Effective restoration of partial nitritation and anammox biofilm process by short-term hydroxylamine dosing: Mechanism and microbial interaction

The one-stage partial nitritation and anammox (PN-A) process frequently experiences deterioration from ammonium accumulation and nitrate build-up. In this study, hydroxylamine was dosed to restore the process from deterioration in a continuously aerated PN-A sequencing biofilm batch reactor, and the impact of hydroxylamine on the metabolism of PN-A process was studied. PN-A process was totally restored in 5 days via 10 mg N.L-1 hydroxylamine dosing, reducing nitrate-produced/ammonium-removed ratio from 28.5% to less than 11.0%. hydroxylamine dosing promoted biological production of nitric oxide and nitrous oxide and reduced the production of nitrate in the PN-A process. This study advanced the understanding of the metabolism versatility of hydroxylamine and nitric oxide as well as their function in interaction between aerobic ammonium oxidation bacteria and anaerobic ammonium oxidation bacteria, and proposed the potential application of hydroxylamine dosing in ammonium-contained wastewater treatment.

Automated summary

The addition of hydroxylamine successfully restored the one-stage partial nitritation and anammox process, improving nitrogen removal efficiency and reducing nitrate production ratio.