Low-strength wastewater treatment in an anammox UASB reactor

Two-stage systems have been proposed to overcome the drawbacks associated to the implementation of the autotrophic biological nitrogen removal process in the mainstream of urban wastewater treatment plants. In this study, an upflow anammox sludge blanket (UAnSB) reactor was successfully operated for...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Reino, Clara|||0000-0003-3378-3542, Carrera, Julian|||0000-0002-2599-2312
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2017
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:181899
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/181899
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1016/j.cej.2016.12.051
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Anammox
Mainstream
Granules
Upflow velocity
Boundary layer
Descripción
Sumario:Two-stage systems have been proposed to overcome the drawbacks associated to the implementation of the autotrophic biological nitrogen removal process in the mainstream of urban wastewater treatment plants. In this study, an upflow anammox sludge blanket (UAnSB) reactor was successfully operated for 325 days treating a low-strength synthetic influent mimicking mainstream conditions. A nitrogen loading rate of up to 1.8 ± 0.2 g N L⁻¹ d⁻¹ was achieved at 26 ºC and the nitrogen removal rate obtained (1.7 ± 0.1 g N L⁻¹ d⁻¹) resulted considerably higher than most of the previously reported values for systems treating low-strength wastewater at similar temperatures. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis showed a high enrichment in the anammox specie Candidatus Brocadia anammoxidans during the whole operation. The evolution of the granule diameter was followed throughout the operation of the UAnSB reactor and a direct correlation of the average granule diameter with the liquid upflow velocity (Vup) was established, being the higher the Vup, the bigger the granules. A stable granule diameter of 790 ± 40 μm was achieved by maintaining a Vup of 1.0 ± 0.1 m h⁻¹. The low VupS applied avoid the use of effluent recirculation which would present a huge inconvenient to implement UAnSB reactors at real scale, however these low VupS led to external mass transfer problems in the reactor. In spite of the mass transfer limitations, not only a high specific anammox activity (0.26 ± 0.02 g N g⁻¹ VS d⁻¹) was achieved in the UASB reactor but also a high nitrogen removal (80 ± 3%).