Formation and characteristics of nitritation granules cultivated in sequencing batch reactor by stepwise increase of N/C ratio

The cultivation of nitritation granules in sequencing batch reactor (SBR) by seeding conventional floccular activated sludge was investigated using ethanol-based synthetic wastewater. Reducing settling time offers selection pressure for aerobic granulation, and stepwise increase of influent N/C ratio can help to selectively enrich ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in aerobic granules. The spherical shaped granules were observed with the mean diameter of 1.25 mm, average settling velocity of 1.9 cm s(-1) and the sludge volume index (SVI) of 18.5-31.4 ml g(-1). After 25 days of operation, the nitrogen loading rate reached 0.0455 kg NH(4)(+)-N (kg MLSS·d)(-1), which was 4.55 times higher than that of the start-up period. The mature granules showed high nitrification ability. Ammonia removal efficiency was above 95% and nitrite accumulation ratio was in the range of 80-95%. The nitrifying bacteria were quantified by fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis, which indicated that AOB was 14.9 ± 0.5% of the total bacteria and nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) was 0.89 ± 0.1% of the total bacteria. Therefore, AOB was the dominant nitrifying bacteria. It was concluded that the associated inhibition of free ammonia at the start of each cycle and free nitrous acid during the later phase of aeration may be the key factors to start up and maintain the stable nitritation.     

曝气生物滤池去除有机物及氨氮的影响因素分析

采用以陶粒为填料的曝气生物滤池(BAF)处理生活污水,研究气水比、水力负荷、进水COD和NH3-N负荷对BAF去除COD及NH3-N的影响,分析COD及NH3-N沿滤柱的变化规律。结果表明:当试验进水COD及NH3-N质量浓度分别为300~370mg/L和20~40mg/L时,最佳气水比为4∶1~5∶1,最佳水力负荷为1.0~2.0 m3/(m2.h)。当进水COD负荷为1.69~6.47 kg/(m3.d)时,COD去除率与进水COD负荷成正相关。BAF的硝化性能与进水NH3-N和COD负荷成负相关。     

Nitrogen removal from pharmaceutical manufacturing wastewater with high concentration of ammonia and free ammonia via partial nitrification and denitrification.

In this study, laboratory-scale experiments were conducted applying a Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) activated sludge process to a wastewater stream from a pharmaceutical factory. Nitrogen removal can be achieved via partial nitrification and denitrification and the efficiency was above 99% at 23 degrees C+/-1. The experimental results indicated that the nitrite oxidizers were more sensitive than ammonia oxidizers to the free ammonia in the wastewater. The average accumulation rate of nitrite was much higher than that of nitrate. During nitrogen removal via the nitrite pathway, the end of nitrification and denitrification can be exactly decided by monitoring the variation of pH. Consequently, on-line control for nitrogen removal from the pharmaceutical manufacturing wastewater can be achieved and the cost of operation can be reduced.     

低负荷下厌氧氨氧化处理养殖废水的启动研究

厌氧氨氧化作为新型生物脱氮技术其关键在于如何实现厌氧氨氧化反应的启动,现有研究多以模拟废水为研究对象,本文以猪场废水为对象的研究,利用ASBR为反应器,接种反硝化污泥培养厌氧氨氧化细菌,在NH+4-N与NO-2-N浓度均为100 mg/L的条件下,运行125 d,经历启动初期、过渡期、系统稳定运行期三个阶段,厌氧氨氧化反应器中NH+4-N的去除率达91.70%,NO-2-N去除率92.0%;NH+4-N的容积负荷为36.90 mg/L.d,NO-2-N的容积负荷为37.55 mg/(L.d),成功实现了厌氧氨氧化反应器的启动。该研究成果对厌氧氨氧化技术在工程实践的应用具有重要的指导意义。     

Achieving biological nitrogen removal via nitrite by salt inhibition.

The principal aim of this paper is to develop and evaluate an approach to obtain nitrogen removal bypassing nitrate. The method is based on the addition of sodium chloride (NaCI), selective inhibitor of nitrite oxidizers, to influent. Validation of the new method was conducted on laboratory-scale experiments applying the SBR activated sludge process to domestic wastewater with low C/N ratio. With the aerobic-anoxic sequence, three parallel SBRs achieving complete nitrification-denitrification are dosed by a certain concentration of NaCI to influent. The high nitrite accumulation, depending on the salinity in the influent and the application duration of salt, was obtained in SBRs treating saline wastewater. Optimum dosage and application duration of salt, which interact to determine the performance and stabilization of nitrite accumulation, were determined by experiment. In order to evaluate the method, the response of the biological treatment system to salt concentration was also explored. The repeatability of the method was further verified under various operational conditions. Microbial population tests supported the presumption that nitrite oxidizers are inhibited by salt addition and washed out of the system. The presented method is valuable to offer a solution to realize nitrogen removal via nitrite under normal conditions.     

Anammox bacteria enrichment and characterization from municipal activated sludge

A sustainable option for nitrogen removal is the anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing (anammox) process in which ammonium is oxidized to nitrogen gas with nitrite as electron acceptor. Application of this process, however, is limited by the availability of anammox biomass. In this study, two Brocadia-like anammox phylotypes were successfully enriched, detected and identified from an activated sludge taken from a domestic wastewater treatment plant (Minas Gerais, Brazil) employing a Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR). The dominant phylotype was closely related to 'Candidatus Brocadia sinica', but one clone seemed to represent a novel species for which we propose the name 'Candidatus Brocadia brasiliensis'. Based on Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis, this enrichment led to a relative population size of 52.7% (±15.6) anammox bacteria after 6 months of cultivation. The cultivation process can be divided into three phases: phase 1 (approximately 25 days) was characterized by heterotrophic denitrification metabolism, phase 2 was the propagation phase and phase 3 (from the 87th day onwards), in which significant anammox activity was detected. A long-term performance of the SBR showed a near perfect removal of nitrite based on the influent NO(2)(-)-N concentration of 61-95 mg L(-1). The average ammonia removal efficiency was 90% with the influent NH(4)(+)-N concentration of 55-82 mg L(-1). Therefore, anammox cultivation and enrichment from activated sludge was possible under a controlled environment within 3 months.     

Changes of microbial characteristics of retained sludge during low-temperature operation of an EGSB reactor for low-strength wastewater treatment.

In this study, a lab scale EGSB reactor was operated for 400 days to investigate the influence of temperature-decrease on the microbial characteristic of retained sludge. The EGSB reactor was started-up at 15 degrees C seeding with 20 degrees C-grown granular sludge. The influent COD of synthetic wastewater was set at 0.6-0.8 gCOD/L. The process-temperature was stepwise reduced from 15 degrees C to 5 degrees C during 400 days operation. Decrease of temperature of the reactor from 15 degrees C to 10 degrees C caused the decline of COD removal efficiency. However, continuous operation of the EGSB reactor led the efficient treatment of wastewater (70% of COD removal, 50% of methane recovery) at 10 degrees C. We confirmed that the both acetate-fed and hydrogen-fed methanogenic activities of retained sludge clearly increased under 15 to 20 degrees C. Changes of microbial profiles of methanogenic bacteria were analyzed by 16S rDNA-targeted DGGE analysis and cloning. It shows that genus Methanospirillum as hydrogen-utilizing methanogen proliferated due to low temperature operation of the reactor. On the other hand, genus Methanosaeta presented in abundance as acetoclastic-methanogen throughout the experiment.     

Nitrogen removal via ammonia volatilization in maturation ponds.

A simple apparatus was designed to collect ammonia gas coming out from waste stabilization ponds (WSP). The apparatus has a capture chamber and an absorption system, which were optimized under laboratory conditions prior to being used to assess ammonia volatilization rates in a pilot-scale maturation pond during summer 2005. Under laboratory conditions (water temperature = 17.1 degrees C and pH = 10.1), the average ammonia volatilization rate was 2,517 g NH3-N/ha d and the apparatus absorbed 79% of volatilized ammonia. On site, the mean ammonia volatilization rate was 15 g N/ha d, which corresponds to 3% of the total nitrogen removed (531 g N/ha d) in the maturation pond studied. A net nitrogen mass balance showed that ammonia volatilization was not the most important mechanism involved in either total nitrogen or ammonia removal. Nitrogen fractions (suspended organic nitrogen, soluble organic nitrogen, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate) from the M1 influent and effluent showed that ammonia is removed by biological (mainly algal) uptake and total nitrogen removal by sedimentation of dead algal biomass.     

Rapid start-up of a nitrifying reactor using aerobic granular sludge as seed sludge

In this study, the effectiveness of aerobic granular sludge as seed sludge for rapid start-up of nitrifying processes was investigated using a laboratory-scale continuous stirred-tank reactor (CSTR) fed with completely inorganic wastewater which contained a high concentration of ammonia. Even when a large amount of granular biomass was inoculated in the reactor, and the characteristics of influent wastewater were abruptly changed, excess biomass washout was not observed, and biomass concentration was kept high at the start-up period due to high settling ability of the aerobic granular sludge. As a result, an ammonia removal rate immediately increased and reached more than 1.0 kg N/m(3)/d within 20 days and up to 1.8 kg N/m(3)/d on day 39. Subsequently, high rate nitritation was stably attained during 100 days. However, nitrite accumulation had been observed for 140 days before attaining complete nitrification to nitrate. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis revealed the increase in amount of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria which existed in the outer edge of the granular sludge during the start-up period. This microbial ecological change would make it possible to attain high rate ammonia removal.     

Microbial sulphate reduction during anaerobic digestion: EGSB process performance and potential for nitrite suppression of SRB activity.

The present study investigated mesophilic anaerobic treatment of sulphate-containing wastewater in EGSB reactors and assessed the inclusion of nitrite in the reactor influent as a method for control of biological sulphate reduction. Two EGSB reactors, R1 and R2, were operated for a period of 581 days at varying volumetric loading rates, COD/SO4(2-) ratios and influent nitrite concentrations (R2 only). COD removal efficiencies of > 93% were achieved in both reactors at influent sulphate concentrations of up to 3,000 mg l(-1). A two-fold increase in the influent sulphate concentration, giving an influent COD/SO4(2-) ratio of 2, resulted in a reduction in reactor COD removal efficiency to 84% and 89%, in R1 and R2, respectively. Despite inclusion of nitrite in the R2 influent at concentrations up to 500 mg NO2-N l(-1), sulphate reduction proceeded similarly in R2 and R1, suggesting the ineffectiveness of nitrite as a potential inhibitor of SRB     

Denitrification of nitrate-contaminated groundwater using a simple immobilized activated sludge bioreactor

A simple anaerobic-activated sludge system, in which microorganisms are immobilized by a novel functional carrier, was used for removing nitrate in groundwater. The operating conditions, including hydraulic retention time (HRT), C/N ratio, temperature and NO(3)(-)-N loading concentration were investigated. The NO(3)(-)-N concentration, residual chemical oxygen demand (COD) and nitrite accumulation were used as indicators to assess the water quality of the effluent. The anaerobic biomass loading capacity in the carrier was 12.8 g/L and the denitrifying Pseudomonas sp. and Rhodocyclaceae bacterium were dominant among the immobilized microorganisms in the anaerobic-activated sludge. Under operating conditions of HRT= 1.5 h, C/N= 2-3 and T= 16.8-20 °C, the removal efficiency of NO(3)(-)-N exceeded 93%, corresponding to a relatively high denitrification rate of 0.73 kg NO(3)(-)-N m(-3) d(-1), when the NO(3)(-)-N loading concentration was 50 mg/L. The NO(3)(-)-N concentration of the effluent always met regulatory criteria for drinking water (<10 mg/L) in the main developed and developing countries. The effluent COD was also below 10 mg/L. Although some nitrite accumulated (0-1.77 mg/L) during the operating period, it can be decreased through adjusting the operating pH and HRT. The immobilized activated sludge system may be useful for the removal of nitrate from groundwater.     

Use of real-time PCR to examine the relationship between ammonia oxidizing bacterial populations and nitrogen removal efficiency in a small decentralized treatment system 'Johkasou'.

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between ammonia oxidizing bacterial populations and biological nitrogen removal in a small on-site domestic wastewater treatment system "Johkasou". The population dynamics of ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in six full-scale advanced Johkasous was surveyed using real-time PCR assay over a period of one year. These Johkasous were selected to compare the AOB populations in different treatment performance. When the effluent NH4-N concentration was higher than 2 mg L(-1), it was difficult to meet the effluent standard of advanced Johkasous (T-N 10 mg L(-1)). In contrast, the nitrogen removal efficiency was hardly affected by nitrite oxidation and denitrification in these systems. In other words, ammonia oxidation was a rate-limiting step. Furthermore, we focused on the relationship between NH4-N loading per AOB cell and nitrogen removal. Real time PCR monitoring results demonstrated that it is important to regulate NH4-N loading per AOB cell below 210 pg cell(-1) day(-1) to meet the effluent standard of advanced Johkasou. It is considered that NH4-N loading per AOB cell is a useful parameter for determining suitable nitrogen loading and small decentralized system design.     

Development and optimisation of VFA driven DEAMOX process for treatment of strong nitrogenous anaerobic effluents.

The recently proposed DEAMOX (DEnitrifying AMmonium OXidation) process combines the anammox reaction with autotrophic denitrifying conditions using sulphide as an electron donor for the production of nitrite from nitrate within an anaerobic biofilm. This paper firstly presents a feasibility study of the DEAMOX process using synthetic (ammonia + nitrate) wastewater where sulphide is replaced by volatile fatty acids (VFA) as a more widespread electron donor for partial denitrification. Under the influent N-NH+4/N-NO3(-) and COD/N-NO3(-) ratios of 1 and 2.3, respectively, the typical efficiencies of ammonia removal were around 40% (no matter whether a VFA mixture or only acetate were used) for nitrogen loading rates (NLR) up to 1236 mg N/l/d. This parameter increased to 80% by increasing the influent COD/N-NO3(-) ratio to 3.48 and decreasing the influent N-NH4 +/N-NO3(-) ratio to 0.29. As a result, the total nitrogen removal increased to 95%. The proposed process was further tested with typical strong nitrogenous effluent such as reject water (total N, 530-566 mg N/l; total COD, 1530-1780 mg/l) after thermophilic sludge anaerobic digestion. For this, the raw wastewater was split and partially ( approximately 50%) fed to a nitrifying reactor (to generate nitrate) and the remaining part ( approximately 50%) was directed to the DEAMOX reactor where this stream was mixed with the nitrified effluent. Stable process performance up to NLR of 1,243 mg N/l/d in the DEAMOX reactor was achieved resulting in 40, 100, and 66% removal of ammonia, NOx(-), and total nitrogen, respectively.     

Nitrogen removal from the saline sludge liquor by electrochemical denitrification.

Sludge liquor from the sludge dewatering process has a high ammonia content. In the present study, a lab-scale electrochemical (EC) system with a pair of Ti electrode plates was used for treating the sludge centrate liquor of digested wastewater sludge with a NH4(+) - N content of around 500 mg/L. The sludge liquor had a high salinity due to seawater being used for toilet flushing in Hong Kong. The results show that the EC process is highly effective for denitrification of the saline sludge liquor. Complete nitrogen removal could be achieved within 1 hr or so. The rate of EC denitrification increased with the current intensity applied. The best current efficiency for nitrogen removal was obtained for a gap distance between the electrodes at 8 mm. Electro-chlorination was considered to be the major mechanism of EC denitrification. The formation of chlorination by-products (CBPs) appeared to be minimal with the total trihalomethanes (THM) detected at a level of 300 microg/L or lower. The power consumption for EC denitrification was around 23 kWh/kg N. Additional electro-flocculation with a pair of iron needle electrodes could enhance the flocculation and subsequent sedimentation of colloidal organics in the sludge liquor, increasing the organic removal from less than 30% to more than 70%. Therefore, the EC process including both electro-denitrification and electro-flocculation can be developed as the most cost-effective method for treatment of the saline sludge liquor.     

Application of PTFE membrane for ammonia removal in a membrane contactor

The feasibility of a membrane contactor system for ammonia removal was studied. The mass transfer coefficient was used to quantitatively compare the effect of various operation conditions on ammonia removal efficiency. Effective removal of ammonia was possible with a Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane contactor system at all tested conditions. Among the various operation parameters, contact time and solution pH showed significant effect on the ammonia removal mechanism. The overall ammonia removal rate was not affected by influent suspended solution concentration unlike other pressure driven membrane filtration processes. Also the osmotic distillation phenomena which deteriorate the mass transfer efficiency can be minimized by preheating of influent wastewater. A membrane contactor system can be a possible alternative to treat high strength nitrogen wastewater by optimizing operation conditions such as stripping solution flow rate, influent wastewater temperature, and influent pH.     

Degradation of organic matter from domestic wastewater with loofah sponge biofilm reactor

A laboratory-scale oxic biofilm reactor using loofah sponge as support material was carried out to study its start-up characteristics and the optimum operation parameters in removing organic matter and nitrogen from domestic wastewater. It took no more than 10 days to complete microbiological cultivation and acclimation, indicating that the natural loofah sponge was a superior support material compared with some conventional ones. The influence parameter experiments showed that the hydraulic retention time (HRT) had a significant influence on the COD and NH(3)-N removal efficiencies, the average COD and NH(3)-N removal efficiencies were 83.7 and 96.9% respectively when the temperature was 25 ± 2 °C, the influent flow rate was 0.21 L/h and the HRT was 7.5 h. The loofah sponge biofilm system had a strong tolerance to organic shock loading in the present experiment. Additionally, it was found that domestic wastewater could be preferably treated with 88.9% of COD and 98.7% of NH(3)-N removal efficiencies with the corresponding influent concentrations of 260.0 and 26.8 mg/L, respectively. The observations obtained in the present study indicated that the loofah sponge was an excellent natural support material, potentially feasible for the present system for the treatment of the decentralized domestic wastewater.     

Isolation and characterization of a heterotrophic nitrifier from coke plant wastewater

This study investigated some factors affecting ammonium removal and nitrite accumulation by Alcaligenes faecalis C16, which was isolated from the activated sludge of a coking wastewater treatment plant. Nitrite was produced from ammonium only in the presence of citrate, acetate, meat extract, peptone or ethanol. The highest amount of nitrite was found with citrate as carbon source. A. faecalis C16 could not use glucose, fructose, sucrose and methanol. Under the optimum conditions of initial pH 6.0, C/N 14, 30 °C and 120 rpm, a maximum nitrite accumulation of 28.29 mg/L NO(2)(-)-N was achieved when the organism grew with citrate in four days. Nitrite accumulation increased with the increase of NH(4)(+)-N. Furthermore, A. faecalis C16 was shown to have phenol-degrading capacity during ammonium removal. Metabolism of phenol resulted in acidification of the media, which is not favorable for nitrification, whereas many other carbon sources made the medium more alkaline. However, no inhibitory effect by phenol was observed when phenol and acetate were used as mixed carbon source at different phenol/sodium acetate (P/S) ratios and their pH values were all controlled above 9.2 or P/S ratios below 5:5. These results suggested that A. faecalis C16 has some potential application in industrial wastewater treatment systems.     

Anammox process for synthetic and practical wastewater treatment using a novel kind of biomass carriers

The anammox process, as an alternative to conventional nitrogen removal technologies, has abstracted much attention in recent years. In this study, one column-type reactor using a novel support material--net type acrylic fiber (Biofix)--was used for anammox treatment. The Biofix reactor was operated at 25 degrees C (peak summer temperature, 31.5 degrees C). Over 330 days of operation for synthetic wastewater treatment, the nitrogen loading rates of the reactor were increased to 3.6 kg-N/m3/d and T-N removal efficiencies reached to 81.3%. For the practical anaerobic sludge digester liquor treatment, the average TN removal efficiency of 72% was obtained. A protein substance was shown to be the most abundant extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) in the granular sludge with almost two times more in the attached sludge of the Biofix reactor. Considering the EPS levels and observation by scanning electron microscopy, the anammox granules in the Biofix reactor were showing dense state. Results of DNA analyses indicated that the KSU-1 strain might prefer relatively low nutrient levels, while the KU2 strain might be better suited for the high media concentration. Other kinds of bacteria were also identified with the potentials for consuming the dissolved oxygen in the influent and facilitating anammox bacteria surviving under aerobic conditions.     

Anaerobic treatment of a medium strength industrial wastewater at low-temperature and short hydraulic retention time: a pilot-scale experience

The aim of this work was to evaluate the performance of a pilot-scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor during the treatment of cereal-processing industry wastewater under low-temperature conditions (17 degrees C) for more than 300 days. The applied organic loading rate (OLR(appl)) was gradually increased from 4 to 6 and 8 kg COD(sol)/m3d by increasing the influent soluble chemical oxygen demand (COD(sol)), while keeping the hydraulic retention time constant (5.2 h). The removal efficiency was high (82 to 92%) and slightly decreased after increasing the influent COD(sol) and the OLR(appl). The highest removed organic loading rate (OLR(rem)) was reached when the UASB reactor was operated at 8 kg COD(sol)/m3d and it was two times higher than that obtained for an OLR(appl) of 4 kg COD(sol)/m3d. Some disturbances were observed during the experimentation. The formation of biogas pockets in the sludge bed significantly complicated the biogas production quantification, but did not affect the reactor performance. The volatile fatty acids in the effluent were low, but increased as the OLR(appl) increased, which caused an increment of the effluent COD(sol). Anaerobic treatment at low temperature was a good option for the biological pre-treatment of cereal processing industry wastewater.     

Performance of constructed wetland treating wastewater from seafood industry.

Wastewater from seafood industry contains high concentrations of organic matter, nitrogen compounds, and solid matter. Constructed wetland can be used as tertiary treatment and for nutrient recycling. This research studied the performance of nitrogen and suspended solids removal efficiency of a constructed wetland treating wastewater from a seafood-processing factory located at Songkhla, southern Thailand. The existing constructed wetland has dimensions of 85 m, 352 m and 1.5 m in width, length and depth respectively, with an area of about 29,920 m2. The water depth of 0.30 m is maintained in operation with plantation of cattails (Typha augustifolia). Flow rate of influent ranged between 500-4,660 m3/d. Average hydraulic retention time in the constructed wetland was about 4.8 days. Influent and effluent from the constructed wetland were collected once a week and analyzed for pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), Suspended solid (SS), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N), organic nitrogen (Org-N), nitrate (NO3-N), and nitrite (NO2-N). The average removal efficiencies of BOD5, SS, TKN, NH3-N, and Org-N were 84%, 94%, 49%, 52% and 82%, respectively. It was found that the constructed wetland acting as a tertiary treatment process provided additional removal of BOD5, SS and TKN from wastewater from the seafood industry.