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.

A Model for Predicting the Erosion Rate Induced by the Use of a Selective Catalytic Reduction Denitrification Technology in Cement Kilns Flue Gas

Selective catalytic reduction(SCR)is a technology by which nitrogen oxides are converted with the aid of a catalyst into diatomic nitrogen and water.It is known that the catalyst can be easily eroded if a cement kiln with a high-dust content is considered.To understand this process,numerical simulations have been carried out considering a single catalyst channel in order to study the collision and erosion of fly ash and catalysts at meso scale.Based on a response surface methodology,the effects of five factors on the erosion rate have been studied,namely,the catalyst particle velocity,the particle size,the particle concentration,the incidence angle and the catalyst porosity.The results show that the influence of particle velocity,particle size and particle concentration is statistically significant and the particle size and incidence angle have a significant effect on the erosion rate.A quadratic polynomial prediction model for the erosion rate of honeycomb catalysts in cement kiln SCR reactors is finally proposed to support the future optimization of these systems.

Influence of Pyrolytic Biochar on Settleability and Denitrification of Activated Sludge Process

Biochar is a massively produced by-product of biomass pyrolysis to obtain renewable energy and has not been fully used. Incomplete separation of sludge and effluent and insufficient denitrification of sewage are two of main factors that influence the efficiency of activated sludge process. In this work, we proposed a new utilization of biochar and investigated the effect of biochar addition on the performance of settleability and denitrification of activated sludge. Results show that the addition of biochar can improve the settleability of activated sludge by changing the physicochemical characteristics of sludge （e.g., flocculating ability, zeta-potential, hydrophobicity, and extracellular polymeric substances constituents）. Moreover, the dissolved organic carbon released from biochar obtained at lower pyrolysis temperature can improve the nitrate removal efficiency to a certain extent.

Denitrification potential enhancement by addition of external carbon sources in a pre-denitrification process

The aim of this study is to investigate the denitrification potential enhancement by addition of external carbon sources and to estimate the denitrification potential for the predenitrification system using nitrate utilization rate （NUR） batch tests. It is shown that the denitrification potential can be substantially increased with the addition of three external carbon sources, i.e. methanol, ethanol, and acetate, and the denitrification rates of ethanol, acetate, and methanol reached up to 9.6, 12, and 3.2 mgN/（g VSS.h）, respectively, while that of starch wastewater was only 0.74 mgN/（g VSS,h）. By comparison, ethanol was found to be the best external carbon source. NUR batch tests with starch wastewater and waste ethanol were carried out. The denitfification potential increased from 5.6 to 16.5 mg NO3-N/L owing to waste ethanol addition. By means of NUR tests, the wastewater characteristics and kinetic parameters can be estimated, which are used to determine the denitrification potential of wastewater, to calculate the denitrification potential of the plant and to predict the nitrate effluent quality, as well as provide information for developing carbon dosage control strategy.

Correlation of anaerobic ammonium oxidation and denitrification

The feasibility of the nitrous organic wastewater treated was studied in seven anaerobic sequencing batch reactors（ASBRs） （0^#-6^#） which had been run under stable anaerobic ammonium oxidation （Anammox）. By means of monitoring and data analysis of COD, NH4^#-N, NO2^--N, NO3^--N and pH, and of microbial test, the results revealed that the optimal Anammox performance was achieved from 2^# reactor in which COD/NH4^＋ -N was 1.65, Anammox bacteria and denitrification bacteria could coexist, and Anammox reaction and denitrification reaction could occur simultaneously in the reactors. The ratio of NH4^＋-N consumed ： NO2^- -N consumed ： NO3^- -N produced was 1：1.38：0.19 in 0^# reactor which was not added glucose in the wastewater. When different ratio of COD and NH4^＋-N was fed for the reactors, the ratio of NO2^- -N consumed： NH4^＋-N consumed was in the range of 1.51-2.29 and the ratio of NO;-N produced： NH4^＋ -N consumed in the range of 0 -0.05.

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.

Influence of the wastewater composition on denitrification and biological P-removal in the S-DN-P process: (c) Dissolved and undissolved substrates

The denitdfication and P-removal in the sorption-denitrification-P-removal （S-DN-P） process were carded out under various wastewater compositions. It is noted that P-removal largely depends on the wastewater composition as well to the quantity of the substrates present in wastewater fraction. Three different wastewater fractions are obtained as： raw wastewater, dissolved wastewater （obtained with filtration using 0.45 μm filter）, and undissolved wastewater （i.e., infiltrate obtained by above filtration）. The ratio of P-release/CODtotal-consumption clearly inferred that undissolved wastewater possess very low value i.e., 0.0008 followed by raw wastewater 0.008 and dissolved wastewater 0.03. When this ratio was nearby 0.01, enhanced P-removal was observed. Moreover, the ratio of P-uptake to NO3^--N decomposition for raw wastewater was two times for dissolved wastewater. Interestingly, it was observed that the P-removal and denitrification depend not only on the dissolved substrates but also the undissolved substrates present in the wastewater. The result of the P-removal obtained with this S-DN-P process did not show a big difference of 36%, 34% and 30%, respectively, for raw, dissolved and undissolved wastewater.

Denitrification Potential of Marsh Soils in Two Natural Saline-alkaline Wetlands

Little information is available on denitrification potential of marsh soils in natural saline-alkaline wetlands. The denitrification potentials of an open wetland in the floodplain(Erbaifangzi wetland) and a closed wetland(Fulaowenpao wetland) in backwater areas in Jilin Province of Northeast China were monitored by an anaerobic incubation at 30℃ for 25 days. Our results showed that the relative denitrification index(RDI) increased gradually with incubation time, and showed a rapid increase in the first 5 days of incubation. The RDI values declined quickly from surface soils to subsurface soils and then kept a small change in deeper soils along soil profiles over the incubation time. Denitrification proceeded much faster in the top 20 cm soils of open wetland than in the closed wetland, whereas no significant differences in RDI values were observed in deeper soils between both wetlands. The RDIs were significantly negatively correlated with bulk density and sand content, while a significantly positive correlation with clay content, soil organic matter, total nitrogen and phosphorous. The maximum net NO–3-N loss through denitrification in 1 m depth were higher in the open wetland than the closed wetland with higher soil pH values. Future research should be focused on understanding the influencing mechanisms of soil alkalinity.

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.

Simultaneous desulfurization and denitrification of sintering flue gas via composite absorbent

Experiments on simultaneous absorption of SO_2 and NO_X from sintering flue gas via a composite absorbent NaClO_2/NaClO were carried out. The effects of various operating parameters such as NaClO_2 concentration(ms), NaClO concentration(mp), molar ratio of NaClO_2/NaClO(M), solution temperature(TR), initial solution pH, gas flow(Vg) and inlet concentration of SO_2(CS) and NO(CN) on the removal efficiencies of SO_2 and NO were discussed. The optimal experimental conditions were determined to be initial solution pH = 6, TR=55 °C and M = 1.3 under which the average efficiencies of desulfurization and denitrification could reach99.7% and 90.8%, respectively. Moreover, according to the analysis of reaction products, it was found that adding NaClO to NaClO_2 aqueous solution is favorable for the generation of ClO_2 and Cl_2 which have significant effect on desulfurization and denitrification. Finally, engineering experiments were performed and obtained good results demonstrating that this method is practicable and promising.

Effect of carbon source on the denitrification in constructed wetlands

The ability of constructed wetlands with different plants in nitrate removal were investigated. The factors promoting the rates of denitrification including organic carbon, nitrate load, plants in wetlands, pH and water temperature in field were systematically investigated. The results showed that the additional carbon source （glucose） can remarkably improve the nitrate removal ability of the constructed wetland. It demonstrated that the nitrate removal rate can increase from 20% to more than 50% in summer and from 10% to 30% in winter, when the nitrate concentration was 30-40 rag/L, the retention time was 24 h and 25 mg/L dissolved organic carbon （DOC） was ploughed into the constructed wetland. However, the nitrite in the constructed wetland accumulated a little with the supply of the additional carbon source in summer and winter, and it increased from 0.15 to 2 mg/L in the effluent. It was also found that the abilities of plant in adjusting pH and temperature can result in an increase of denitrification in wetlands. The seasonal change may also impact the denitrification.

Nitrite Accumulation during the Denitrification Process in SBR for the Treatment of Pre-treated Landfill Leachate

The nitrite accumulation in the denitrification process is investigated with sequencing batch reactor （SBR） treating pre-treated landfill leachate in anoxic/anaerobic up-flow anaerobic sludge bed I（UASB）. Nitrite accumulates obviously at different initial nitrate concentrations （64.9,54.8,49.3 and 29.5 mg·L^-1 ） and low temperatures, and the two break points on the oxidation-reduction potential （ORP） profile indicate the completion of nitrate and nitrite reduction. Usually, the nitrate reduction rate is used as the sole parameter to characterize the denitrification rate, and nitrite is not even measured. For accuracy, the total oxidized nitrogen （nitrate ＋ nitrite） is used as a measure, though details characterizing the process may be overlooked. Additionally, batch tests are conducted to investigate the effects of C/N ratios and types of carbon sources on the nitrite accumulation during the denitrification. It is observed that carbon source is sufficient for the reduction of nitrate to nitrite, but for further reduction of nitrite to nitrogen gas, is deficient when C/N is below the theoretical critical level of 3.75 based on the stoichiometry of denitrification. Five carbon sources used in this work, except for glucose, may cause the nitrite accumulation. From experimental results and cited literature, it is concluded that Alcaligene species may be contained in the SBR activated-sludge system.

Denitrification Losses and N_2O Emissions from Nitrogen Fertilizer Applied to a Vegetable Field

A field experiment was conducted on Chinese cabbage （Brassica campestris L. ssp. pekinensis （Lour.） Olsson） in a Nanjing suburb in 2003. The experiment included 4 treatments in a randomized complete block design with 3 replicates： zero chemical fertilizer N （CK）; urea at rates of 300 kg N ha^-1 （U300） and 600 kg N ha^-1 （U600）, both as basal and two topdressings; and polymer-coated urea at a rate of 180 kg N ha^-1 （PCU180） as a basal application. The acetylene inhibition technique was used to measure denitrification （N2 ＋ N2O） from intact soil cores and N2O emissions in the absence of acetylene. Results showed that compared to （3K total denitrification losses were significantly greater （P ≤ 0.05） in the PCU180, U300, and U600 treatments,while N2O emissions in the U300 and U600 treatments were significantly higher （P ≤ 0.05） than （3K. In the U300 and U600 treatments peaks of denitrification and N2O emission were usually observed after N application. In the polymer-coated urea treatment （PCU180） during the period 20 to 40 days after transplanting, higher denitrification rates and N2O fluxes occurred. Compared with urea, polymer-coated urea did not show any effect on reducing denitrification losses and N2O emissions in terms of percentage of applied N. As temperature gradually decreased from transplanting to harvest, denitrification rates and N2O emissions tended to decrease. A significant （P ≤0.01） positive correlation occurred between denitrification （r = 0.872） or N2O emission （r = 0.781） flux densities and soil temperature in the CK treatment with a stable nitrate content during the whole growing season.

The integration of methanogenesis with denitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation in an expanded granular sludge bed reactor

The integration of methanogenesis with denitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation(ANAMMOX) was studied in an expanded granular sludge bed(EGSB) reactor in this work. Experimental results from the continuous treatment of wastewater with nitrite and ammonium, which lasted for 107 days, demonstrated that wastewater with high nitrite and ammonium could be anaerobically treated in an expanded granular sludge bed reactor. More than 91% to 97% of COD were removed at up to about 3.9 g COD/(L·d) of COD volumetric loading rate. More than 97% to 100% of nitrite was denitrified at up to about 0.8 g NO -_2-N/(L·d), which is 16 times higher than that in a conventional activated sludge system with nitrification/denitrification(0.05 gN/(L·d)). No dissimilatory reduction of nitrite to ammonium occurred in the process. However, maximum of about 40% ammonium was found to be lost. Batch tests of 15 days with sludge from the reactor showed that 100% of nitrite was denitrified completely, and about 3% of ammonium was removed when only ammonium (34.3 mg/L) and nitrite(34.3 mg/L) were added into the sludge suspension medium. Furthermore, about 15% of ammonium amounts were lost with organic COD addition. It suggested that the methanogenesis in the system could enhance ANAMMOX because of intermediate hydrogen produced during methanogenesis.

Significance of dredging on sediment denitrification in Meiliang Bay,China:A year long simulation study

An experiment for studying the effects of sediment dredging on denitrification in sediments was carried out through a one-year incubation of undredged （control） and dredged cores in laboratory. Dredging the upper 30 cm of sediment can significantly affect physico-chemical characteristics of sediments. Less degradation of organic matter in the dredged sediments was found during the experiment. Denitrification rates in the sediments were estimated by the acetylene blockage technique, and ranged from 21.6 to 102.7 nmol N2/（g dry weight （dw）-hr） for the undredged sediment and from 6.9 to 26.9 nmol N2/（g dw-hr） for dredged sediments. The denitrification rates in the undredged sediments were markedly higher （p 〈 0.05） than those in the dredged sediments throughout the incubation, with the exception of February 2006. The importance of various environmental factors on denitrification was assessed, which indicated that denitrification was regulated by temperature. Nitrate was probably the key factor limiting denitrification in both undredged and dredged sediments. Organic carbon played some role in determining the denitrification rates in the dredged sediments, but not in the undredged sediments. Sediment dredging influenced the mineralization of organic matter and denitrification in the sediment; and therefore changed the pattern of inherent cycling of nitrogen.

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.

Competition for Single Carbon Source Between Denitrification and Phosphorus Release in Sludge under Anoxic Condition

In order to investigate the competition for carbon source between denitrification and phosphorus release processes,simultaneous phosphorus release and denitrification in sludge operated in anoxic,aerobic mode are investigated by varying the ratio of influent COD to nitrogenous compound concentration under anoxic condition using a lab-scale sequencing batch reactor（SBR）.The results show that the nitrate reduction rate is nearly independent of the ratio of influent COD to nitrate under anoxic condition.More NOx^--N in the influent leads to less PO4^3--P release during the feeding period.However, PO4^3--P release proceeds at a low rate simultaneously with denitrification even when the influent NOx^--N concentration is as large as 20 mg·L^-1and its rate is increased obviously when NOx^--N is denitrified to a concentration lower than 0.5 mg·L^-1.The variation of pH during anoxic period gives some information about the biochemical reactions of denitrification and PO4^3--P release.When more nitrate is present in the influent,more acetate uptake in feeding period is used for direct microorganism growth.

Anammox transited from denitrification in upflow biofilm reactor

Anammox was successfully transited from heterotrophic denitrification and autotrophic denitrification in two upflow biofilm reactors, respectively. The results showed that the volumetric loading rate and nitrogen removal efficiency in the reactor transited from heterotrophic denitrification were higher than that in its counterpart. When the hydraulic retention time was 12 h or so, the total nitrogen loading rate was about 0.609 kg N/(m3·d), and the effluent ammonia and nitrite concentrations were less than 8.5 mg/L and 2.5 mg/L, respectively. The upflow anammox biofilm reactor was capable of keeping and accumulating the slow-growing bacteria efficiently. During operation of the reactor, the biomass color was gradually turned from brownish to red, and the ratio of ammonia consumption, nitrite consumption and nitrate production approached the theoretical one. These changes could be used as an indicator for working state of the reactor.

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.