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Nutrient removal from low strength domestic wastewater in sequencing batch biofilm reactor.

Nutrient removal was investigated in a packed bed column, which was operated by changing of aerated and non-aerated periods. Good removal efficiencies for nitrogen and phosphorus were obtained at long aeration period. Highest nitrification efficiency was observed in run3 because the aeration period was enough to allow nitrification. NO3 concentration was not significantly changed during the cycle, because of simultaneous denitrification during aerobic stage. Nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiencies reached to 71 and 74% in run3 respectively. Effluent concentrations of TKN, Tot.P, NH4 and NO3 were found as 3.8, 3, 1 and 2.5 mg/l respectively.

Biofilms↗

Development of a real-time control strategy with artificial neural network for automatic control of a continuous-flow sequencing batch reactor.

The purpose of this study is to develop a reliable and effective real-time control strategy by integrating artificial neural network (ANN) process models to perform automatic operation of a dynamic continuous-flow SBR system. The ANN process models, including ORP/pH simulation models and water quality ([NH4(+)-N] and [NOx(-)-N]) prediction models, can assist in real-time searching the ORP and pH control points and evaluating the operation performances of aerobic nitrification and anoxic denitrification operation phases. Since the major biological nitrogen removal mechanisms were controlled at nitrification (NH4(+)-N-->NO2(-)-N) and denitritification (NO2(-)-N-->N2) stages, as well as the phosphorus uptake and release could be completely controlled during aerobic and anoxic operation phases, the system operation performances under this ANN real-time control system revealed that both the aeration time and overall hydraulic retention time could be shortened to about 1.9-2.5 and 4.8-6.2 hrs/cycle respectively. The removal efficiencies of COD, ammonia nitrogen, total nitrogen, and phosphate were 98%, 98%, 97%, and 84% respectively, which were more effective and efficient than under conventional fixed-time control approach.

Ammonia↗

pH and oxidation-reduction potential control strategy for optimization of nitrogen removal in an alternating aerobic-anoxic system.

An alternating aerobic and anoxic (AAA) system is a continuous-flow, activated-sludge process in which the environmental conditions necessary to meet the specific requirements for aerobic nitrification and anoxic denitrification are created. Because of stricter regulations on wastewater effluent and concerns on energy consumption, the process control of the system is now becoming more important. A bench-scale AAA system with different fixed aeration ratios was operated for more than 8 months to evaluate effects of the total cycle time and aeration ratio on the system performance and to develop a feasible control scheme. With supplemental organic addition, the system shows removal efficiencies of 85 to 90% and 78 to 82% for chemical oxygen demand and total nitrogen, respectively. The oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) and pH profiles indicate that the aerobic cycle can be controlled by a control point (ammonia valley) on the pH profile indicating the end of nitrification and the anoxic cycle controlled by another point (nitrate knee) on the ORP profile signifying the end of denitrification. Thus, a dual control strategy with the pH and ORP control points was used for terminating aerobic-anoxic and initiating anoxic-aerobic cycles in an AAA system. The performance of the online control system is excellent, with a significant energy saving (average aeration ratio, fa = 0.23) as compared to the fixed time systems (fa = 0.33 to approximately 0.5).

Ammonia↗

Domestic sewage treatment in a pilot system composed of UASB and SBR reactors.

The results obtained from the operation of a treatment system composed of an anaerobic (up-flow sludge blanket-UASB) reactor followed by an aerobic (sequencing batch-SBR) reactor treating domestic sewage are presented and discussed. The pilot plant was monitored during 6 months, aiming to obtain performance data on organic matter, nitrogen and phosphate removal under different operating conditions. The UASB reactor was operated at a constant hydraulic detention time (0) of 6 h while the SBR performance was monitored in four different duration cycles (24, 12, 6 and 4 h) corresponding to aeration times (AT) of 22, 10, 4 and 2 h, respectively. COD and TSS overall removal efficiencies (Eo) up to 91% and 84%, respectively, were achieved independently on the aeration time applied to the SBR. In respect to nitrification and phosphate removal, AT was found to be a determining operating parameter. TKN removal of approximately 90% was achieved for AT equal to or higher than 10 h; complete nitrification occurred for AT higher than 4 h; significant phosphate removal (72%) occurred only at the AT of 2 h. It was not possible to achieve simultaneous efficient removal of nitrogen and phosphate, under the operating conditions imposed on the treatment system.

Bacteria, Aerobic↗

Effects of cultivation on N2O emission and seasonal quantitative variations of related microbes in a temperate grassland soil.

Laboratory and in situ experiments were done to investigate the influences of cultivation on temperate semi-arid grassland (for 17 years spring wheat planted once every two years without fertilisation) on soil N2O emission and quantitative variations of related soil microbes. In the laboratory (25 degrees C and soil moisture 18%), cultivation increased soil transformations of fertilizer nitrogen (100 micrograms N/g as NaNO3, urea, or as urea with dicyandiamide 1 microgram N/g). The N2O emissions from the cultivated and uncultivated soils with or without nitrogen additions were relatively low, and mainly originated from the nitrification. The soil N2O emission due to cultivation decreased somewhat upon no fertilization or NaNO3 addition, but significantly upon urea addition. The role of dicyandiamide as nitrification inhibitor was only considerable in the cultivated soil, and had small influence on decreasing N2O emission in the two soils. The influence of cultivation on soil N2O emission was also reflected by the number variations of microbes related with soil nitrogen transformation in the two soils. Compared to the uncultivated grassland, in situ ammonifiers and denitrifiers in the cultivated grassland quantitatively averagely increased, and aerobic no-symbiotic azotobacters were quantitatively similar, leading to the continued decrease of organic matter content and the decrease of N2O emission from the cultivated grassland soil.

China↗

State of the art for animal wastewater treatment in constructed wetlands.

Although confined animal production generates enormous per-unit-area quantities of waste, wastewater from dairy and swine operations has been successfully treated in constructed wetlands. However, solids removal prior to wetland treatment is essential for long-term functionality. Plants are an integral part of wetlands; cattails and bulrushes are commonly used in constructed wetlands for nutrient uptake, surface area, and oxygen transport to sediment. Improved oxidation and nitrification may also be obtained by the use of the open water of marsh-pond-marsh designed wetlands. Wetlands normally have sufficient denitrifying population to produce enzymes, carbon to provide microbial energy, and anaerobic conditions to promote denitrification. However, the anaerobic conditions of wetland sediments limit the rate of nitrification. Thus, denitrification of animal wastewaters in wetlands is generally nitrate-limited. Wetlands are also helpful in reducing pathogen microorganisms. On the other hand, phosphorus removal is somewhat limited by the anaerobic conditions of wetlands. Therefore, when very high mass removals of nitrogen and phosphorus are required, pre- or in-wetland procedures that promote oxidation are needed to increase treatment efficiency. Such procedures offer potential for enhanced constructed wetland treatment of animal wastewater.

Animals↗

Dinitrogen oxide detection for process failure early warning systems.

A number of experiments were conducted in order to establish whether the concentration of N2O in the off-gas from an activated sludge pilot plant could be used as a indicator for monitoring the nitrification process and as an early indication of ammonia appearing in the plant effluent. A strong correlation was found between ammonia shock loads and the concentration of N20 in the off-gas from the aeration tank for ammonia shock loads and dissolved oxygen depletion. When subjecting the experimental setup to doses of a nitrification inhibitor (allylthiourea) a similar pattern was seen with a correlation between nitrite build up in the aeration tank and concentration increase of N2O in the off-gas from the aeration tank. The results from this work suggest the concentration and the changes in the concentration of N2O in the exhaust gas from a nitrifying process may be a useful parameter for monitoring nitrifying activated sludge processes.

Ammonia↗

Effect of solids retention time and wastewater characteristics on biological phosphorus removal.

The paper deals with the effect of wastewater, plant design and operation in relation to biological nitrogen and phosphorus removal and the possibilities to model the processes. Two Bio-P pilot plants were operated for 2.5 years in parallel receiving identical wastewater. The plants had SRT of 4 and 21 days, the latter had nitrification and denitrification. The plant with 4 days SRT had much more variable biomass characteristics, than the one with the high SRT. The internal storage compounds, PHA, were affected significantly by the concentration of fatty acids or other easily degradable organics in the wastewater, and less by the plant lay-out. The phosphorus removal is mainly dependent on availability in the wastewater of fatty acids but also by the suspended solids in the effluent, which is higher in the plant with nitrification-denitrification, probably due to a higher SVI or denitrification in the settler. The addition of glucose to the influent seems to have an effect on the performance of the plants similar to that of acetic acid. In spite of great load variations over time to the pilot plants and the different operational modes, the study of population dynamics showed less significant variations with time which has importance in relation to modelling. The overall conclusion of the comparison between the two plants is that the biological phosphorus removal efficiency under practical operating conditions is affected by the SRT in the plant and the wastewater composition. Thus great care should be taken when extrapolating results from one type of plant to another. Indirectly the experiments confirm that results from lab-experiments with artificial wastewater are difficult to extrapolate through modelling to real life wastewater and conditions. The 2.5 years time series can be valuable in verification of models for Nitrogen and Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal.

Bacteria↗

Model-based evaluation of a new upgrading concept for N-removal.

Mathematical modelling is considered a time and cost-saving tool for evaluation of new wastewater treatment concepts. Modelling can help to bridge the gap between lab and full-scale application. Bio-augmentation can be used to obtain nitrification in activated sludge systems with a limited aerobic sludge retention time. In the present study the potential for augmenting the endogenous nitrifying population is evaluated. Implementing a nitrification reactor in the sludge return line fed with sludge liquor with a high ammonia concentration leads to augmentation of the native nitrifying population. Since the behaviour of nitrifiers is relatively well known, a choice was made to evaluate this new concept mainly based on mathematical modelling. As an example an existing treatment plant (WWTP Walcheren, The Netherlands) that needed to be upgraded was used. A mathematical model, based on the TUDP model and implemented in AQUASIM was developed and used to evaluate the potential of this bioaugmentation in the return sludge line. A comparison was made between bio-augmentation and extending the existing aeration basins and anoxic tanks. The results of both modified systems were compared to give a quantitative basis for evaluation of benefits gained from such a system. If the plant is upgraded by conventional extension it needs an increase in volume of about 225%; using a bioaugmentation in the return sludge line the total volume of the tanks needs to be expanded by only 75% (including the side stream tanks). Based on the modelling results a decision was made to implement the bioaugmentation concept at full scale without further pilot scale testing, thereby strongly decreasing the scale-up period for this process.

Ammonia↗

Effects of butachlor on microbial enzyme activities in paddy soil.

This paper reports the influences of the herbicide butachlor (n-butoxymethl-chloro-2', 6'-diethylacetnilide) on microbial respiration, nitrogen fixation and nitrification, and on the activities of dehydrogenase and hydrogen peroxidase in paddy soil. The results showed that after application of butachlor with concentrations of 5.5 micrograms/g dried soil, 11.0 micrograms/g dried soil and 22.0 micrograms/g dried soil, the application of butachlor enhanced the activity of dehydrogenase at increasing concentrations. The soil dehydrogenase showed the highest activity on the 16th day after application of 22.0 micrograms/g dried soil of butachlor. The hydrogen peroxidase could be stimulated by butachlor. The soil respiration was depressed within a period from several days to more than 20 days, depending on concentrations of butachlor applied. Both the nitrogen fixation and nitrification were stimulated in the beginning but reduced greatly afterwards in paddy soil.

Acetanilides↗

Comparison of aerobic and anoxic phosphorus uptake in NDBEPR systems (UCT and ENBNRAS).

Two Nitrification-Denitrification Biological Excess Phosphorus Removal (NDBEPR) systems have been operated for 8.5 months in order to compare their Biological Excess Phosphorus Removal (BEPR) performance. One of these systems, i.e. the University of Cape Town (UCT) system, exhibits mainly aerobic P uptake while the External Nitrification Biological Nutrient Removal Activated Sludge (ENBNRAS) system is characterised by high anoxic P uptake. It was observed that when operating with predominantly aerobic P uptake, the UCT system released more P than the ENBNRAS system, even though it had a lower anaerobic mass fraction. However, when the influent TKN/COD was high, i.e. > 0.1, anoxic P uptake also occurred in the UCT system and P release dropped to lower levels than in the ENBNRAS. Accordingly, P uptake of the UCT system was 5 mg P/l influent higher than that of the ENBNRAS system, when it was predominantly aerobic, but 9 mg P/l influent lower when anoxic P uptake occurred. As a result, the UCT system achieved superior P removal when aerobic P uptake was predominant (23% higher), but when high influent TKN/COD promoted anoxic P uptake the P removal of the UCT system was poorer than that of the ENBNRAS system. This study clearly showed that anoxic P uptake is not beneficial to NDBEPR systems.

Bacteria, Aerobic↗

Investigation of nitrogen removal in a cascaded membrane bioreactor.

Two different plants in different scales were compared. The main characteristic of the plants is the division of the nitrification volume into separate chambers. To gain more information about the internal conversion processes, concentration profiles of COD, NO3-N and NH4-N along the pathway of the waste water were measured. Moreover, the effect of different plant configurations and different operation conditions involving the internal circulation streams on the biological conversion processes were studied. Except for some temporary operation problems, the treatment performance of the plants was very stable and on a high level. There was a high correspondence between the plants. Operation without internal recirculation leads to lower effluent concentrations of ammonium. Beside this, operation of several nitrification chambers instead of only one chamber results in lower ammonium effluent concentrations.

Bioreactors↗

Strategy for nitrogen removal from piggery waste.

This study was conducted with an influent containing about 20% solids, obtainable from scraper type separation resulting in about 40 g/L TCOD and 5.5 g/L TKN, to find an optimum operating condition for nitrogen removal. Both laboratory scale reactors and a full scale treatment plant removed 80 to 90% nitrogen by biological means up to 35 degrees C with 10% by ammonia stripping. The full scale plant however was operated at 35 to 45 degrees C, and at 45 degrees C, 30% nitrogen was removed by biological means, 50% by ammonia stripping, 14% by chemical coagulation and 6% by activated carbon adsorption, respectively. Struvite formation could not be observed at 30 degrees C or higher. Nitrite nitrification and denitrification could save about 35% in tank volume and 50% in carbon requirements at 25 degrees C, respectively. For a complete denitrification with a proper temperature, the influent TCOD/TKN ratio must exceed 6 with oxic/total reactor volume ratio of 0.5. The influent TCOD level or organic load should be lower so as not to increase the reactor temperature above 35 degrees C and avoid nitrification inhibition. The estimated optimum nitrogen loading rates were 0.15 for summer and 0.23 kg TKN/m3/d for winter, respectively. With a cooling facility, the nitrogen loads could be increased to 0.35 kg TKN/m3/d equivalent to an organic loading rate of 2.5 kg COD/m3/d.

Adsorption↗

Community analysis of nitrifying bacteria in an advanced and compact Gappei-Johkasou by FISH and PCR-DGGE.

Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) method with 16S rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes was used for quantitative estimation of ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) in a Johkasou. Although the occupation ratios of AOB and NOB increased as nitrification progressed, about one month later, the occupation ratios decreased, despite showing good nitrification ability. Furthermore, even when urea was added to the feeding wastewater to raise the amount of T-N, the occupation ratios of both nitrifying bacteria remained constant. For further investigation, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) was used to study the community structure of AOB in the Johkasou. As a result, DGGE band patterns and following sequence analysis revealed that the community structure of AOB was complicated and changed during this experiment. It was suggested that even if the occupation ratio of AOB to eubacteria was constant, the majorities of AOB were changed through temperature and load fluctuation. The combination of FISH and PCR-DGGE provides new information that was not available by conventional cultivation-based methods.

Ammonia↗

Performance and membrane fouling in a pilot scale SBR process coupled with membrane.

The performance of the pilot-scale submerged membrane coupled with sequencing batch reactor (SM-SBR) for upgrading effluent quality was investigated in this study. The reactor was operated with 3-hour cycle with alternating anoxic and aerobic conditions to treat organics, nitrogen and phosphate. Despite various influent characteristics, COD removal was always higher than 95%. Sufficient nitrification was obtained within a few weeks after start-up and during the stable period, complete nitrification occurred despite short aeration time. Total nitrogen (TN) removal efficiency was reached up to 85%. Membrane flux was critical for TN removal so that the decrease of flux by membrane fouling led to increase of HRT, and it caused the endogenous respiration of microorganisms such as nitrifying bacteria. The stirred cell test revealed the significant role of the soluble fraction in membrane permeability and dissolved solids played a major role in the short-term fouling mechanism. The cake resistance by the soluble COD fraction of supernatant or soluble microbial products (SMP) was investigated as a major part of total resistance.

Bacteria↗

[Effects of neem seed extracts on nitrogen use efficiency in two different soils].

Incubation test and pot experiments were conducted with haplic luvisols and hydragric anthrosols to study the effects of neem seed extracts (N I, N II) on nitrification and immobilization of ammonium sulfate. N I could significantly inhibit the nitrification of N applied to the two soils. N II was effective in promoting the immobilization of NH4+(-)N. Pot experiments showed that N II could increase the use efficiency of chemical nitrogen significantly in fimic anthrosols.

Azadirachta↗

[The nitrite accumulation in a biological aerobic filter (BAF) and the influences factors].

The nitrite accumulation in a bench-scale biological aerobic filter (BAF) for nitrogen removal was reported in this paper. The influences of operational variables on filter performance and nitrite accumulation were also investigated. The influent loading of NH4+(-)N and TN were 0.26-0.62 kg/(m3.d) and 0.28-0.63 kg/(m3.d) respectively, the hydraulic loading, gas/water ratio and temperature were 1-2 m/h, 3:1 and 20.5 degrees C-26.5 degrees C respectively, the nitrogen removal loading of NH4+(-)N, TN were among 0.15-0.52 kg/(m3.d) and 0.18-0.42 kg/(m3.d) respectively. The nitrite concentrations in the bulk and effluent, the profiles of inorganic nitrogen-compounds, the microbial populations in the reactor and their activity were investigated, suggesting that the nitrite accumulation and shortcut nitrification-denitrification took place in the bioreactor. The mechanism of nitrite accumulation and the influences of operational variables were analyzed. The backwash process was considered as the key influential factor of nitrite accumulation. It was believed that the structure feature and operational pattern were the principal factors that may result in the nitrite accumulation and shortcut nitrification-denitrification occurring in the BAF reactor.

Bacteria↗

Optimum aerobic volume control based on continuous in-line oxygen uptake monitoring.

Dynamic adaptation of the aerated volume to changing load conditions is essential to maximise the nitrogen removal performance and to minimise energy consumption. A control strategy is presented which provides optimum aerobic volume control (OAV-control concept) based on continuous in-line oxygen uptake monitoring. For ammonium concentrations below 1 mg/l the oxygen uptake rate shows a strong and almost linear dependency on the ammonium concentration. Therefore, the oxygen uptake rate is an ideal indicator for the nitrification performance in activated sludge systems. The OAV-control concept provides dynamic variation of the minimum aerobic volume required for complete nitrification and therefore maximises the denitrification performance. In-line oxygen uptake monitoring is carried out by controlling the oxygen concentration in a continuous aerated zone of the aeration tank and measuring the total air flow to the aeration tank. The total air flow to the aeration tank is directly proportional to the current oxygen uptake rate and can therefore be used as an indicator for the required aerobic volume. The instrumentation requirements for installation of the OAV-control are relatively low, oxygen sensors in the aeration tank and an on-line air flow measurement are needed. This enables individual control of aeration tanks operated in parallel at low investment costs. The OAV-control concept is installed at the WWTP Linz-Asten (1 Mio PE) and shows very good results. Full scale results are presented.

Air Movements↗