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Advanced phosphorus recovery using a novel SBR system with granular sludge in simultaneous nitrification, denitrification and phosphorus removal process

  • Biotechnological products and process engineering
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Abstract

In this study, a novel process for phosphorus (P) recovery without excess sludge production from granular sludge in simultaneous nitrification-denitrification and P removal (SNDPR) system is presented. Aerobic microbial granules were successfully cultivated in an alternating aerobic–anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (SBR) for removing P and nitrogen (N). Dense and stable granular sludge was created, and the SBR system showed good performance in terms of P and N removal. The removal efficiency was approximately 65.22 % for N, and P was completely removed under stable operating conditions. Afterward, new operating conditions were applied in order to enhance P recovering without excess sludge production. The initial SBR system was equipped with a batch reactor and a non-woven cloth filter, and 1.37 g of CH3COONa·3H2O was added to the batch reactor after mixing it with 1 L of sludge derived from the SBR reactor to enhance P release in the liquid fraction, this comprises the new system configuration. Under the new operating conditions, 93.19 % of the P contained in wastewater was released in the liquid fraction as concentrated orthophosphate from part of granular sludge. This amount of P could be efficiently recovered in the form of struvite. Meanwhile, a deterioration of the denitrification efficiency was observed and the granules were disintegrated into smaller particles. The biomass concentration in the system increased firstly and then maintained at 4.0 ± 0.15 gVSS/L afterward. These results indicate that this P recovery operating (PRO) mode is a promising method to recover P in a SNDPR system with granular sludge. In addition, new insights into the granule transformation when confronted with high chemical oxygen demand (COD) load were provided.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from the Hundred-Talent Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University, and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (wk2060190040).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China

    Yong-Ze Lu, Hou-Feng Wang & Raymond J. Zeng

  2. Department of Hydraulics, Soil Science and Agricultural Engineering, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Thomas A. Kotsopoulos

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  1. Yong-Ze Lu
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Correspondence to Raymond J. Zeng.

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Lu, YZ., Wang, HF., Kotsopoulos, T.A. et al. Advanced phosphorus recovery using a novel SBR system with granular sludge in simultaneous nitrification, denitrification and phosphorus removal process. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 100, 4367–4374 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-015-7249-y

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