[Enhanced Nutrient Removal and Microbial Community Structure in a Step-feed A2/O Process Treating Low-C/N Municipal Wastewater].

To resolve the issue of insufficient influent carbon sources in existing municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in China, a pilot-scale step-feed A2/O process was used to treat low-C/N (C/N<5) municipal sewage with five different inflow distribution ratios. In this study, the effects of influent flow distribution on the removal efficiencies of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) were investigated. The results showed that optimal removal efficiencies of 89.41% for COD, 95.30% for NH4+-N, 83.00% for TN, and 90.09% for TP were obtained at an inflow QPA:QAN:QA distribution ratio of 0.1:0.2:0.3. The activated sludge exhibited excellent settleability characteristics, showing a sludge volume index (SVI)<120 mL·g-1 with an average volatile suspended solids (VSS) total suspended solids (TSS) ratio of 0.84 (Phase 5), and no filamentous bacteria bulking occurred during the 120-day experiment. Moreover, the microbial community structure in the oxic zone was detected by high-throughput sequencing. The results demonstrated that excellent nutrient removal and sludge settling performance of the system were closely related to the enrichment of six types of heterotrophic bacteria, four types of denitrifying bacteria, five types of polyphosphate-accumulating organisms (PAOs), and two types of zoogloea and the elimination of three types of filamentous bacteria.

Removal of High Concentrations of Ammonium from Groundwater in a Pilot-Scale System through Aeration at the Bottom Layer of a Chemical Catalytic Oxidation Filter.

To remove high concentrations of ammonium from groundwater, pure oxygen and compressed air were fed into a chemical catalytic filter and the ammonium removal efficiency was investigated. The experimental results showed that the oxygen content is the critical limiting factor for ammonium removal. Aeration with 40 mL/min pure oxygen or 100 mL/min compressed air from the bottom of the filter supplied adequate oxygen and approximately 4.2 mg/L of ammonium was removed in this process. Moreover, when the aeration device was moved to 1/3 of the height of the filter bed, the required flow rates of pure oxygen and compressed air decreased further and the turbidity removal was improved. Pouring ozone gas into the filter system, which can inactivate bacteria effectively, can also obtain the remarkable ammonium removal, indicating that ammonium removal was mainly due to the chemical catalytic oxidation in this process rather than the biodegradation. This study provides a novel method for removing high concentrations of ammonium from groundwater.

[Partial Nitrification and Denitrification of Low C/N Ratio Sewage Based on Zoning Oxygen and Dissolved Oxygen Control].

Poor nitrogen removal from municipal sewage is mainly due to insufficient carbon source and low C/N ratio. The A2/O pilot plant was established to investigate the accumulation rate of nitrous nitrogen and the removal of nitrogen pollutants by adjusting the ratio of anoxic/aerobic zoning and dissolved oxygen levels in the aerobic zone. The results showed that when DO is 2.0-2.5 mg·L-1, changing the ratio of anoxic to aerobic zoning had little effect on the reaction system, and it was difficult to realize partial nitrification. When DO is 0.5-0.8 mg·L-1, VAnoxic:VAerobic=1:1, this is the best working condition of the system. The accumulation rate of nitrous nitrogen at the end of aerobic zone is stable at more than 62%, and the total nitrogen of effluent is reduced to 9.0 mg·L-1, which can achieve the goal of deep denitrification. Analyzing the apparent activity of nitrifying bacteria, it was found that the SAOR and SNOR (according to N/VSS calculation) were 0.14 g·(g·d)-1 and 0.04 g·(g·d)-1, respectively, under the optimum conditions. The difference between them was more obvious than that in other stages of the experiment, that is, the higher inhibition of NOB activity was the direct reason for the increase of nitrite accumulation rate. Illumina MiSeq sequencing showed that the number of NOB in this stage was significantly lower than that in other stages. Intermittent OUR method was used to analyze the composition of carbon sources at the inlet and outlet of the anoxic zone. The results showed that short-cut nitrification and denitrification could save 27.3% of the carbon sources under the optimal operating conditions. The biodegradable COD consumption in the anoxic zone was 63.6%, which was much higher than that in other stages.

Application of a hybrid gravity-driven membrane filtration and dissolved ozone flotation (MDOF) process for wastewater reclamation and membrane fouling mitigation.

This study proposed a novel membrane filtration and dissolved ozone flotation integrated (MDOF) process and tested it at pilot scale. Membrane filtration in the MDOF process was operated in gravity-driven mode, and required no backwashing, flushing, or chemical cleaning. Because ozone was added in the MDOF process, ozonation, coagulation, and membrane filtration could occur in a single reactor. Moreover, in situ ozonation occurred in the MDOF process, which differs from the conventional pre-ozonation membrane filtration process. Significant enhancement of turbidity removal was further achieved through the addition of membrane filtration. Membrane fouling was mitigated in the MDOF process compared to the MDAF process. In situ ozonation in the MDOF process decreased the fluorescence intensity and transformed the high MW dissolved organics into small MW compounds. For the fouling layer, the extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) contents and cake layer morphology were analyzed. The results indicated that the contents of EPS decreased. Furthermore, a thinner and more loosely structured cake layer formed in the MDOF process. Because coagulation and ozonation occurred simultaneously in a single reactor, the generation of hydroxyl radicals was enhanced through the catalytic effect of Al-based coagulants on ozone decomposition, which further alleviated membrane fouling in the MDOF process.