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Influence of wastewater composition on nitrogen and phosphorus removal and process control in A2O process

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Abstract

A bench-scale anaerobic–anoxic–oxic (A2O) bioreactor with steady denitrifying phosphorus removal performance was tested to determine the influence of influent C/N ratio (SCOD/TN) and C/P ratio (SCOD/TP) on biological nutrient removal for treating synthetic brewage wastewater; meanwhile, the spatial profiles of DO, pH and ORP sensors in such systems were investigated. The results showed that influent C/N ratio had significant effect on the TN, TP removal efficiencies and the ratio of anoxic to aerobic P uptake amount. The maximal TN and TP removal efficiencies could be achieved when influent C/N ratio was kept at about 7.1 and 5, respectively. Besides, the ratio of anoxic to aerobic P uptake amount was found to be linearly dependent on the influent C/N ratio with coefficient R 2 of 0.685 when total recirculation ratio was constant at 3.5. Influent C/P ratio had an important effect on the TP removal efficiency, while it hardly affected TN removal efficiency. In addition, the TP removal efficiency reached the maximum for influent C/P ratio of 42. On the other hand, it was also found that the typical profiles of DO, pH and ORP sensors could be observed, and they have similar trends at the different influent C/N ratio and C/P ratio. It was suggested that the operational state could be well known according to the changes of simple on-line sensors.

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Abbreviations

A2O:

anaerobic–anoxic–oxic

PAOs:

polyphosphate-accumulating organisms

DNPAOs:

denitrifying phosphate-accumulating organisms

BNR:

biological nutrient removal

EBPR:

enhanced biological phosphorus removal

PHB:

poly-β-hydroxybutyrate

MCRT:

mean sludge retention time (days)

HRT:

hydraulic retention time (h)

UCT:

University of Cape Town

MLSS:

mixed liquid suspended solid concentration (g/L)

DO:

dissolved oxygen concentration (mg/L)

SCOD:

soluble chemical oxygen demand (mg/L)

ORP:

oxidation–reduction potential

GAOs:

glycogen-accumulating organisms

VFA:

volatile fat acid

C/N:

the ratio of soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) to total nitrogen (TN) for influent wastewater

C/P:

the ratio of soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) to total phosphorus (TP) for influent wastewater

WWTPs:

wastewater treatment plants

NO x :

nitrate and nitrite

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Key Interational Cooperative Project of NSFC (50521140075), the Key Projects under the National High Technology Research and Development Program (863 Program) of China (2003AA601010) and the project of National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (20377003).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Beijing for Water Environment Recovery, Beijing University of Technology, Pingleyuan 100, Chaoyang District, 100022, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Wang Xiaolian, Peng Yongzhen & Wang Shuying

  2. School of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, 202 Haihe Road, 150090, Harbin, Heilongjiang, People’s Republic of China

    Fan Jie & Cao Xuemei

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  1. Wang Xiaolian
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  2. Peng Yongzhen
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  3. Wang Shuying
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  4. Fan Jie
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  5. Cao Xuemei
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Correspondence to Peng Yongzhen.

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Xiaolian, W., Yongzhen, P., Shuying, W. et al. Influence of wastewater composition on nitrogen and phosphorus removal and process control in A2O process. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 28, 397–404 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-006-0044-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-006-0044-5

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