Partial Nitrification and Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal in a Sequencing Batch Reactor Treating High-Strength Wastewater

Xiaojun Feng, Yishi Qian, Peng Xi, Rui Cao, Lu Qin, Shengwei Zhang, Guodong Chai, Mengbo Huang, Kailong Li, Yi Xiao, Lin Xie, Yuxin Song and Dongqi Wang
Additional contact information
Xiaojun Feng: Xi’an Modern Chemistry Research Institute, Xi’an 710065, China
Yishi Qian: Xi’an Modern Chemistry Research Institute, Xi’an 710065, China
Peng Xi: Xi’an Modern Chemistry Research Institute, Xi’an 710065, China
Rui Cao: Department of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, China
Lu Qin: Department of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, China
Shengwei Zhang: Department of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, China
Guodong Chai: Department of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, China
Mengbo Huang: Department of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, China
Kailong Li: Department of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, China
Yi Xiao: Department of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, China
Lin Xie: Department of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, China
Yuxin Song: Department of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, China
Dongqi Wang: Department of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 9, 1-16

Abstract: Complex and high levels of various pollutants in high-strength wastewaters hinder efficient and stable biological nutrient removal. In this study, the changes in pollutant removal performance and microbial community structure in a laboratory-scale anaerobic/aerobic sequencing batch reactor (SBR) treating simulated pre-fermented high-strength wastewater were investigated under different influent loading conditions. The results showed that when the influent chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN), and orthophosphate (PO 4 3− -P) concentrations in the SBR increased to 983, 56, and 20 mg/L, respectively, the COD removal efficiency was maintained above 85%, the TN removal efficiency was 64.5%, and the PO 4 3− -P removal efficiency increased from 78.3% to 97.5%. Partial nitrification with simultaneous accumulation of ammonia (NH 4 + -N) and nitrite (NO 2 − -N) was observed, which may be related to the effect of high influent load on ammonia- and nitrite-oxidising bacteria. The biological phosphorus removal activity was higher when propionate was used as the carbon source instead of acetate. The relative abundance of glycogen accumulating organisms (GAOs) increased significantly with the increase in organic load, while Tetrasphaera was the consistently dominant polyphosphate accumulating organism (PAO) in the reactor. Under high organic loading conditions, there was no significant PAO–GAO competition in the reactor, thus the phosphorus removal performance was not affected.

Keywords: high-strength wastewater; partial nitrification; enhanced biological phosphorus removal; polyphosphate accumulating organisms; nitrifying bacteria (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/9/5653/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/9/5653/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:9:p:5653-:d:809646

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().