Influence of carbon sources on nutrient removal in A2/O-MBRs: Availability assessment of internal carbon source

Systematic review: External carbon source for biological denitrification for wastewater

Nitrogen mitigation is serious environmental issue around the globe. Several methods for wastewater treatment have been introduced, but biological denitrification has been recommended, particularly with addition of the best external carbon source. The key sites of denitrification are wetlands; it can be carried out with different methods. To highlight the aforementioned technology, this paper deals to review the literature to evaluate biological denitrification and to demonstrate cost effective external carbon sources. The results of systematic review disclose the denitrification process and addition of different external carbon sources. The online literature exploration was accomplished using the most well-known databases, that is, science direct and the web of science database, resulting 625 review articles and 3084 research articles, published in peer-reviewed journals between 2015 and 2021 were identified in first process. After doing an in-depth literature survey and exclusion criteria, we started to shape the review from selected review and research articles. A number of studies confirmed that both nitrification and denitrification are significant for biological treatment of wastewater. The studies proved that the carbon source is the main contributor and is a booster for the denitrification. Based on the literature reviewed it is concluded that biological denitrification with addition of external carbon source is cost effective and best option in nitrogen mitigation in a changing world. Our study recommends textile waste for recovery of carbon source.

Advanced nitrogen and phosphorus removal by the symbiosis of PAOs, DPAOs and DGAOs in a pilot-scale A2O/A+MBR process with a low C/N ratio of influent

Cooperating in harmony to avoid competition with dominant functional microbial symbiosis is an efficient way in advanced nitrogen and phosphorus removal in wastewater treatment processes. In this study, a niche-based coordinating strategy was implemented to cooperate in harmony with phosphorus-accumulating organisms (PAOs), denitrifying phosphorus-accumulating organisms (DPAOs) and denitrifying glycogen-accumulating organisms (DGAOs) to advance nitrogen and phosphorus removal based on an anaerobic-anoxic-oxic-anoxic-membrane bioreactor (A²O/A+MBR) under low C/N in municipal wastewater influent. The niche-based strategy was conducted based on the ORP change during the process as an indicator combined with the adjustment of recirculation and anoxic zone shifting. The results indicated that the strategy of the post-anoxic unit could enable significant enhancement of biological nitrogen and phosphorus removal (BNPR) by 9.9% and 16.3%, respectively, with low effluent concentrations of 7.0 ± 2.2 mg N/L and 0.36±0.32 mg P/L. The satisfactory performance was dominated along with the shift in the microbial community: the relative abundance of Tetrasphaera (PAO genus) increased from 0.14±0.08% to 0.32±0.12%, while the relative abundance of Decchloromonas (DGAO genus) and Candidatus Competibacter (DGAO genus) also increased. The advanced combination of anaerobic phosphorus release, anoxic denitrification, denitrifying phosphorus removal and endogenous denitrification was qualified by the modeling simulation of the biochemical kinetics mechanism of activated sludge in the A²O+MBR and A²O/A+MBR processes, which means that cooperation in the harmony of PAOs, DPAOs and DGAOs could be efficiently realized by a promising control strategy to enhance BNPR in an A²O+MBR with a post-anoxic unit. This study provides an efficient and simple novel control strategy to overcome the limitation of traditional nitrogen and phosphorus removal under an insufficient carbon source.

Disintegration of waste sludge as an element bio-circular economy in waste water treatment plant towards carbon recovery for biological nutrient removal

The goal of the study was to evaluate the possibility of use of disintegrated excess sludge to enhance combined biological nutrient removal from wastewater. In the experiment lasting 295 days four runs were performed. Effectiveness of contaminants removal in sequencing batch reactor without and with applying sludge subjected previously to hydrodynamic disintegration at three energy density (Ɛ_L) levels was analysed. It was shown that Ɛ_L is a crucial parameters responsible for the characteristics of disintegrated sludge applied as a carbon source for biological nutrient removal. Using sludge disintegrated at 70 and 210 kJ/L the increase in effectiveness of N and P removal was noted, averagely by 16.1 % (N removal) and 70.3 % (P removal) at Ɛ_L = 70 kJ/L and by 17.8 % and 63.1 % at Ɛ_L = 210 kJ/L. On the contrary, use of sludge disintegrated at Ɛ_L = 280 kJ/L caused decline in N removal by averagely 12.8 %, what was a consequence of nitrification failure.

Fermentation liquid as a carbon source for wastewater nitrogen removal reduced nitrogenous disinfection byproduct formation potentials of the effluent

Sludge alkaline fermentation liquid (SAFL) is an alternative to sodium acetate (NaAc) in enhancing wastewater nitrogen removal. Upon SAFL addition, dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) can be externally introduced or biologically synthesized during nitrogen removal, which is an important precursor to toxic nitrogenous disinfection by-products (N-DBPs). This study aims to evaluate the effects of different carbon source addition on effluent DON concentration, composition, and N-DBP formation potentials. A lab-scale A²O system treating real municipal wastewater was operated with NaAc or SAFL as external carbon sources. DON molecules and potential N-DBP precursors were identified by Orbitrap mass spectrometry. Subsequently, major microorganisms contributing to DON biosynthesis were suggested based on metagenomics. It was found that effluent DON was higher with SAFL as the carbon source than NaAc (1.51 ± 0.24 v.s. 0.56 ± 0.08 mg N/L, p < 0.05). Nevertheless, dichloroacetonitrile and nitrosamine formation potentials (7.14 ± 1.02 and 1.57 ± 0.07 μg/mg DON-N, respectively) of the effluent with SAFL addition were 42.79 ± 2.42% and 54.89 ± 1.70% lower than those of NaAc. Protein- and lignin-like compounds were the most abundant DON molecules in the effluent, where alanine, glycine and tyrosine were important precursors to N-DBPs. Azonexus and Flavobacterium spp. were positively correlated with these precursors, and possessed key genes involved in precursor synthesis. SAFL is a promising carbon source, not only for achieving efficient inorganic nitrogen and DON removals, but also for reducing N-DBP formation potentials of chlorinated effluent.

Enhanced Nutrient Removal in A2N Effluent by Reclaimed Biochar Adsorption

The excessive nitrogen and phosphorus discharged into the water environment will cause water eutrophication and thus disrupt the water ecosystem and even exert biological toxicities. In this study, the absorption removal of nitrogen and phosphorus from the anaerobic tank in an anaerobic−anoxic/nitrifying system using four different kinds of biowaste-reclaimed biochars were investigated and compared. The effects of temperature and pH on nutrient adsorption removal were further investigated. The four kinds of biochar were successfully prepared and well characterized using a scanning electron microscope, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and Brunner−Emmet−Teller methods. Generally, there was no significant change in chemical oxygen demand (COD) and NH4+-N removal efficiencies when treated by the different biochars, while the activated sludge biochar (ASB) displayed the highest total phosphorus (TP) removal efficiency. The initial TP concentrations (<40 mg/L) displayed no remarkable effects on the TP adsorption removal, while the increase of temperature generally enhanced TP and NH4+-N adsorptions on the ASB. Besides, the increase of pH significantly promoted NH4+-N removal but depressed TP removal. Moreover, the adsorption process of TP by the ASB complies with the secondary kinetic model, suggesting the chemical precipitation and physical electrostatic interaction mechanisms of TP adsorption removal. However, the adsorption of NH4+-N conformed to the inner-particle diffusion model, indicating that the NH4+-N adsorption was mainly involved with pore diffusions in the particles.

Treatment of a slaughterhouse wastewater by anoxic-aerobic biological reactors followed by UV-C disinfection and microalgae bioremediation

In this study, removal of organic matter and nitrogen from a cattle slaughterhouse wastewater was investigated in a two-stage anoxic-aerobic biological system, followed by UV-C disinfection. Ecotoxicity of the raw, biotreated, and disinfected wastewater against the microalgae Scenedesmus sp. was evaluated in short-term tests, while the potential of the microalgae as a nutrient removal step was addressed in long-term experiments. Throughout 5 operational phases, the biological system was subjected to gradual reduction of the hydraulic retention time (8-1.5 day), increasing the organic (0.21-1.11 kgCOD·m^-3 ·day^-1 ) and nitrogen (0.05-0.28 kgN·m^-3 · day^-1 ) loading rates. COD and total ammoniacal nitrogen (TAN) removal ranged within 83%-97% and 83%-99%, respectively. While providing alkalinity source, effluent TAN concentrations were below 5 mg·L^-1 . Nitrate was the main nitrification product, while nitrite levels remained low (<1 mgN·L^-1 ). Upon supplementation of external COD as ethanol, total nitrogen removal reached up to 90% at the highest load (0.28 kgN·m^-3 ·day^-1 ). After UV-C treatment, 3-log reduction of total coliforms was attained. The 96-hr ecotoxicity tests showed that all non-diluted samples tested (raw, biologically treated and UV-C irradiated wastewater) were toxic to microalgae. Nevertheless, these organisms were able to acclimate and grow under the imposed conditions, allowing to achieve nitrogen and phosphorous removal up to 99.1% and 43.0%, respectively. PRACTITIONER POINTS: The treatment of a slaughterhouse wastewater in an anoxic-aerobic biological system followed by a UV-C disinfection step was assessed. The pre-denitrification system showed efficient simultaneous removal of organic matter and nitrogen from the wastewater under increasing applied loads. UV-C disinfection worked effectively in reducing coliforms from the biotreated effluent, boosting the performance of microalgae on nutrients removal. Despite the toxicity to microalgae, they were capable to acclimate to the aqueous matrices tested, reducing efficiently the nutrients content. The combined stages of treatment presented great capacity for depleting up to 97% COD, 99% nitrogen, and 43% phosphorous.

Black water collected from the septic tank treated with a living machine system: HRT effect and microbial community structure

In this study, the performance of a living machine (LM) system was evaluated for use in the treatment of black water collected from septic tanks with hydraulic retention times (HRTs) of 6, 5, and 4 days. We found that the HRT had little effect on the removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand (COD). However, the removal rates of total nitrogen (TN) and ammonium nitrogen (NH₄⁺-N) decreased with the reduction of HRT, whereas the removal efficiency of total phosphate (TP) was consistently low because of the long sludge retention time. The working conditions of #1 achieved the highest removal efficiency of COD (85%), NH₄⁺-N (75%), and TN (47%), although the removal efficiency of TP (11%) was slightly lower than that of #2 (12%). The microbial communities in each tank of the LM system were characterized by high-throughput sequencing, which showed that the LM system successfully created more favorable conditions for fermentative bacteria than traditional systems, with relative abundances of 13% (#1), 13% (#2), and 15% (#3) compared to that of the anaerobic/anoxic/oxic (A²O) system (<3%). Smithella was the dominant fermentative bacteria, accounting for 9% (#1), 7% (#2), and 10% (#3) of total bacteria in the LM system. The relative abundances of ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) (12%) and anaerobic ammonium oxidizing bacteria (AnAOB) (7%) in the LM system were much higher than that in the A²O system. Overall, the LM system offered a more sustainable and economical solution for treating black water.

Influence of fermentation liquid from waste activated sludge on anoxic/oxic- membrane bioreactor performance: Nitrogen removal, membrane fouling and microbial community

In order to investigate effects of waste activated sludge (WAS) fermentation liquid on anoxic/oxic- membrane bioreactor (A/O-MBR), two A/O-MBRs with and without WAS fermentation liquid addition were operated in parallel. Results show that addition of WAS fermentation liquid clearly improved denitrification efficiency without deterioration of nitrification, while severe membrane fouling occurred. WAS fermentation liquid resulted in an elevated production of proteins and humic acids in bound extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) and release of organic matter with high MW fractions in soluble microbial product (SMP) and loosely bound EPS (LB-EPS). Measurement of deposition rate and fluid structure confirmed increased fouling potential of SMP and LB-EPS. γ-Proteobacteria and Ferruginibacter, which can secrete and export EPS, were also found to be abundant in the MBR with WAS fermentation liquid. It is implied that when WAS fermentation liquid was applied, some operational steps to control membrane fouling should be employed.