Study of sulfate-reducing ammonium oxidation process and its microbial community composition

Area of Science:

• Environmental Engineering
• Microbiology
• Wastewater Treatment

Background:

• Simultaneous removal of ammonium and sulfate is crucial for wastewater treatment.
• Conventional methods often struggle with efficient co-removal.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the simultaneous removal of ammonium and sulfate in a self-designed circulating flow reactor.
• To understand the microbial community dynamics and their role in the combined process.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a self-designed circulating flow reactor for combined ammonium oxidation and sulfate reduction.
• Analyzed effluent for removal efficiencies of NH4+-N and SO42-S.
• Characterized the microbial community composition in the sludge reactor.

Main Results:

• Achieved highest removal efficiencies of 92% for NH4+-N and 59.2% for SO42-S.
• Observed the presence of NO2- and NO3- in the effluent, influenced by the N/S ratio.
• Identified Proteobacteria as the dominant functional bacteria responsible for sulfate-reducing ammonium oxidation (SRAO).

Conclusions:

• The developed reactor effectively facilitates simultaneous ammonium and sulfate removal.
• Nitrification-denitrification and SRAO occur concurrently, with Proteobacteria being key players.
• Further research is needed to optimize N/S conversion rates due to process complexity.