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Start-up of PN-anammox system under low inoculation quantity and its restoration after low-loading rate shock

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Abstract

Partial nitritation (PN)-anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) is a promising pathway for the biological treatment of wastewater. However, the destruction of the system caused by excessive accumulation of nitrate in long-term operation remains a challenge. In this study, PN-anammox was initialized with low inoculation quantity in an air-lift reactor. The nitrogen removal rate of 0.71 kgN/(m3 · d) was obtained, which was far higher than the seed sludge (0.3 kgN/(m3 · d)). Thereafter, excess nitrate build-up was observed under low-loading conditions, and recovery strategies for the PN-anammox system were investigated. Experimental results suggest that increasing the nitrogen loading rate as well as the concentration of free ammonium failed to effectively suppress the nitrite oxidation bacteria (NOB) after the PN-anammox system was disrupted. Afterwards, effluent back-flow was added into the reactor to control the up-flow velocity. As a result, an aggressive discharge of sludge that promoted the synergetic growth of functional bacteria was achieved, leading to the successful restoration of the PN-anammox system. The partial nitritation and anammox activity were in balance, and an increase in nitrogen removal rate up to 1.07 kgN/(m3 · d) was obtained with a nitrogen removal efficiency of 82.4% after recovery. Besides, the proportion of granular sludge (over 200 µm) increased from 33.67% to 82.82%. Ammonium oxidation bacteria (AOB) along with anammox bacteria were enriched in the granular sludge during the recovery period, which was crucial for the recovery and stable operation of the PN-anammox system.

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Acknowledgements

This research project were financially supported by the Beijing Science and Technology Plan Project (No. Z181100005518003), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51978007) and the National Key Research and Development Plan Project (No. 2016YFC0401103)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Technology, Engineering Research Center of Beijing, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, China

    Guoliang Zhang, Liang Zhang & Yongzhen Peng

  2. Research and Development Center of Beijing Drainage Group Technology, Beijing, 100124, China

    Xiaoyu Han & Shujun Zhang

Authors
  1. Guoliang Zhang
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  2. Liang Zhang
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  3. Xiaoyu Han
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  4. Shujun Zhang
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  5. Yongzhen Peng
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Correspondence to Liang Zhang.

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Highlights

• PN-A was start-up under low inoculation amount and a higher NRR was achieved.

• PN-anammox system was successfully restored by aggressive sludge discharge.

• Increase in granular sludge was the important factor to rapid recovery.

• Enrichment of AOB and AnAOB in granular sludge favors the stable operation.

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Zhang, G., Zhang, L., Han, X. et al. Start-up of PN-anammox system under low inoculation quantity and its restoration after low-loading rate shock. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng. 15, 32 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-020-1324-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-020-1324-z

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