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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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）.

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.

Experimental study on the simultaneous desulfurization and denitrification by duct injection

The highly active absorbent with oxidization based on fly ash, lime and additive was prepared. Experiments of simultaneous desulfurization and denitrification were carried out using fixture bed and duct injection. The influencial factors for the absorptive capacity of the absorbent were studied. The absorptive capacities of 120.7 mg for SO 2 and 43.7 mg for NOx were achieved at a Ca/(S+N) molar ratio 1.2, respectively, corresponding removal efficiencies of 87% and 76%, while spent absorbent appeared in the form of dry powder. The optimal temperature and humidity of flue gas treated with this process were shown to be approximately 50℃, and 5% respectively. The mechanism of removal for SO 2 and NOx was investigated. In comparison with traditional dry FGD, this process appears to have lower cost, less complicated configuration and simpler disposal of used absorbent. The valuable references can be provided for industrial application by this process. The foreground of application will be vast in China and in the world.

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.

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.

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.

Volatile fatty acids carbon source for biological denitrification

In the suspended sludge system, when pH and temperature were suitable and carbon source was not limited, the denitrification and C-uptake rate followed a zero-order reaction. Mixed VFA C-source had higher denitrification rate than single VFA C-source consisting of them. When VFA were used as carbon source, consumed carbon quantity for denitrification was closed to 1. 07 mg VFA-C/mg NO-N. About 20% of the applied C/N was used for assimilative purposes. As rising up influent C/N by increasing the C load ,the sludge yield YN increased. The part of carbon consumption increased and the effluent oxidized nitrogen decreased. At pH 7. 5, 25℃ and sludge yield 0.72 mg VSS/mg NO-N, the calculated influent VFA-C /NO critical value was 1. 43 for complete denitrification.