Biological Nitrogen Removal through Nitritation Coupled with Thiosulfate-Driven Denitritation
Jin Qian1,2, Junmei Zhou1,2, Zhen Zhang2,3
1School of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Chengdu University, Sichuan 610106, China.
Scientific Reports
|June 9, 2016
Summary
A new biological nitrogen removal system, Nitritation-TDD, effectively removes nitrogen and reduces sludge. This method uses nitritation and thiosulfate-driven denitritation for efficient wastewater treatment.
Area of Science:
- Environmental biotechnology
- Wastewater treatment engineering
- Microbial ecology
Background:
- Conventional nitrogen removal processes often face challenges with high sludge production and efficiency.
- Developing novel biological systems is crucial for sustainable wastewater management.
- Nitritation coupled with alternative electron donors offers a promising avenue for enhanced nitrogen removal.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and evaluate a novel biological nitrogen removal system combining nitritation and thiosulfate-driven denitritation (Nitritation-TDD).
- To assess the system's efficiency in terms of nitrogen removal rate and sludge production.
- To investigate the microbial community dynamics and sludge characteristics during the process.
Main Methods:
- Implementation of a nitritation sequential batch reactor (SBR) for nitrite accumulation.
- Utilization of an anoxic up-flow sludge bed (AnUSB) reactor for thiosulfate-driven denitritation.
- Analysis of sludge particle size and microbial populations using pyrosequencing.
Main Results:
- Achieved over 75% nitrite accumulation in the nitritation SBR.
- Demonstrated significant reduction in sludge particle size in both reactors.
- Observed a stable ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) population and a decrease in nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) population.
- Identified Thiobacillus as the dominant genus responsible for denitritation, utilizing thiosulfate.
Conclusions:
- The Nitritation-TDD system is effective for high nitrogen removal rates and low sludge production.
- The system promotes nitrite accumulation by suppressing nitrite-oxidizing bacteria.
- Thiobacillus plays a key role in the autotrophic denitritation process.
- Free nitrous acid can directly influence denitritation activity, offering insights for process optimization.
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