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Updated: May 6, 2026

A Novel Bioreactor for High Density Cultivation of Diverse Microbial Communities
Published on: December 25, 2015
Application of membrane bioreactor for completely autotrophic nitrogen removal over nitrite (CANON) process
Xiaojing Zhang1, Dong Li, Yuhai Liang
1State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China.
Abstract:
A membrane bioreactor (MBR) was adopted for completely autotrophic nitrogen removal over nitrite (CANON) process at ambient temperature. CANON was rapidly started-up within around 50d under oxygen-limited condition. The average nitrogen removal rate reached to 0.70kgNm(-3)d(-1) with a removal efficiency of 88%. The ratio of air flow rate to volumetric ammonium loading rate should be maintained below 0.28Lairmin(-1)kg(-1)Nm(3)d for stable CANON. The feasibility of MBR for CANON process was proved in batch experiments. FISH results showed that aerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria predominated in the reactor sludge, whereas anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria predominated in the membrane biofilm. This study demonstrated that MBR was a suitable experimental setup for the operation of CANON process.
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