1. Partial nitritation at elevated loading rates: design curves and biofilm characteristics.
- Author
-
Schopf A, Delatolla R, and Kirkwood KM
- Subjects
- Ammonia metabolism, Kinetics, Oxygen metabolism, Biofilms growth & development, Bioreactors, Models, Biological, Nitrification
- Abstract
There is a need to develop low operational intensity, cost-effective, and small-footprint systems to treat wastewater. Partial nitritation has been studied using a variety of control strategies, however, a gap in passive operation is evident. This research investigates the use of elevated loading rates as a strategy for achieving low operational intensity partial nitritation in a moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) system. The effects of loading rates on nitrification kinetics and biofilm characteristics were determined at elevated, steady dissolved oxygen concentrations between 5.5 and 7.0 mg O
2 /L and ambient temperatures between 19 and 21 °C. Four elevated loading rates (3, 4, 5 and 6.5 g NH4 + -N/m2 days) were tested with a distinct shift in kinetics being observed towards nitritation at elevated loadings. Complete partial nitritation (100% nitrite production) was achieved at 6.5 g NH4 + -N/m2 days, likely due to thick biofilm (572 µm) and elevated NH4 + -N load, which resulted in suppression of nitrite oxidation.- Published
- 2019
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