[Simultaneous nitrification and denitrification of membrane-aerated biofilm reactor]

A carbon membrane-aerated biofilm reactor was developed to treat municipal wastewater, in which the carbon and nitrogen were removed simultaneously. The results showed that COD removal, NH4+-N removal and TN removal efficiency could reach 82.5%, 95.1% and 84.2%, respectively, under the conditions of intra-membrane pressure of 13.6 kPa, HRT of 14 h, influent COD and NH4+-N concentrations of 338 mg/L and 75 mg/L. However, in the last period during the operation of the reactor, the TN removal efficiency dramatically decreased because of the excessive growth of biomass on the nonwoven fiber, which also had serious negative effect on nitrification course. The microbiological community and spatial profiles were observed by fluorescence in situ hybridization and scanning electron microscopy. The anaerobic and anoxic bacteria were mainly located in the outer anaerobic region of the biofilm, while the aerobic ammonium oxidizing bacteria were mainly located in the inner aerobic region of the biofilm. The co-existing and coupling effect of aerobic nitrifying bacteria and anaerobic denitrifying bacteria provided the large biological potential for the simultaneous nitrification and denitrification in the carbon membrane-aerated biofilm reactor.