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Updated: Jan 21, 2026

Electrochemically and Bioelectrochemically Induced Ammonium Recovery
Published on: January 22, 2015
Modelling of simultaneous nitrogen and thiocyanate removal through coupling thiocyanate-based denitrification with
Xueming Chen1, Linyan Yang2, Jing Sun3
1Process and Systems Engineering Center (PROSYS), Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, 2800, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark.
Abstract:
Thiocyanate (SCN-)-based autotrophic denitrification (AD) has recently been demonstrated as a promising technology that could be integrated with anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Anammox) to achieve simultaneous removal of nitrogen and SCN-. However, there is still a lack of a complete SCN--based AD model, and the potential microbial competition/synergy between AD bacteria and Anammox bacteria under different operating conditions remains unknown, which significantly hinders the possible application of coupling SCN--based AD with Anammox. To this end, a complete SCN--based AD model was firstly developed and reliably calibrated/validated using experimental datasets. The obtained SCN--based AD model was then integrated with the well-established Anammox model and satisfactorily verified with experimental data from a system coupling AD with Anammox. The integrated model was lastly applied to investigate the impacts of influent NH4+-N/NO2--N ratio and SCN- concentration on the steady-state microbial composition as well as the removal of nitrogen and SCN-. The results showed that the NH4+-N/NO2--N ratio in the presence of a certain SCN- level should be controlled at a proper value so that the maximum synergy between AD bacteria and Anammox bacteria could be achieved while their competition for NO2- would be minimized. For the simultaneous maximum removal (>95%) of nitrogen and SCN-, there existed a negative relationship between the influent SCN- concentration and the optimal NH4+-N/NO2--N ratio needed.
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