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Enrichment of Anammox Biomass from Different Seeding Sludge: Process Strategy and Microbial Diversity

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Abstract

The current study aims to tackle one of the main obstacles in the application of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Anammox) technology, i.e., the extreme slow growth of the Anammox bacteria. Three conventional sludge has been tested in sequencing batch reactor for Anammox enrichment, including conventional aerobic sludge, denitrification sludge, and anaerobic sludge. With a high selection stress and insufficient oxygen control, the reactor seeded with aerobic sludge reached 50–60% total nitrogen removal after 240 days whereas that seeded with anaerobic sludge failed to establish Anammox activity. Anammox process was successfully established in the reactor seeded with denitrification sludge with a total nitrogen removal of approximately 80% after 150 days under strict oxygen control (DO <0.2 mg/L) and low selection stress. Under the same operational condition, the reactor seeded with anaerobic sludge reached only 20–30% total nitrogen removal. All the reactors experienced fluctuating performances during the enrichment process, which was believed to be the consequence of inhibitory factors such as dissolved oxygen, nitrite and free ammonia as well as undesirable coexisting bacteria which compete for the same substrate. The denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) band from the amplified DNA samples extracted from different enrichment stage showed a clear evolution of the microbial composition as reflected by the change in the band locations and their intensity.

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Acknowledgements

This research was carried out in the framework of the Project “Modular photo-biologic reactor for bio-hydrogen: application to dairy waste—RE-MIDA” by the Agriculture Department of the Campania Region in the context of the Programme of Rural Development 2007–2013, Measure 124. The authors would also like to acknowledge the Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate Programme ETeCoS3 (Environmental Technologies for Contaminated Solids, Soils and Sediments) under the EU grant agreement FPA No 2010-0009.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, via Di Biasio 43, 03043, Cassino, FR, Italy

    Zhiji Ding & Giovanni Esposito

  2. Division of Microbiology, Department of Agriculture, University of Naples Federico II, Via Università 100, 80055, Portici, Naples, Italy

    Valeria Ventorino & Olimpia Pepe

  3. Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, via Claudio 21, 80125, Naples, Italy

    Antonio Panico & Francesco Pirozzi

  4. Laboratoire Géomatériaux et Environnement (EA 4508), Université Paris-Est, UPEM, 77454, Marne-la-Vallée, France

    Eric D. van Hullebusch

  5. Groupement de Recherche Eau Sol Environnement, Université de Limoges, 123 Av. Albert Thomas, 87060, Limoges, France

    Isabelle Bourven & Gilles Guibaud

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  1. Zhiji Ding
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  2. Valeria Ventorino
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Correspondence to Zhiji Ding.

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Ding, Z., Ventorino, V., Panico, A. et al. Enrichment of Anammox Biomass from Different Seeding Sludge: Process Strategy and Microbial Diversity. Water Air Soil Pollut 228, 10 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-016-3181-8

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