[Effect of Free Nitrous Acid on the Activity of Nitrifying Bacteria in Different Sludge Concentrations Under Anoxic Conditions].

This study investigated the inhibitory effect of free nitrous acid (FNA) on the activity of ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) under anoxic conditions with different mixed liquid suspended solids (MLSS). Sequencing batch reactors were used to study the changes in the activity of AOB and NOB in nitrifying activated sludge based on four different MLSS (8398, 11254, 15998, and 19637 mg·L-1), after treatment, under anoxic conditions with FNA (at an initial concentration of 1.3 mg·L-1) for 48 h. The results showed that the pH increased by approximately 0.9, but the concentration of NO2--N did not decrease significantly. With over-aeration, the concentration of NH4+-N gradually degraded to 0 mg·L-1, and the removal rate of NH4+-N gradually increased to a maximum of 4.4-6.8 mg·(L·h)-1 which time used was shorter with the increase of the inhibition MLSS. The nitrite accumulation rate was more than 92% when the sludge concentration was 8398, 11254, 15998, and 19637 mg·L-1 and with over-aeration for 0-396 h, 0-396 h, 0-372 h, and 0-168 h, respectively. When aerated for 468 h, 468 h, 444 h, and 264 h, the NO2--N concentration and NAR decreased to 0, and NO3--N concentrations increased to their highest with the values of 42.6, 49.9, 42.9, and 47.9 mg·L-1 respectively.

Microbial Photoelectrotrophic Denitrification as a Sustainable and Efficient Way for Reducing Nitrate to Nitrogen.

Biological removal of nitrate, a highly concerning contaminant, is limited when the aqueous environment lacks bioavailable electron donors. In this study, we demonstrated, for the first time, that bacteria can directly use the electrons originated from the photoelectrochemical process to carry out the denitrification. In such photoelectrotrophic denitrification (PEDeN) systems (denitrification biocathode coupling with TiO2 photoanode), nitrogen removal was verified solely relying on the illumination dosing without consuming additional chemical reductant or electric power. Under the UV illumination (30 mW·cm-2, wavelength at 380 ± 20 nm), nitrate reduction in PEDeN apparently followed the first-order kinetics with a constant of 0.13 ± 0.023 h-1. Nitrate was found to be almost completely converted to nitrogen gas at the end of batch test. Compared to the electrotrophic denitrification systems driven by organics (OEDeN, biocathode/acetate consuming bioanode) or electricity (EEDeN, biocathode/abiotic anode), the denitrification rate in PEDeN equaled that in OEDeN with a COD/N ratio of 9.0 or that in EEDeN with an applied voltage at 2.0 V. This study provides a sustainable technical approach for eliminating nitrate from water. PEDeN as a novel microbial metabolism may shed further light onto the role of sunlight played in the nitrogen cycling in certain semiconductive and conductive minerals-enriched aqueous environment.