Synergistic ammonia and nitrate removal in a novel pyrite-driven autotrophic denitrification biofilter
Yanfei Wang1, Guangxue Wu2, Xiaona Zheng1
1Guangdong Provincial Engineering Research Center for Urban Water Recycling and Environmental Safety, International Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518055, PR China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Microorganism Application and Risk Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China.
Abstract:
Pyrite is one kind of cost-effective electron donors for nitrate denitrification. In this study, a pyrite-driven autotrophic denitrification biofilter was applied for simultaneous removal of NH4+ and NO3- over the 150-day. The influent NH4+/NO3- ratio (0.3-1.7) had less effect on system performance, while for the hydraulic retention times (HRTs, 24-3 h), the removal percentage of both > 90% and removal loading rates of 52.8 and 59.4 mg N/(L·d) for NH4+ and NO3- removal were obtained at the HRT of 6 h. The 16S rRNA genes analysis showed that Ferritrophicum, Thiobacillus, Candidatus_Brocadia, and unidentified_Nitrospiraceae were predominant. Analyses of nitrogen and sulfur metabolism showed that ammonia was removed by complete nitrification, nitrate was reduced to N2, and sulfide was oxidized to sulfate. Dynamics of pollutants within the reactor and microbial activity showed nitrification/Anammox and pyrite-driven autotrophic denitrification were responsible for the synergistic removal of NH4+/NO3- in this system.
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