Anoxic phosphorus removal in a pilot scale anaerobic-anoxic oxidation ditch process

The anaerobic-anoxic oxidation ditch(A^(2)/O OD)process is popularly used to eliminate nutrients from domestic wastewater.In order to identify the existence of denitrifying phosphorus removing bacteria(DPB),evaluate the contribution of DPB to biological nutrient removal,and enhance the denitrifying phosphorus removal in the A^(2)/O OD process,a pilot-scale A^(2)/O OD plant(375 L)was conducted.At the same time batch tests using sequence batch reactors(12 L and 4 L)were operated to reveal the significance of anoxic phosphorus removal.The results indicated that:The average removal efficiency of COD,NH^(+)_(4),PO^(3–)_(4),and TN were 88.2%,92.6%,87.8%,and 73.1%,respectively,when the steady state of the pilotscale A^(2)/O OD plant was reached during 31–73 d,demonstrating a good denitrifying phosphorus removal performance.Phosphorus uptake took place in the anoxic zone by poly-phosphorus accumulating organisms NO^(-)_(2) could be used as electron receptors in denitrifying phosphorus removal,and the phosphorus uptake rate with NO^(-)_(2) as the electron receptor was higher than that with NO^(–)_(3) when the initial concentration of either NO^(-)_(2) or NO^(–)_(3) was 40 mg/L.

Characteristics of anoxic phosphors removal in sequence batch reactor

The characteristics of anaerobic phosphorus release and anoxic phosphorus uptake were investigated in sequencing batch reactors using denitrifying phosphorus removing bacteria （DPB） sludge. The lab-scale experiments were accomplished under conditions of various nitrite concentrations （5.5, 9.5, and 15 mg/L） and mixed liquor suspended solids （MLSS） （1844, 3231, and 6730 mg/L）. The results obtained confirmed that nitrite, MLSS, and pH were key factors, which had a significant impact on anaerobic phosphorus release and anoxic phosphorus uptake in the biological phosphorous removal process. The nitrites were able to successfully act as electron acceptors for phosphorous uptake at a limited concentration between 5.5 and 9.5 mg/L. The denitrification and dephosphorous were inhibited when the nitrite concentration reached 15 mg/L. This observation indicated that the nitrite would not inhibit phosphorus uptake before it exceeded a threshold concentration. It was assumed that an increase of MLSS concentration from 1844 mg/L to 6730 mg/L led to the increase of denitrification and anoxic P-uptake rate. On the contrary, the average P-uptake/N denitrifying reduced from 2.10 to 1.57 mg PO4^3--P/mg NO3^--N. Therefore, it could be concluded that increasing MLSS of the DEPHANOX system might shorten the reaction time of phosphorus release and anoxic phosphorus uptake. However, excessive MLSS might reduce the specific denitrifying rate. Meanwhile, a rapid pH increase occurred at the beginning of the anoxic conditions as a result of denitrification and anoxic phosphate uptake. Anaerobic P release rate increased with an increase in pH. Moreover, when pH exceeded a relatively high value of 8.0, the dissolved P concentration decreased in the liquid phase, because of chemical precipitation. This observation suggested that pH should be strictly controlled below 8.0 to avoid chemical precipitation if the biological denitrifying phosphorus removal capability is to be studied accurately.

Effect of carbon source and nitrate concentration on denitrifying phosphorus removal by DPB sludge

Effect of added carbon source and nitrate concentration on the denitrifying phosphorus removal by DPB sludge was systematically studied using batch experiments, at the same time the variation of ORP was investigated. Results showed that the denitrifying and phosphorus uptake rate in anoxic phase increased with the high initial anaerobic carbon source addition. However once the initial COD concentration reached a certain level, which was in excess to the PHB saturation of poly-P bacteria, residual COD carried over to anoxic phase inhibited the subsequent denitrifying phosphorus uptake. Simultaneously, phosphate uptake continued until all nitrate was removed, following a slow endogenous release of phosphate. High nitrate concentration in anoxic phase increased the initial denitrifying phosphorus rate. Once the nitrate was exhausted, phosphate uptake changed to release. Moreover, the time of this turning point occurred later with the higher nitrate addition. On the other hand, through on-line monitoring the variation of the ORP with different initial COD concentration, it was found ORP could be used as a control parameter for phosphorus release, but it is impossible to utilize ORP for controlling the denitrificaion and anoxic phosphorus uptake operations.