Nitrogen Removal in Wastewater Treatment Process: New Insight and Future

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Wastewater Treatment and Reuse".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 July 2022) | Viewed by 10092

Special Issue Editors

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
Interests: biogeochemical cycling; resource recovery; microbial methods for analyzing pollution removal; metagenomics; low energy/element cost techniques; technologies for minimizing contaminants; pollutant status, transfer and fate
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
Interests: wastewater treatment; desalination; resource recovery; electrochemical processes; membrane processes; biotechnology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The removal of nitrogen and nitrogen compounds from wastewater is one of the crucial processes in wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). Biological methods of nitrogen removal via nitrification and denitrification from wastewater have been well established over the past few decades; nevertheless, with the recent developments in technology, nitrogen removal via wastewater has faced new challenges and opportunities. For example, to reduce the need for energy input and carbon sources, new processes such as simultaneous nitrification and denitrification, anammox, and sulfur-based autotrophic denitrification have been developed. In addition, new ammonium oxidation processes such as ammonium oxidation coupled with iron reduction (Feammox) and complete ammonia oxidation (Comammox) have been discovered in WWTP. These innovations and discoveries have further spurred research into secondary pollution during nitrogen removal and insight into nitrogen recovery from the wastewater treatment process.

This growing interest in the treatment and application of wastewater treatment has drawn together many researchers of various backgrounds and perspectives. In this Special Issue, we invite experts to share their innovative ideas and results in this field to address the following scientific issues:

  • New technologies and application for nitrogen removal;
  • Nitrogen and other nutrient recovery in wastewater;
  • Microbial/genetic interaction involved in nitrogen removal;
  • Quantification of nitrogen losses as greenhouse gases, i.e., ammonia, nitrous oxide;
  • Analyzing and modeling the nitrogen dynamics involved in the wastewater treatment process;
  • Co-remediation of nitrogen and other contaminants;
  • Other relevant topics.

Dr. Shan Huang
Dr. ** Chen
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Mechanisms of nitrogen removal
  • Wastewater treatment
  • Microbial nitrogen dynamics
  • Nitrogen recovery
  • Aerobic and anaerobic treatments

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 5762 KiB  
Article
Applying the Nernst Equation to Control ORP in Denitrification Process for Uranium-Containing Nuclear Effluent with High Loads of Nitrogen and COD
by Mariano Venturini, Ariana Rossen, Paula Bucci and Patricia Silva Paulo
Water 2022, 14(14), 2227; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14142227 - 15 Jul 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2057
Abstract
Several reviews of denitrification have shown it to be an efficient process for treating high nitrate-loaded effluents from nuclear industries. However, stressful conditions adversely affect biological kinetic parameters and performance. Additionally, actual nuclear effluents contain multiple pollutants and radioactive emissions that could render [...] Read more.
Several reviews of denitrification have shown it to be an efficient process for treating high nitrate-loaded effluents from nuclear industries. However, stressful conditions adversely affect biological kinetic parameters and performance. Additionally, actual nuclear effluents contain multiple pollutants and radioactive emissions that could render implementation difficult. The objective of this study was to treat and recycle water from nuclear industries by using a mixture of blended real nuclear wastewater (BRNW). The process was carried out under physicochemical parameters control in a biological model to established a technical setup and to model the denitrification process in a real nuclear wastewater effluent. Denitrification processes were carried out in the wastewater sample under controlled ORP conditions by the Hill model to establish the kinetic model. The results show a complete elimination of nitrate by the bacteria. Indicators of biochemical reactions were used to obtain a model based on Monod and controlled ORP. The good fit of the proposed model was verified under empirical and simulated conditions. To establish optimal performance, it was necessary to add 3% v/v of methanol, as a carbon source, to remove the nitrate in BRNW. Isolation techniques confirmed that Pseudomonas spp. was the dominant bacteria. Gene expression demonstrated the lack of inhibition of the NosZ gene responsible for the reduction in nitric oxide, a “greenhouse gas”. Finally, COD and uranium were removed from the liquid by precipitation. At the end of the process, the treated effluent could potentially be reused in industrial processes, recycling most of the wastewater effluents. Full article
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11 pages, 2823 KiB  
Article
Simultaneous Nitrification and Denitrification under Aerobic Atmosphere by Newly Isolated Pseudomona aeruginosa LS82
by Jun Luo, Yating Jia, Yuancai Chen, Chen Chen, Fernada Leite Lobo, Janine Brandao de Farias Mesquita, Asheesh Kumar Yadav and Shan Huang
Water 2022, 14(9), 1452; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14091452 - 1 May 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1900
Abstract
Discharge of wastewater contained high amount of nitrogen would cause eutrophication to water bodies. Simultaneous nitrification and denitrification (SND) has been confirmed as an effective process, the isolation of SND bacteria is crucial for its successful operation. In this study, an SND strain [...] Read more.
Discharge of wastewater contained high amount of nitrogen would cause eutrophication to water bodies. Simultaneous nitrification and denitrification (SND) has been confirmed as an effective process, the isolation of SND bacteria is crucial for its successful operation. In this study, an SND strain was isolated and identified as Pseudomona aeruginosa LS82, which exhibited a rapid growth rate (0.385 h−1) and good nitrogen removal performance (4.96 mg N·L−1·h−1). Response surface methodology was applied to optimize the TN removal conditions, at which nearly complete nitrogen (99.8 ± 0.9%) removal were obtained within 18 h at the condition: pH 8.47, 100 rpm and the C/N ratio of 19.7. The saddle-shaped contours confirmed that the interaction of pH and inoculum size would influence the removal of total nitrogen significantly. Kinetic analyses indicated that the reduction of nitrite was the rate-limiting step in the SND process. Our research suggested strain LS82 can serve as a promising candidate for the treatment of ammonium rich wastewater, and expended our understanding the nitrogen removal mechanism in the SND process. Full article
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13 pages, 2028 KiB  
Article
Rapid Start-Up of the Aerobic Granular Reactor under Low Temperature and the Nutriment Removal Performance of Granules with Different Particle Sizes
by Dongbo Liang, Jun Li, Zhaoming Zheng, **g Zhang, Yaodong Wu, Dongyue Li, Peilin Li and Kai Zhang
Water 2021, 13(24), 3590; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13243590 - 14 Dec 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2220
Abstract
The start-up of the aerobic granular sludge (AGS) process under low temperature is challenging. In this study, the sequencing batch reactor (SBR) was fed with synthetic wastewater and the temperature was controlled at 15 ℃. The main components in the synthetic wastewater were [...] Read more.
The start-up of the aerobic granular sludge (AGS) process under low temperature is challenging. In this study, the sequencing batch reactor (SBR) was fed with synthetic wastewater and the temperature was controlled at 15 ℃. The main components in the synthetic wastewater were sodium acetate and ammonium chloride. The influent chemical oxygen demand (COD) and NH4+-N concentrations were 300 and 60 mg/L, respectively. The AGS was successfully cultivated in 60 days by gradually shortening the settling time. During the stable operation stage (61–100 d), the average effluent COD, NH4+-N, NO2-N, and NO3-N concentrations were 47.2, 1.0, 47.2, and 5.1 mg/L, respectively. Meanwhile, the nitrite accumulation rate (NAR) reached 90.6%. Batch test showed that the smaller AGS had higher NH4+-N removal rate while the larger AGS performed higher NAR. The NH4+-N removal rates of R1 (1.0–2.0 mm), R2 (2.0–3.0 mm), and R3 (>3 mm) granules were 0.85, 0.61, and 0.45 g N/(kg VSS·h), respectively. Meanwhile, the NAR of R1, R2, and R3 were 36.2%, 77.2%, and 94.9%, respectively. The obtained results could provide important guidance for the cultivation of AGS in low-temperature wastewater treatment. Full article
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20 pages, 12055 KiB  
Article
Nitrification Process in a Nuclear Wastewater with High Load of Nitrogen, Uranium and Organic Matter under ORP Controlled
by Mariano Venturini, Ariana Rossen and Patricia Silva Paulo
Water 2021, 13(11), 1607; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13111607 - 7 Jun 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2932
Abstract
To produce nuclear fuels, it is necessary to convert uranium′s ore into UO2-ceramic grade, using several quantities of kerosene, methanol, nitric acid, ammonia, and, in low level, tributyl phosphate (TBP). Thus, the effluent generated by nuclear industries is one of the [...] Read more.
To produce nuclear fuels, it is necessary to convert uranium′s ore into UO2-ceramic grade, using several quantities of kerosene, methanol, nitric acid, ammonia, and, in low level, tributyl phosphate (TBP). Thus, the effluent generated by nuclear industries is one of the most toxic since it contains high concentrations of dangerous compounds. This paper explores biological parameters on real nuclear wastewater by the Monod model in an ORP controlled predicting the specific ammonia oxidation. Thermodynamic parameters were established using the Nernst equation to monitor Oxiders/Reductors relationship to obtain a correlation of these parameters to controlling and monitoring; that would allow technical operators to have better control of the nitrification process. The real nuclear effluent is formed by a mixture of two different lines of discharges, one composed of a high load of nitrogen, around 11,000 mg/L (N-NH4+-N-NO3) and 600 mg/L Uranium, a second one, proceeds from uranium purification, containing TBP and COD that have to be removed. Bioprocesses were operated on real wastewater samples over 120 days under controlled ORP, as described by Nernst equations, which proved to be a robust tool to operate nitrification for larger periods with a very high load of nitrogen, uranium, and COD. Full article
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