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Comparison of biological removal via nitrite with real-time control using aerobic granular sludge and flocculent activated sludge

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Abstract

The process of nitrification–denitrification via nitrite for nitrogen removal under real-time control mode was tested in two laboratory-scale sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) with flocculent activated sludge (R1) and aerobic granular sludge (R2) to compare operational performance and real-time control strategies. The results showed that the average ammonia nitrogen, total inorganic nitrogen (TIN), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal during aeration phase were 97.6%, 57.0%, and 90.1% in R2 compared with 98.6%, 48.7%, and 88.1% in R1. The TIN removed in both SBRs was partially due to the presence of simultaneous nitrification–denitrification via nitrite, especially in R2. The specific nitrification and denitrification rates in R2 were 0.0416 mgNH +4 –N/gSS-min and 0.1889 mgNO −X –N/gSS-min, which were 1.48 times and 1.35 times that of R1. The higher rates for COD removal, nitrification, and denitrification were achieved in R2 than R1 with similar influent quality. Dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, and oxidization reduction potential, corresponding to nutrient variations, were used as diagnostic parameters to control the organic carbon degradation and nitrification–denitrification via nitrite processes in both SBRs. The online control strategy of granular SBR was similar to that of the SBR with flocculent activated sludge. However, a unique U-type pattern on the DO curve in granular SBR was different from SBR with flocculent activated sludge in aerobic phase.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Foundation for Author of National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation of the P.R. China (FANEDD, no. 200544), and the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education, Ministry of Education of the P. R. China (20092302110059), Heilongjiang Natural Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scientists (JC200909), and the Scientific Research Foundation for the Innovative Talents, Harbin City Government (2007RFLXS002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University, 26 Hexing Road, Harbin, 150040, Heilongjiang Province, People’s Republic of China

    Dawen Gao, Xiangjuan Yuan & Hong Liang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, People’s Republic of China

    Dawen Gao

  3. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305-4020, USA

    Wei-Min Wu

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  1. Dawen Gao
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  2. Xiangjuan Yuan
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  3. Hong Liang
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  4. Wei-Min Wu
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Correspondence to Dawen Gao.

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Gao, D., Yuan, X., Liang, H. et al. Comparison of biological removal via nitrite with real-time control using aerobic granular sludge and flocculent activated sludge. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 89, 1645–1652 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-010-2950-3

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