Treatment of low-C/N nitrate wastewater using a partial denitrification-anammox granule system: Granule reconstruction, stability, and microbial structure analyses.

Industrial wastewater discharged into sewer systems is often characterized by high nitrate contents and low C/N ratios, resulting in high treatment costs when using conventional activated sludge methods. This study introduces a partial denitrification-anammox (PD/A) granular process to address this challenge. The PD/A granular process achieved an effluent TN level of 3.7 mg/L at a low C/N ratio of 2.3. Analysis of a typical cycle showed that the partial denitrification peaked within 15 min and achieved a nitrate-to-nitrite transformation ratio of 86.9%. Anammox, which was activated from 15 to 120 min, contributed 86.2% of the TN removal. The system exhibited rapid recovery from post-organic shock, which was attributed to significant increases in protein content within TB-EPS. Microbial dispersion and reassembly were observed after coexistence of the granules, with Thauera (39.12%) and Candidatus Brocadia (1.25%) identified as key functional microorganisms. This study underscores the efficacy of PD/A granular sludge technology for treating low-C/N nitrate wastewater.

Innovation for continuous aerobic granular sludge process in actual municipal sewage treatment: Self-circulating up-flow fluidized bed process.

Aerobic granular sludge (AGS) capable of nitrogen and phosphorus removal is mainly limited to the applications in sequencing batch reactors. This study introduced an innovative continuous self-circulating up-flow fluidized bed process (Zier process) using separate aeration. The process was composed of an anoxic column (Zier-A), aeration column (Zier-OO) and aerobic column (Zier-O), and was used to treat actual municipal sewage continuously for 170 days. The process achieved self-circulation of 20-32 times and an up-flow velocity within the reactor of 7-16 m/h which were accurately controlled with only separate aeration. The larger proportion of self-circulating multiple times contributed to particle formation and stability, providing hydraulic shear conditions, and screened the precipitation performance of the granular sludge (GS). Meanwhile, the dissolved oxygen (DO) of Zier-O was controlled at 0.1-0.3 mg/L, and the DO of Zier-A input water was zero. The accurate oxygen supply enhanced simultaneous nitrification and denitrification (SND) as well as short-cut nitrification and denitrification in Zier-O and improved the COD utilization rate and the nitrogen removal rate in Zier-A. The COD treatment capacity reached 2.46 kg-COD/(m³·d). With a hydraulic retention time of 10 h, the process consistently ensured that the average concentrations of ammonia nitrogen and total nitrogen in the effluent were maintained below 5 and 15 mg/L, respectively. Moreover, the process maintained the shape and stability of GS, the median diameter of GS ranged between 300-1210 µm, the percentage of mass with particle size distribution < 200 µm at a height of 150 cm within Zier-A and Zier-O accounted for as low as 0.04%-0.05%, and showed good settling performance. The suspended solids in effluent can be maintained at 50-80 mg/L. Overall, the unique structural setting and control method of the Zier process provide another approach for the application of continuous AGS treatment for municipal sewage.

Anammox-Mediated Hydroxyapatite Granules: Physicochemical Properties, 3D Hierarchy, and Biofilm Thickness.

Biomineralization inspired the development of simultaneous biological transformations and chemical precipitation for simultaneous nitrogen removal and phosphorus recovery from wastewater, which could compensate for the incapacity of phosphorus management in the new biological route of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox). In this study, we strengthened anammox-mediated biomineralization by long-term feeding of concentrated N, P, and Ca substrates, and a self-assembled matrix of anammox bacteria and hydroxyapatite (HAP) was fabricated in a granular shape, defined as HAP-anammox granules. HAP was identified as the dominant mineral using elemental analysis, X-ray diffraction, and Raman spectroscopy. The intensive precipitation of HAP resulted in a higher inorganic fraction and substantially improved settleability of anammox biomass, which facilitated HAP precipitation by acting as nucleation and metabolically elevated pH. By using X-ray microcomputed tomography, we visually represented the hybrid texture of interwoven HAP pellets and biomass, the core-shell layered architecture of different-sized HAP-anammox granules, and their homogeneously regulated thickness of the outer biofilm (from 118 to 635 µm). This unique architecture endows HAP-anammox granules with outstanding settleability, active biofilm, and tightly bonded biofilm with the carrier, which may explain the excellent performance of these HAP-anammox granules under various challenging operational conditions in previous studies.

One-stage partial nitrification/anammox system with short sludge retention time and low mixed liquor suspended solids long-term control: Establishment, performance and sludge characteristics.

Anammox is a green, economical and efficient nitrogen removal process. Most successful anammox studies are based on biofilm- or granule-based systems, but pure floc sludge partial nitrification (PN) and anammox (A) systems that are not inoculated with anaerobic ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AnAOB) are rarely reported. If the anammox process occurs in floc-based systems, the large specific surface areas provide more efficient nitrogen removal, and are much more economical in terms of construction and investment. This study investigated the establishment, performance and sludge characteristics of a one-stage PN/A system with pure floc sludge and exhibited a short sludge retention time (SRT) and low mixed liquor suspended solids (SS) content. The experiment was run for approximately 1260 days and divided into five stages based on the SRTs and influent ammonia concentrations treating synthetic wastewater with no organic matter. The results showed that the AnAOB were successfully cultivated and enriched with ordinary nitrification and denitrification sludge, which formed a pure floc-based anammox system with a short SRT (at least 14 days) and a low SS control. The maximum nitrogen removal efficiency and sludge removal loading rate reached 87.1 % and 3.16 kg N/(kg VSS·d) with ammonia loading rates = 0.55 and 0.56 kg-N/(m3·d), dissolved oxygen = 0.2 and 0 mg/L, temperature = 30 and 28 °C, mixed liquor volatile suspended solid (VSS) = 800 and 130 mg/L, free ammonia (FA)/VSS = 3.5 and 47.5 mg NH3-N/g VSS and SRT = 30 and 15 days, respectively. Moreover, the FA/VSS ratio was used to determine the operating performance of the PN/A system, and the thresholds for inhibiting nitrite-oxidizing bacteria and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, including AnAOB, were 0.5-50 and above 50 mg NH3-N/g VSS, respectively. The floc-based one-stage PN/A systems proposed in this study provide reductions in the volumes, and floor areas for the reactor tanks, and in the cost of the carrier.

Anammox upflow hybrid reactor: Nitrogen removal performance and potential for phosphorus recovery.

Echoing to the call of recovering high-value-added chemicals from wastewater and achieving carbon-neutral operation in wastewater treatment, an anammox upflow hybrid reactor was successfully applied for nitrogen removal, and the potential for phosphorus recovery was put forward. Moreover, the spatial pattern of removal capacities, and distribution of biomass and HAP precipitates were recognized and demonstrated as height-oriented. The intensity of HAP precipitates was highly consistent with the amount of anammox biomass and the relative abundance of the Candidatus Kuenenia, indicating that HAP formation was encouraged by the anammox reaction itself and heterogeneous nucleation induced by organic matters (proteins and polysaccharides). The fixed bed also played an important role in immobilizing the anammox biomass, secreted organic matrix, and HAP precipitates. This finding also provoked the thought that in the anammox process, HAP precipitation was more achievable, effective and practicable using the fixed-carrier system.

Multi-Omics Analysis Reveals the Nitrogen Removal Mechanism Induced by Electron Flow during the Start-up of the Anammox-Centered Process.

Significant progress in understanding the key enzymes or species of anammox has been made; however, the nitrogen removal mechanism in complex coupling systems centered on anammox remains limited. In this study, by the combination of metagenomics-metatranscriptomics analyses, the nitrogen removal in the anammox-centered coupling system that entails partial denitrification (PD) and hydrolytic acidification (HA, A-PDHA) was elucidated to be the nitrogen transformation driven by the electron generation-transport-consumption process. The results showed that a total nitrogen (TN) removal efficiency of >98%, with a TN effluence of <1 mg/L and a TN removal contribution via anammox of >98%, was achieved after 59 days under famine operation and alkaline conditions during the start-up process. Further investigation confirmed that famine operation promoted the activity of genes responsible for electron generation in anammox, and increased the abundance or expression of genes related to electron consumption. Alkaline conditions enhanced the electron generation for PD by upregulating the activity of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase and strengthened electron transfer by increasing the gene encoding quinone pool. Altogether, these variations in the electron flow led to efficient nitrogen removal. These results improve our understanding of the nitrogen removal mechanism and application of the anammox-centered coupling systems in treating nitrogen wastewater.

Microbial commensalism-assisted fast acclimation of HAP-anammox granules to dewatered liquid of dry methane fermentation.

The treatment of a dewatered liquid of dry fermentation via the anammox process was investigated in the present study. Fast acclimation was established: within 2-months of operation, nitrogen removal rate reached 5 times (5.5 g-N/L/d) higher than it was at startup, which was achieved by inoculation with cold-stored HAP-anammox granules and inhibition control. The specific anammox activity of the dewatered liquid was highly improved and quite comparable to that of synthetic wastewater. Ca. Kuenenia with the relative abundance of 31.1% was revealed to be the only anammox genre and maintained its dominance throughout the operation. Simultaneously, Ca. D. denitrificans was proliferated, with its relative abundance increasing from 1.5% to 14.9%. The microbial co-occurrence network of HAP-anammox granules developed during the treatment of the dewatered liquid of dry fermentation. The experience of this work provides valuable strategies facilitating fast acclimation of the anammox process for the treatment of high-strength wastewater.

Architecture of HAP-anammox granules contributed to high capacity and robustness of nitrogen removal under 7°C.

The anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) process is an autotrophic nitrogen removal process with great potential as a cost-effective and highly efficient technology in the wastewater treatment field. The main challenges yet to be overcome in this new frontier technology are operating at lower temperatures and achieving a high and stable nitrogen removal efficiency. In this study, an up-flow expanded bed reactor with hydroxyapatite (HAP)-anammox granules was operated for more than 200 days at 7°C. The nitrogen loading rate (NLR) was improved from 1.0 g-N/L/d to 3.6 g-N/L/d, together with a high-level nitrogen removal efficiency of 84-92%, which is the highest to date at extremely low temperatures in a continuous experiment. Candidatus Kuenenia was revealed to be the only dominant anammox genus, with a relative abundance of 35.3-37.5%. The optimal operational temperature was around 35°C and the apparent activation energy (Ea) was calculated as 78.37 kJ/mol. The three-layers architecture and architectural evolution of HAP-anammox granules into HAP-cores and peeling biofilms with outstanding settling performance were characterized. Under 7°C, the high capacity of nitrogen removal with robust removal efficiency using HAP-anammox granules was achieved.

Detailed composition evolution of food waste in an intermittent self-agitation anaerobic digestion baffled reactor.

This study used an intermittent self-agitation anaerobic baffled reactor (SA-ABR) to treat food waste. The organic matter and detailed composition evolution were analyzed under continuous operation. The gas production rate was 2.43 ± 0.18 L-Gas/d/L-Re, and the biogas conversion was 0.94 L-Gas/g-TS. The effluent concentration of total chemical oxygen demand (COD) was 22.5 ± 2.44 g/L, and the removal rate of soluble COD was always over 97%. In this study, the removal rates of carbohydrate, protein, and lipids in the SA-ABR treatment were 95%, 60%, and 85%, respectively, and the concentrations were 0.11 g/L, 0.32 g/L, and 0.33 g/L, respectively. The conversion of soluble organic matter was much higher than that of insoluble substrates. The concentration of soluble pollutants was significantly lower than that of pollutants in suspended matter. The treatment of organic matter in the first half of the SA-ABR was 85-100% that of the entire reactor.

The performance of an anaerobic ammonium oxidation upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor during natural periodic temperature variations.

An anaerobic ammonium oxidation-upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (anammox-UASB) reactor was operated without temperature control during the four seasons and was therefore subjected to natural periodic temperature variations between 9 and 28 ℃. The anammox reactor had a high nitrogen removal ability at intermediate and low temperatures. The total nitrogen (TN) concentration of the influent increased from 200 to 1200 mg/L, the nitrogen removal efficiency was maintained at 90%, and the nitrogen removal rate (NRR) increased to 9.15 ±â€¯0.35 kg N/m3/d. The enrichment of anammox bacteria in the UASB granular sludge reached 53.8%, and the dominant bacteria changed from Candidatus Brocadia to Candidatus Kuenenia after several seasons of cultivation. Dynamics analysis revealed that the maximum reaction rate of the anammox-UASB sludge was 62.5 kg N/m3/d, reflecting the high potential nitrogen removal ability of the reactor.

Greenhouse gas emissions from a sewage contact oxidation emergency treatment plant after destruction by an earthquake and tsunami.

Emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from a full-scale contact oxidation emergency sewage treatment plant (STP) in Japan that was damaged by an earthquake and a tsunami were measured. The open chamber (OC) and closed chamber (CC) methods were used to sample the gases emitted in the aeration tank and the settler, respectively. The dissolved gases were measured using the headspace method, and the major emissions sources in wastewater treatment were identified. The results indicated that the GHG emissions from the wastewater were 58.6 g-CO2/m3 (equivalent per cubic meter of wastewater). The CH4 emissions showed a strong negative correlation with the dissolved oxygen (DO) content. More than 98% of the GHGs were produced and stripped by the aeration tank. The CO2, CH4 and N2O emissions accounted for 73.0% (21,781 mL/m3), 17.1% (669 mL/m3) and 9.9% (10.9 mL/m3), respectively, of all GHG emissions. Approximately 1.06% of the incoming chemical oxygen demand (COD) was emitted as CH4, and 0.147% of the removed nitrogen was emitted as N2O.

Chemical removal of nitrate from water by aluminum-iron alloys.

Zero-valent iron has been intensively investigated in chemical reduction of nitrate in water, but the reduction requires acidic or weak acidic pH conditions and the product of the reduction is exclusively ammonium, an even more toxic substance. Zero-valent aluminum is a stronger reductant than iron, but its use for the reduction of aqueous nitrate requires considerably alkaline pH conditions. In this study, aluminum-iron alloys with an iron content of 10%, 20% and 58% (termed Al-Fe10, Al-Fe20 and Al-Fe58, respectively) were investigated for the reduction of aqueous nitrate. Al-Fe alloys were efficient to reduce nitrate in water in an entire pH range of 2-12 and the reduction proceeded in a pseudo-first order at near neutral pH conditions. The observed reaction rate constant (Kobs) of Al-Fe10 was 3 times higher than that of Fe and the Kobs of Al-Fe20 doubled that of Al-Fe10. The nitrogen selectivity of the reduction by Al-Fe10, Al-Fe20 and Al-Fe58 was 17.6%, 23.9% and 40.3%, respectively at pH 7 and the nitrogen selectivity by Al-Fe20 increased from 18.9% at pH 2-60.3% at pH 12. The enhanced selectivity and reactivity of Al-Fe alloys were likely due to the presence of an intermetallic Al-Fe compound (Al13Fe4).

Effect of viscosity on the mixing efficiency in a self-agitation anaerobic baffled reactor.

One special self-agitation reactor, which does not require a mechanical mixer or other equipment for mixing, has been introduced. Self-agitation is affected by variation in viscosity property. To obtain and research the effect of viscosity on mixing behavior in the self-agitation reactor, Fluent® was used to create numerical simulations and to visualize the fluid flow status. The results show that when the viscosity of the liquid is 1 mPa s, the entire self-agitation results in an almost completely mixed reactor. The substrate becomes difficult to agitate, and the diffusion of the substrate and the tracer become quite after every self-agitation, as the viscosity increases. Once the viscosity is higher than 25 mPa s, the substrate and tracer could not be mixed in the entire reactor, and the reactor is recognized as the combination of several completely mixed reactors between which little exchange of liquid occurs.

Hydraulic characteristics simulation of an innovative self-agitation anaerobic baffled reactor (SA-ABR).

An investigation was conducted on a self-agitation anaerobic baffled reactor (SA-ABR) with agitation caused solely by the release of stored gas. The compound in the reactor is mixed without the use of any mechanical equipment and electricity. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation used to provide details of the flow pattern and information about the agitation process and a solid basis for design and optimization purposes. Every self-agitation cycle could be separated into the pressure energy storage process, the exergonic process and the buffer stage. The reactor is regarded as the combination of continuous stirred tank reactor and a small plug flow reactor. The liquid level and diffusion varies widely depending on the length of the U-tube. The compound transition phenomenon in the 1st chamber mainly occurs during the energy exergonic process and buffer stage. The fluid-diffusion in the 3rd and 4th chambers mainly happens after the buffer period.