Driven by energy neutral/positive of wastewater treatment plants, significant efforts have been made on the research and development of mainstream partial nitritation and anaerobic ammonium oxidation ...(anammox) (PN/A) (deammonification) process since the early 2010s. To date, feasibility of mainstream PN/A process has been demonstrated and proven by experimental results at various scales although with the low loading rates and elevated nitrogen concentration in the effluent at low temperatures (15–10 °C). This review paper provides an overview of the current state of research and development of mainstream PN/A process and critically analyzes the bottlenecks for its full-scale application. The paper discusses the following: (i) the current status of research and development of mainstream PN/A process; (ii) the interactions among aerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria, aerobic nitrite-oxidizing bacteria, anammox bacteria, and heterotrophic bacteria; (iii) the suppression of aerobic nitrite-oxidizing bacteria; (iv) process and bioreactors; and (v) suggested further studies including efficient and robust carbon concentrating pretreatment, deepening of understanding competition between autotrophic nitrogen-converting organisms, intensification of biofilm anammox activity, reactor design, and final polishing.
Salinity can adversely affect the performance of most biological processes involved in wastewater treatment. The effect of salt on the main conversion processes in an aerobic granular sludge (AGS) ...process accomplishing simultaneous organic matter, nitrogen, and phosphate removal was evaluated in this work. Hereto, an AGS sequencing batch reactor was subjected to different salt concentrations (0.2 to 20 g Cl⁻ l⁻¹). Granular structure was stable throughout the whole experimental period, although granule size decreased and a significant effluent turbidity was observed at the highest salinity tested. A weaker gel structure at higher salt concentrations was hypothesised to be the cause of such turbidity. Ammonium oxidation was not affected at any of the salt concentrations applied. However, nitrite oxidation was severely affected, especially at 20 g Cl⁻ l⁻¹, in which a complete inhibition was observed. Consequently, high nitrite accumulation occurred. Phosphate removal was also found to be inhibited at the highest salt concentration tested. Complementary experiments have shown that a cascade inhibition effect took place: first, the deterioration of nitrite oxidation resulted in high nitrite concentrations and this in turn resulted in a detrimental effect to polyphosphate-accumulating organisms. By preventing the occurrence of the nitrification process and therefore avoiding the nitrite accumulation, the effect of salt concentrations on the bio-P removal process was shown to be negligible up to 13 g Cl⁻ l⁻¹. Salt concentrations equal to 20 g Cl⁻ l⁻¹ or higher in absence of nitrite also significantly reduced phosphate removal efficiency in the system.
Anammox related technologies are currently widely applied for nitrogen removal from sewage sludge digester rejection water. Nevertheless, many aspects of the anammox process like the kinetic ...characteristics and the reaction stoichiometry are still subject of debate. Parameter values reported in literature are often hampered by mass transfer limitation or by the presence of a significant side population. In this study a membrane bioreactor (MBR) based method for growing a highly enriched anammox microbial community is described. The almost pure free-cells suspension of highly active anammox bacteria was used for detailed kinetic and stoichiometric analysis of the anammox process. The anammox culture enriched during this study had a biomass specific maximum growth rate of 0.21 d(-)(1) which is higher than ever reported before in literature. Using an experimental methodology based on imposing dynamic process conditions combined with process modeling and parameter estimation, the intrinsic nitrite half saturation constant was identified to be as low as 35 μg-N L(-)(1). This was confirmed to be an accurate estimation in the pH range of 6.8-7.5.
Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from a fully covered municipal wastewater treatment plant were measured on-line during 16 months. At the plant under study, nitrous oxide contributed ...three-quarters to the plant's carbon footprint, while the methane emission was slightly larger than the indirect carbon dioxide emission related to the plant's electricity and natural gas consumption. This contrasted with two other wastewater treatment plants, where more than 80% of the carbon footprint came from the indirect carbon dioxide emission. The nitrous oxide emission exhibited a seasonal dynamic, of which the cause remains unclear. Three types of air filter were investigated with regard to their effectiveness to remove methane from the off-gas.
The addition of iron is a convenient way for removing phosphorus from wastewater, but this is often considered to limit phosphorus recovery. Struvite precipitation is currently used to recover ...phosphorus, and this approach has attracted much interest. However, it requires the use of enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR). EBPR is not yet widely applied and the recovery potential is low. Other phosphorus recovery methods, including sludge application to agricultural land or recovering phosphorus from sludge ash, also have limitations. Energy-producing wastewater treatment plants increasingly rely on phosphorus removal using iron, but the problem (as in current processes) is the subsequent recovery of phosphorus from the iron. In contrast, phosphorus is efficiently mobilized from iron by natural processes in sediments and soils. Iron–phosphorus chemistry is diverse, and many parameters influence the binding and release of phosphorus, including redox conditions, pH, presence of organic substances, and particle morphology. We suggest that the current poor understanding of iron and phosphorus chemistry in wastewater systems is preventing processes being developed to recover phosphorus from iron–phosphorus rich wastes like municipal wastewater sludge. Parameters that affect phosphorus recovery are reviewed here, and methods are suggested for manipulating iron–phosphorus chemistry in wastewater treatment processes to allow phosphorus to be recovered.
Autotrophic nitrogen removal in the main stream appears as a prerequisite for the implementation of energy autarchic wastewater treatment plants. To investigate autotrophic nitrogen removal a ...lab-scale gas-lift sequencing batch reactor with granular sludge was operated for more than 500 days. The reactor was operated at temperatures between 20 and 10 °C on autotrophic medium with ammonium (60 and 160 mg-N L−1) as only nitrogen compound at an HRT of 0.23–0.3 d. The dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration was shown to be an effective control parameter for the suppression of the undesired nitratation process. DO control guaranteed the effective suppression of the nitratation both at 20 and 15 °C, allowing nitrogen removal rates of 0.4 g-NTot L−1 d−1 at nitrogen removal efficiencies of 85-75%. Prolonged operation at 10 °C caused a slow but unrestrainable decrease in anammox activity and process efficiency. This study represents a proof of concept for the application of the autotrophic nitrogen removal in a single reactor with granular sludge at main stream conditions.
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•Proof of concept: autotrophic N-removal with granules at main stream conditions.•Effective suppression of nitratation at DO up to 2.5 mg-O2 L−1 with NOB presence.•Nitrogen removal rates of 0.4 g-NTot L−1 d−1 with high removal efficiencies.•Decreased anammox activity and process efficiency after prolonged operation at 10 °C.
Over the past twenty years, the knowledge and understanding of wastewater treatment has advanced extensively and moved away from empirically-based approaches to a fundamentally-based first-principles ...approach embracing chemistry, microbiology, and physical and bioprocess engineering, often involving experimental laboratory work and techniques. Many of these experimental methods and techniques have matured to the degree that they have been accepted as reliable tools in wastewater treatment research and practice.
For sector professionals, especially the new generation of young scientists and engineers entering the wastewater treatment profession, the quantity, complexity and diversity of these new developments can be overwhelming, particularly in developing countries where access to advanced level laboratory courses in wastewater treatment is not readily available. In addition, information on innovative experimental methods is scattered across scientific literature and only partially available in the form of textbooks or guidelines. This book seeks to address these deficiencies. It assembles and integrates the innovative experimental methods developed by research groups and practitioners around the world and broadly applied in wastewater treatment research and practice.
Experimental Methods in Wastewater Treatment book forms part of the internet-based curriculum in sanitary engineering at UNESCO-IHE and, as such, may also be used together with video recordings of methods and approaches performed and narrated by the authors, including guidelines on best experimental practices. The book is written for undergraduate and postgraduate students, researchers, laboratory staff, plant operators, consultants, and other sector professionals.
The negative effect of nitrite on anammox activity has been reported widely during the past decade. Although the adverse effect is clear, conflicting reports exist on the level at which it occurs and ...its reversible/irreversible nature. An in depth study on nitrite inhibition therefore was performed in which the influence of environmental factors was evaluated. Anammox activity was measured in anammox granules by continuously monitored standardized manometric batch tests extending the interpretation by evaluation of lag times, maximum conversion rates during the tests and substrates/product conversion ratios. The granules where obtained from a one-stage anammox reactor, the dominant anammox organisms belonged to the Brocadia type. The observed 50% activity inhibition for nitrite (IC50) was 0.4 g N L−1. The activity recovered fully after removal of the nitrite. Conversion in fresh medium after exposure to up to 6 g NO2−–N L−1 for 24 h showed less then 60% loss of activity. Presence of ammonium during nitrite (2 g N L−1) exposure resulted in a stronger loss of activity after nitrite exposure (50% and 30% in presence and absence of ammonium respectively). Presence of oxygen during nitrite incubation led to a maximum activity reduction of 32%. The recovery after exposure indicates that the adverse effect of nitrite is reversible and thus inhibitory rather than toxic in nature. Similarities between exposure at three different pH-values indicate that nitrite rather than nitrous acid is the actual inhibiting compound.
Recently, aerobic granular sludge technology has been scaled-up and implemented for industrial and municipal wastewater treatment under the trade name Nereda®. With full-scale references for ...industrial treatment application since 2006 and domestic sewage since 2009 only limited operating data have been presented in scientific literature so far. In this study performance, granulation and design considerations of an aerobic granular sludge plant on domestic wastewater at the WWTP Garmerwolde, the Netherlands were analysed. After a start-up period of approximately 5 months, a robust and stable granule bed (>8 g L−1) was formed and could be maintained thereafter, with a sludge volume index after 5 min settling of 45 mL g−1. The granular sludge consisted for more than 80% of granules larger than 0.2 mm and more than 60% larger than 1 mm. Effluent requirements (7 mg N L−1 and 1 mg P L−1) were easily met during summer and winter. Maximum volumetric conversion rates for nitrogen and phosphorus were respectively 0.17 and 0.24 kg (m3 d)−1. The energy usage was 13.9 kWh (PE150·year)−1 which is 58–63 % lower than the average conventional activated sludge treatment plant in the Netherlands. Finally, this study demonstrated that aerobic granular sludge technology can effectively be implemented for the treatment of domestic wastewater.
•A robust and stable granule bed of more than 8 g L−1 was formed and maintained with an SVI5 of 45 mL g−1.•The energy usage was 13.9 kWh (PE150, removed year)−1.•The volume needed for the AGS plant was 33% lower than the existing CAS plant.•Maximum volumetric conversion rates for N and P were 0.17 and 0.24 kg (m3 d)−1 respectively.
In a membrane bioreactor (MBR), fast growth of anammox bacteria was achieved with a sludge residence time (SRT) of 12 days. This relatively short SRT resulted in a--for anammox ...bacteria--unprecedented purity of the enrichment of 97.6%. The absence of a selective pressure for settling, and dedicated cultivation conditions led to growth in suspension as free cells and the complete absence of flocs or granules. Fast growth, low levels of calcium and magnesium, and possibly the presence of yeast extract and a low shear stress are critical for the obtainment of a completely suspended culture consisting of free anammox cells. During cultivation, a population shift was observed from Candidatus "Brocadia" to Candidatus "Kuenenia stuttgartiensis." It is hypothesized that the reason for this shift is the higher affinity for nitrite of "Kuenenia." The production of anammox bacteria in suspension with high purity and productivity makes the MBR a promising tool for the cultivation and study of anammox bacteria. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2008;101: 286-294.
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