Nitrite accumulation in the treatment of wastewaters with high ammonia concentration

2003 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 135-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Yang ◽  
J. Vollertsen ◽  
T. Hvitved-Jacobsen

Different operational parameters of the nitritation process were investigated in both jar tests and pilot scale Sequencing Batch Reactors (SBRs). In the laboratory study, 100-1,200 mg N l-1 of ammonia was used. The pH and temperature were varied. Batch experiments were done on municipal sludge, pectin industrial sludge and sludge from a reject water treatment unit. Ammonia oxidation was observed with relative nitrite accumulations from 2% to 100% and ammonia oxidation rates from 0.01 to 0.58 g N g VSS-1 d-1. The nitritation process and relative nitrite accumulation were highly affected by pH, temperature and the sludge type. pH 8.0-8.5 and temperature 30°C were found favourable for the nitritation. Pilot SBR systems for treating reject water achieved 100% of nitrite accumulation under the operational conditions of pH 7.5-8.0, temperature 30°C and dissolved oxygen (DO) 1.0 mg l-1. Six months of operation revealed that pH regulations were essential to avoid the inhibitions by either free ammonia or nitrous acid. At an unionized ammonia concentration of approximately 20 mg NH3-N l-1, half of the normal nitritation ability still remained. Total inhibition occurred when the concentration of nitrous acid reached 3.0 mg HNO2-N l-1. However, both types of inhibitions were reversible in the SBR with a proper operation control. Stable and controllable nitritation could be achieved in pilot scale.

2009 ◽  
Vol 59 (9) ◽  
pp. 1847-1853 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Leitão ◽  
S. T. Santaellla ◽  
A. C. van Haandel ◽  
G. Zeeman ◽  
G. Lettinga

The effects of hydraulic retention time (HRT) and influent COD concentration (CODInf) on Specific Methanogenic Activity (SMA) and the biodegradability of an anaerobic sludge need to be elucidated because of the discordant results available in literature. This information is important for the operation of anaerobic reactors and design of the sludge post-treatment unit. For this study, sludge samples obtained from eight pilot-scale Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) reactors were tested. The reactors were fed with municipal wastewater and operated with different sets of HRT and influent concentrations until the steady state was established. The results show that at a lower HRT, sludge with relatively higher SMA develops. A slight trend of declining SMA at increasing CODInf was found for reactors operated at longer HRTs; however, further experiments are necessary for more definitive conclusions. The sludge from reactors operated at longer HRTs and with lower CODInf resulted in lower biodegradability. Results also showed that it is ineffective to design a UASB reactor with a longer HRT to cope with organic shock loads.


2009 ◽  
Vol 60 (10) ◽  
pp. 2677-2684 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Smith ◽  
D. B. Oerther

A laboratory-scale bioreactor study was conducted to characterize differences in nitrification function in main-stream reactors due to bioaugmentation from side-stream reactors treating reject water. The objective was to evaluate how configuration of a suspended growth side-stream bioreactor impacts nitrification function in the main-stream bioreactor. A bioaugmentation effect was not observed in main-stream reactors operated at warm temperatures. Complete oxidation of ammonia to nitrate was observed in the bioaugmented and control main-stream reactors although nitrite accumulation was observed in each case. Furthermore, respirometry did not reveal superior kinetics in bioaugmented reactors operated at warm temperatures. At cold temperatures bioaugmentation may have stabilized ammonia oxidation in main-stream reactor B2 bioaugmented from a PFR side-stream. Complete ammonia oxidation was observed for most of cold period of operation in the main-stream bioreactor B2. Furthermore, respirometry revealed a higher rate of ammonia oxidation and more stable nitrite oxidation compared with the control bioreactor.


2012 ◽  
Vol 66 (7) ◽  
pp. 1491-1497 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Y. Sun ◽  
W. Y. Dong ◽  
M. F. Shao ◽  
J. Li ◽  
L. Y. Peng

A laboratory study on nitrification of high-strength source-separated urine was conducted by means of sequencing batch reactors (SBR) and membrane bioreactors (MBR). The highest influent ammonia concentration for SBR and MBR reached more than 2,400 and 1,000 mg N/L, while the maximum pH was about 9 and 8.9, respectively. The ammonia oxidizing efficiency in both SBRs and MBRs was around 50%, which was restrained mainly by the deficiency of alkalinity in bulks. Meanwhile, the nitrite accumulation did also dominate in these two systems, and the major factor to inhibit the nitrite oxidization was thought to be the high free ammonia and free nitrous acid content in bulks. Hence, an ammonia nitrite solution was achieved with concentration ratio of 1:1; after that ammonia oxidation was restrained owing to the deficiency of alkalinity in urine. The temperature and influent ammonia content have no great influence on the nitrification process in both kinds of bioreactors. The nitrification can be progressed under a solids retention time (SRT) longer than 30 d; however, termination of ammonia oxidization was observed as the SRT fell below 20 d. The nitrifier biomass showed an excellent settleability, such that the suspended solids (SS) in effluent was of a low average, about 60 mg/L. This study on the stabilization of human urine will be useful to understand the process of urine separation from source.


2007 ◽  
Vol 55 (10) ◽  
pp. 11-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Béline ◽  
H. Boursier ◽  
F. Guiziou ◽  
E. Paul

During this study, a mathematical model simulating piggery wastewater treatment was developed, with the objective of process optimisation. To achieve this, the effect of temperature and free ammonia concentration on the nitrification rate were experimentally studied using respirometry. The maximum growth rates obtained were higher for ammonium-oxidising biomass than for nitrite-oxidising biomass for the temperatures above 20 °C; values at 35 °C were equal to 1.9 and 1.35 day−1, respectively. No inhibition of nitrification was observed for free ammonia concentrations up to 50 mgN/L. Using these data with others experimental data obtained from a pilot-scale reactor to treat piggery wastewater, a model based on a modified version of the ASM1 was developed and calibrated. In order to model the nitrite accumulation observed, the ASM1 model was extended with a two-step nitrification and denitrification including nitrite as intermediate. Finally, the produced model called PiWaT1 demonstrated a good fit with the experimental data. In addition to the temperature, oxygen concentration was identified as an important factor influencing the nitrite accumulation during nitrification. Even if some improvements of the model are still necessary, this model can already be used for process improvement.


1995 ◽  
Vol 32 (12) ◽  
pp. 141-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ferhan Çeçen ◽  
Elvan Orak ◽  
Pinar Gökçin

Nitrification characteristics of a high-strength fertilizer wastewater were studied in a batch activated sludge and a continuous-flow biofilm reactor. In a batch activated sludge system one of the most decisive factors was the pH control. The results in terms of ammonium decrease and nitrite build-up were fitted to kinetic models and it was shown that in the absence of inhibitory factors like high free ammonia or nitrous acid build-up the behaviour was similar to that in the case of low-strength wastes. Continuous-flow studies in the biofilm reactor at different loading rates and dissolved oxygen concentrations indicated that such a biofilm reactor could be employed in the treatment of highly nitrogenous fertilizer wastes. Depending on operating conditions such as dissolved oxygen concentration and loading rate an effluent ammonia concentration as low as 4 mg NH4−N/L could be achieved. In the dissolved oxygen ranges of 3.2 mg/L–3.5 mg/L the system reached the maximum removal rate of 0.17 kg NH4−N/m3.d. When the dissolved oxygen was increased to 4.9 mg/L, removal rates as high as 0.41 kg NH4−N/m3.d could be obtained. Also in continuous-flow operation nitrite accumulation reached in some cases a considerable degree depending on the bulk nitrogen and dissolved oxygen concentrations. The nitrite accumulation in the effluent stream varied from 4–180 mg NO2−N/L depending on operational conditions.


2011 ◽  
Vol 64 (11) ◽  
pp. 2274-2281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinling Wu ◽  
Jianlong Wang ◽  
Haiyang Liu ◽  
Shijun He ◽  
Xia Huang

Acrylonitrile wastewater is one of the most refractory industrial wastewaters as it contains cyanide at a high concentration. This study introduced a safe, effective and economic strategy, that is, use of the gas membrane to acrylonitrile wastewater treatment. Due to the complicated constituents of acrylonitrile wastewater, cyanide removal rate by gas membrane is very low. In order to enhance HCN removal, the operational conditions were optimized; pre-treatment strategies for fouling mitigation were also proposed and tested for acrylonitrile wastewater. The optimal operational parameters were achieved at an acidified pH of 5.0, wastewater velocity of 0.14 m s−1, NaOH concentration of 10% and a temperature of 40 °C. The major factor affecting HCN removal was the pH of the acidified wastewater. The reason for the low removal rate was further explored and found to be the decrease of HCN transfer coefficient, which was caused by membrane fouling. Furthermore, the predominant foulants have been identified as colloidal organic materials and inorganic salts. Alkalization, which is effective in reducing these materials, has been proven to be most effective in mitigating membrane fouling and improving HCN removal, which was also confirmed by a pilot-scale study. The overall removal rate was therefore significantly enhanced to 87.1%.


2011 ◽  
Vol 64 (11) ◽  
pp. 2217-2222
Author(s):  
P. Marin ◽  
A. Donoso-Bravo ◽  
J. L. Campos ◽  
G. Ruiz-Filippi ◽  
R. Chamy

The start-up and activation of a nitrifying rotating biological contactor (RBC) and its performance inside a culture tank of rainbow trout were studied. First, in a lab-scale operation, the system was fed with a synthetic medium containing a high ammonia concentration (567 mg NH4+-N L−1) and operated at a high hydraulic retention time (HRT) (6.5 days) to minimize the wash-out of the biomass and promote the biofilm formation. Then, both inlet ammonia concentration and HRT were decreased in order to obtain operational conditions similar to those of the culture tank. During this period, the RBC was able to treat an ammonia loading rate (ALR) of 0.64 g N-NH4+ L−1 d−1 with a removal efficiency within 70–100%. Pilot-scale experiments were carried out in culture tanks of rainbow trout. The operation of a recirculating system with the RBC unit was compared with a recirculating system without biological treatment and with a flow-through system. The use of this in-situ nitrifying unit allowed working at a recirculation ratio of 90% without negative effects on either growth or the condition factor of fishes. Up to 70% of ammonia generated was removed and a removal rate of 1.41 g NH4+-N m−2 d−1 was reached.


J ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-287
Author(s):  
Zheng Lian ◽  
Yixiao Wang ◽  
Xiyue Zhang ◽  
Abubakar Yusuf ◽  
Lord Famiyeh ◽  
...  

The current hydrogen generation technologies, especially biomass gasification using fluidized bed reactors (FBRs), were rigorously reviewed. There are involute operational parameters in a fluidized bed gasifier that determine the anticipated outcomes for hydrogen production purposes. However, limited reviews are present that link these parametric conditions with the corresponding performances based on experimental data collection. Using the constructed artificial neural networks (ANNs) as the supervised machine learning algorithm for data training, the operational parameters from 52 literature reports were utilized to perform both the qualitative and quantitative assessments of the performance, such as the hydrogen yield (HY), hydrogen content (HC) and carbon conversion efficiency (CCE). Seven types of operational parameters, including the steam-to-biomass ratio (SBR), equivalent ratio (ER), temperature, particle size of the feedstock, residence time, lower heating value (LHV) and carbon content (CC), were closely investigated. Six binary parameters have been identified to be statistically significant to the performance parameters (hydrogen yield (HY)), hydrogen content (HC) and carbon conversion efficiency (CCE)) by analysis of variance (ANOVA). The optimal operational conditions derived from the machine leaning were recommended according to the needs of the outcomes. This review may provide helpful insights for researchers to comprehensively consider the operational conditions in order to achieve high hydrogen production using fluidized bed reactors during biomass gasification.


2013 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sakthivel Pitchaimuthu ◽  
Ponnusamy Velusamy

An attempt has been made to enhance the photocatalytic activity of CeO2 for visible light assisted decoloration of methylene blue (MB) dye in aqueous solutions by β-cyclodextrin (β-CD). The inclusion complexation patterns between host and guest (i.e., β-CD and MB) have been confirmed with UV–visible spectral data. The interaction between CeO2 and β-CD has also been characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy analysis. The photocatalytic activity of the catalyst under visible light was investigated by measuring the photodegradation of MB in aqueous solution. The effects of key operational parameters such as initial dye concentration, initial pH, CeO2 concentration as well as illumination time on the decolorization extents were investigated. Among the processing parameters, the pH of the reaction solution played an important role in tuning the photocatalytic activity of CeO2. The maximum photodecoloration rate was achieved at basic pH (pH 11). Under the optimum operational conditions, approximately 99.6% dye removal was achieved within 120 min. The observed results indicate that the decolorization of the MB followed a pseudo-first order kinetics.


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