fed with municipal wastewater with a flow rate of 336 L/d. The concept of simultaneous nitrification and denitrification （SND） rate （rSND） was put forward to quantify SND. The results indicate that： （1） high nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiencies were achieved during the stable SND phase, total nitrogen （TN） and total phosphate （TP） removal rates were 80% and 85%, respectively; （2） when the system was aerated excessively, the stability of SND was damaged, and rSND dropped from 80% to 20% or less; （3） the natural logarithm of the ratio of NOx to NH4^＋ in the effluent had a linear correlation to oxidation-reduction potential （ORP）; （4） when NO3^- was less than 6 mg/L, high phosphorus removal efficiency could be achieved; （5） denitrifying phosphorus removal （DNPR） could take place in the anaerobic-anoxic OD system. The major innovation was that the SND rate was devised and quantified.

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.

Isolation and characterization of heterotrophic nitrifying bacteria in MBR

The study presented the method for isolating the heterotrophic nitrifiers and the characterization of heterotrophic nitrification. Continuous tests via a membrane bioreactor (MBR) were operated under the controlled conditions to proliferate the nitrifiers. Heterotrophic nitrifying bacteria were isolated from the system in which the efficiency of total nitrogen(TN) removal was up to 80%. Since no autotrophic ammonium and nitrite oxidizers could be detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization(FISH), oxidized-N production was unlikely to be catalyzed by autotrophic nitrifiers during the heterotrophic nitrifiers' isolation in this study. The batch test results indicate that the isolated heterotrophic bacteria were able to nitrify. After 3 weeks incubation, the efficiencies of the COD removal by the three isolated bacterial strains B1, B2, and B3 were 52 6%, 71 7%, and 77 7%, respectively. The efficiencies of the TN removal by B1, B2, and B3 were 35 6%, 61 2% and 68 7%, respectively.

Simultaneous denitrification and denitrifying phosphorus removal in a full-scale anoxic–oxic process without internal recycle treating low strength wastewater

Performance of a full-scale anoxic-oxic activated sludge treatment plant（4.0×10-5 m-3/day for the first-stage project） was followed during a year.The plant performed well for the removal of carbon,nitrogen and phosphorus in the process of treating domestic wastewater within a temperature range of 10.8℃ to 30.5℃.Mass balance calculations indicated that COD utilization mainly occurred in the anoxic phase,accounting for 88.2% of total COD removal.Ammonia nitrogen removal occurred 13.71% in the anoxic zones and 78.77% in the aerobic zones.The contribution of anoxic zones to total nitrogen（TN） removal was 57.41%.Results indicated that nitrogen elimination in the oxic tanks was mainly contributed by simultaneous nitrification and denitrification（SND）.The reduction of phosphorus mainly took place in the oxic zones,51.45% of the total removal.Denitrifying phosphorus removal was achieved biologically by 11.29%.Practical experience proved that adaptability to gradually changing temperature of the microbial populations was important to maintain the plant overall stability.Sudden changes in temperature did not cause paralysis of the system just lower removal efficiency,which could be explained by functional redundancy of microorganisms that may compensate the adverse effects of temperature changes to a certain degree.Anoxic-oxic process without internal recycling has great potential to treat low strength wastewater（i.e.,TN 〈 35 mg/L） as well as reducing operation costs.

Novel strategy of nitrogen removal from domestic wastewater using pilot Orbal oxidation ditch

A pilot-scale Orbed oxidation ditch was operated for 17 months to optimize nitrogen removal from domestic wastewater of average COD to total nitrogen ratio of 2.7, with particular concern about the roles of dissolved oxygen （DO）, mixed liquor suspended solids （MLSS） and return activated sludge （RAS） recycle ratio. Remarkable simultaneous nitrification and denitrification （SND） was observed and mean total nitrogen （TN） removal efficiency up to 72.1% was steadily achieved, at DO concentration in the out, middle and inner channel of 0.1, 0.4 and 0.7 mg/L, respectively, with an average M LSS of 5.5 g/L and RAS recycle ratio of 150%. Although the out channel took the major role in TN removal, the role of middle channel should never be ignored. The denitrification potential could be fully developed under low DO, high MLSS with adequate RAS ratio. The sludge settleability was amazingly improved under low DO operation mode, and some explanations were tried. In addition, a scries of simplified batch tests were done to determine whether novel microorganisms could make substantial contribution to the performance of nitrogen removal. The results indicated that the SND observed in this Orbal oxidation ditch was more likely a physical phenomenon.

Nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria in aerobic granules formed in sequencing batch airlift reactors

The purpose of this study was to investigate nitrifying bacteria and denitrifying bacteria isolated from aerobic granules.Aerobic granules were formed in an internal-circulate sequencing batch airlift reactor(SBAR)and biodegradation of NH_(3)^(−)-N was analyzed in the reactor.Bacteria were isolated and determined from aerobic granules using selected media.The growth properties and morphology of bacteria colonies were observed by controlling aerobic or anaerobic conditions in the culture medium.It was found that bacteria in aerobic granules were diverse and some of them were facultative aerobes.The diversity of bacteria in aerobic granules was a premise of simultaneous nitrification and denitrification.

Nitrogen reduction using bioreactive thin-layer capping(BTC)with biozeolite: A field experiment in a eutrophic river

Bioreactive thin-layer capping（BTC）with biozeolite provides a potential remediation design that can sustainably treat N contamination from sediment and overlying water in eutrophic water bodies.Nitrogen（N）reduction using BTC with biozeolite was examined in a field incubation experiment in a eutrophic river in Yangzhou,Jiangsu Province,China.The biozeolite was zeolite with attached bacteria,including two isolated heterotrophic nitrifiers（Bacillus spp.）and two isolated aerobic denitrifiers（Acinetobacter spp.）.The results showed that the total nitrogen（TN）reduction efficiency of the overlying water by BTC with biozeolite（with thickness of about 2 mm）reached a maximum（56.69%）at day 34,and simultaneous heterotrophic nitrification and aerobic denitrification occurred in the BTC system until day 34.There was a significant difference in the TN concentrations of the overlying water between biozeolite capping and control（t-test;p〈0.05）.The biozeolite had very strong in situ bioregeneration ability.Carbon was the main source of nitrifier growth.However,both dissolved oxygen（DO）and carbon concentrations affected denitrifier growth.In particular,DO concentrations greater than 3 mg/L inhibited denitrifier growth.Therefore,BTC with biozeolite was found to be a feasible technique to reduce N in a eutrophic river.However,it is necessary to further strengthen the adaptability of aerobic denitrifiers through changing domestication methods or conditions.