Hydrilla verticillata-Sulfur-Based Heterotrophic and Autotrophic Denitrification Process for Nitrate-Rich Agricultural Runoff Treatment.

Hydrilla verticillata-sulfur-based heterotrophic and autotrophic denitrification (HSHAD) process was developed in free water surface constructed wetland mesocosms for the treatment of nitrate-rich agricultural runoff with low chemical oxygen demand/total nitrogen (C/N) ratio, whose feasibility and mechanism were extensively studied and compared with those of H. verticillata heterotrophic denitrification (HHD) mesocosms through a 273-day operation. The results showed that the heterotrophic and autotrophic denitrification can be combined successfully in HSHAD mesocosms, and achieve satisfactory nitrate removal performance. The average NO3--N removal efficiency and denitrification rate of HSHAD were 94.4% and 1.3 g NO3--N m-3·d-1 in steady phase II (7-118 d). Most nitrate was reduced by heterotrophic denitrification with sufficient organic carbon in phase I (0-6 d) and II, i.e., the C/N ratio exceeded 4.0, and no significant difference of nitrate removal capacity was observed between HSHAD and HHD mesocosms. During phase III (119-273 d), sulfur autotrophic denitrification gradually dominated the HSHAD process with the C/N ratio less than 4.0, and HSHAD mesocosms obtained higher NO3--N removal efficiency and denitrification rate (79.1% and 1.1 g NO3--N m-3·d-1) than HHD mesocosms (65.3% and 1.0 g NO3--N m-3·d-1). As a whole, HSHAD mesocosms removed 58.8 mg NO3--N more than HHD mesocosms. pH fluctuated between 6.9-9.0 without any pH buffer. In general, HSHAD mesocosms were more stable and efficient than HHD mesocosms for NO3--N removal from agricultural runoff during long-term operation. The denitrificans containing narG (1.67 × 108 ± 1.28 × 107 copies g-1 mixture-soil-1), nirS (8.25 × 107 ± 8.95 × 106 copies g-1 mixture-soil-1), and nosZ (1.56 × 106 ± 1.60 × 105 copies g-1 mixture-soil-1) of litter bags and bottoms in HSHAD were higher than those in HHD, which indicated that the combined heterotrophic and autotrophic denitrification can increase the abundance of denitrificans containing narG, nirS, and nosZ, thus leading to better denitrification performance.

Nitrate-rich agricultural runoff treatment by Vallisneria-sulfur based mixotrophic denitrification process.

Vallisneria-sulfur based mixotrophic denitrification (VSMD) process was put forward for the treatment of nitrate-rich agricultural runoff with low COD/TN (C/N) ratio in free water surface constructed wetland mesocosms, whose feasibility and mechanism were thoroughly studied through 273-day operation. The results showed that the average NO3--N removal efficiency and denitrification rate of VSMD mesocosms were 97.7% and 1.5gNO3--Nm-3d-1 under 5.0 or higher C/N ratio conditions in phase II (7-117d), which were similar with those of Vallisneria packed heterotrophic denitrification (VHD) mesocosms. However, VSMD mesocosms with 2.0 average C/N ratio in phase III (118-273d) were more stable and efficient than VHD mesocosms. More than 49.4mg NO3--N was reduced by VSMD mesocosms than that by VHD mesocosms throughout the operation. NO2--N accumulation in phase I (0-6d) had no influence on denitrification performance of VSMD mesocosms. In phase II and III, effluent COD, NH4+-N and NO2--N could meet the Class II standard of Environmental quality for surface water (GB3838-2002) if the experiment was carried out in batch mode. pH in VSMD mesocosms fluctuated between 7.0 and 8.9 throughout the operation without any pH buffer. The abundance of three denitrifying genes coding for nitrate (narG), nitrite (nirS), and nitrous oxide (nosZ) reductases in bottom soil and mixture from litter bags was quantified. VSMD could supply more favorable circumstances for the growth of denitrificans containing narG (3.1×108±7.9×107copiesg-1mixture-1) and nirS (2.1×108±2.0×106copiesg-1mixture-1) in litter bags than VHD, i.e., 8.7×107±1.4×107 and 1.4×108±1.5×107copiesg-1mixture-1 for narG and nirS respectively. Sulfur addition in VSMD mesocosms might increase the abundance of denitrificans containing narG and nirS, thus led to better denitrification performance.

Application of plant carbon source for denitrification by constructed wetland and bioreactor: review of recent development.

Water quality standard for nitrate becomes more and more strict, and the plant carbon source is widely used for denitrification by constructed wetland (CW) and bioreactor. However, the nitrate removal efficiency by different types of plant carbon source are not evaluated comprehensively. Denitrification performance of different plant carbon sources, and the influence of dosing method and pretreatment are thoroughly reviewed in this paper, which aims to investigate the accurate utilization of plant carbon source for nitrogen (as nitrate) removal. It is concluded that plant carbon source addition for all types of CWs and bioreactors can improve the nitrate removal efficiency to some extent, and the dosing method of plant carbon source for denitrification should be further studied and optimized in the future. The popular carbon sources for CW and bioreactor denitrification enhancement are woodchip, chopped macrophytes, crop plants, macrophytes litters, etc. The recommended optimum C:N ratios for CW and bioreactor are 4.0:5.0 and 1.8:3.0, respectively. The physical and biological pretreatments are selected to supply organic carbon for long-term denitrification.

Combined autotrophic nitritation and bioelectrochemical-sulfur denitrification for treatment of ammonium rich wastewater with low C/N ratio.

A novel combined autotrophic nitritation and bioelectrochemical-sulfur denitrification (CANBSD) process was developed for treatment of synthetic ammonium-rich wastewater with low carbon/nitrogen ratio. Total nitrogen removal of the CANBSD was higher than 95 %, the effluent SO4 (2-) was lower than 1280 mg L(-1), and the maximum nitrogen volumetric loading rate was 1.2 kg m(-3) day(-1) when (1) the influent NH4 (+)-N was lower than 1008 mg L(-1), (2) hydraulic retention time was between 3.7 and 32 h, (3) the DO was between 0.5 and 1.2 mg L(-1), (4) the pH was between 7.5 and 8.2, and (5) the temperature was between 28 and 30 °C. Both the NH4 (+)-N removal and conversion to NO2 (-)-N in the nitritation membrane reactor (NMBR) were maintained at about 50 %, and the residual NH4 (+)-N and accumulated NO2 (-)-N were subsequently treated in the bioelectrochemical-sulfur three-dimensional denitrification reactor. The CANBSD energy consumption was 0.13 and 3.4 kWh m(-3), respectively, for influent NH4 (+)-N of 100 and 1000 mg L(-1). The energy consumption of CANBSD was close to that of partial nitritation-ANNMMOX.

Comparison of the MBBR denitrification carriers for advanced nitrogen removal of wastewater treatment plant effluent.

The moving bed biofilm reactors (MBBRs) were used to remove the residual NO3(-)-N of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent, and the MBBR carriers for denitrification were compared. The results showed that high denitrification efficiency can be achieved with polyethylene, polypropylene, polyurethane foam, and haydite carriers under following conditions: 7.2 to 8.0 pH, 24 to 26 °C temperature, 12 h hydraulic retention time (HRT), and 25.5 mg L(-1) external methanol dosage, while the WWTP effluent total nitrogen (TN) was between 2.6 and 15.4 mg L(-1) and NO3(-)-N was between 0.2 and 12.6 mg L(-1). The MBBR filled with polyethylene carriers had higher TN and NO3(-)-N removal rate (44.9 ± 19.1 and 83.4 ± 13.0%, respectively) than those with other carriers. The minimum effluent TN and NO3(-)-N of polyethylene MBBR were 1.6 and 0.1 mg L(-1), respectively, and the maximum denitrification rate reached 23.0 g m(-2) day(-1). When chemical oxygen demand (COD)/TN ratio dropped from 6 to 4, the NO3(-)- N and TN removal efficiency decreased significantly in all reactors except for that filled with polyethylene, which indicated that the polyethylene MBBR can resist influent fluctuation much better. The three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix analysis showed that all the influent and effluent of MBBRs contain soluble microbial products (SMPs)-like organics and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), which can be removed better by MBBRs filled with haydite and polyethylene carriers. The nitrous oxide reductase (nosZ)-based terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis suggested that the dominant bacteria in polyethylene MBBR are the key denitrificans.