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Biological nitrogen removal with nitrification and denitrification via nitrite pathway

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Abstract

Presently, the wastewater treatment practices can be significantly improved through the introduction of new microbial treatment technologies. To meet increasingly stringent discharge standards, new applications and control strategies for the sustainable removal of ammonium from wastewater have to be implemented. Partial nitrification to nitrite was reported to be technically feasible and economically favorable, especially when wastewater with high ammonium concentrations or low C/N ratios is treated. For successful implementation of the technology, the critical point is how to maintain partial nitrification of ammonium to nitrite. Partial nitrification can be obtained by selectively inhibiting nitrite oxidizing bacteria through appropriate regulation of the system’s DO concentration, microbial SRT, pH, temperature, substrate concentration and load, operational and aeration pattern, and inhibitor. The review addressed the microbiology, its consequences for their application, the current status regarding application, and the future developments.

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Acknowledgements

This research is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation Key International Cooperation project of China (No. 50521140075), National Hi-Tech Development Program “863” project (No. 2004AA601020), and the National Natural Science Foundation (20377003). Give special thanks to Mr. Guo Jianhua for his help in English checking.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, China

    Yongzhen Peng & Guibing Zhu

  2. Research Center for Eco-Environmental Science, China Academy of Science, Shuangqing Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100085, China

    Guibing Zhu

  3. Key Laboratory of Beijing Water Quality Science and Water Environment Recovery Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100022, China

    Yongzhen Peng

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  1. Yongzhen Peng
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Peng, Y., Zhu, G. Biological nitrogen removal with nitrification and denitrification via nitrite pathway. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 73, 15–26 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-006-0534-z

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