Analysis of the Partial Nitrification/Anammox Performance and Microbial Structure of Low C/N Wastewater by A2/O Process

Given the carbon limitation of low C/N wastewater, the improvement of nitrogen-removal efficiency remains a challenging task of municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in China. In this study, a partial nitrification/anammox (PN/A) system was established to facilitate the anaerobic-anoxic-aerobic (A(2)/O) treatment of low C/N (C/N = 3) wastewater with insufficient carbon sources. Effects of dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration and internal reflux ratio on nitrogen-removal efficiency and pathway were investigated. Under the optimal DO (0.5-0.8 mg & BULL;L-1) and internal reflux ratio (250%), the highly efficient NH4+-N removal (97.21%) and TN removal (80.92%) were achieved based on PN/A. Moreover, the relative abundance of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (Nitrosomonas) was 3 times higher than the abundance of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (Nitrospira) in phase V, which was the main cause of PN in the reactor. Anaerobic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (Candidatus Brocadia, Pirellula, and Gemmata) were also found and considered as the key microbes involved in anammox. This study reports that the A(2)/O process can achieve advanced nitrogen removal of low C/N wastewater based on PN/A by optimizing conventional process parameters. The outcomes of this study may provide practical engineering applications as a reference for nitrogen removal based on the A(2)/O process.

Automated summary

Improving nitrogen-removal efficiency is a challenging task for municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in China due to the carbon limitation of low C/N wastewater. This study established a partial nitrification/anammox (PN/A) system to treat low C/N wastewater with insufficient carbon sources using the anaerobic-anoxic-aerobic (A(2)/O) process. The effects of dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration and internal reflux ratio on nitrogen-removal efficiency and pathway were investigated. The results showed that under optimal DO and internal reflux ratio, the PN/A system achieved highly efficient NH4+-N and TN removal rates. The study also identified the key microbes involved in anammox. This study suggests that the A(2)/O process with PN/A can be a practical engineering application for advanced nitrogen removal in low C/N wastewater.