Effect of low COD/N ratios on stability of single-stage partial nitritation/anammox (SPN/A) process in a long-term operation

This study investigates the effects of varying COD/N ratios on single-stage partial nitritation/anammox (SPN/A) process in a SBR. The operational period was divided into three phases with different influent COD/N ratios (0.4, 0 and 0.5). Stable nitrogen removal was achieved in phase I with a COD/N of 0.4. In phase II COD was absent, effluent nitrite and nitrate increased and nitrogen removal performance gradually deteriorated. In phase III SPN/A failed to recover from nitrate accumulation when COD/N was increased. Microbial activity was measured and microbial community was analyzed by high-throughput sequencing. These results revealed that ordinary heterotrophic organisms (OHO) was suppressed when influent COD was absent, leading to the promotion of nitrification even at a low DO (0.2 mgL(-1)). Therefore, nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) was gradually enriched and anammox bacteria was suppressed. Besides, it was observed that flocs were sensitive to influent COD variations than granules, which requires further investigation.