The efficient utilization of thiocyanate on simultaneous removal of ammonium and nitrate through thiosulfate-driven autotrophic denitrifiers and anammox

The efficient utilization of thiocyanate remain be an important bottleneck in the low-cost nitrogen removal for wastewaters containing thiocyanate. The study aimed to investigate the feasibility of thiocyanate in removal of nitrate and ammonium through anammox (AN) and thiosulfate-driven autotrophic denitrifiers (TSAD). The results showed that removal of nitrate and ammonium were achieved rapidly utilizing thiocyanate, which was attributed to degradation of thiocyanate by TSAD and cooperation with AN. The utilization efficiency of thiocyanate in nitrogen removal was increased by 250% due to the microbial cooperation. Excess thiocyanate and ammonium did not influence the nitrogen removal amount. However, the nitrogen removal were affected obviously by the biomass ratio (XAN/XTSAD) between AN and TSAD Moreover, the dynamics related to removal of pollutants was described successfully by a modified Monod model with time constraints. These findings offer an insight for efficient utilization of thiocyanate in nitrogen removal via microbial cooperation.

Automated summary

This study aimed to explore the feasibility of utilizing thiocyanate for the removal of nitrate and ammonium through anammox (AN) and thiosulfate-driven autotrophic denitrifiers (TSAD). The results showed that the efficient removal of nitrate and ammonium was achieved by the degradation of thiocyanate by TSAD and the cooperation with AN. The microbial cooperation increased the utilization efficiency of thiocyanate in nitrogen removal by 250%. The findings provide insight into the efficient utilization of thiocyanate in nitrogen removal through microbial cooperation.