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Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering

ISSN 2095-2201

ISSN 2095-221X(Online)

CN 10-1013/X

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Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.    2015, Vol. 9 Issue (3) : 528-533    https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-014-0641-5
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Achievement of high rate nitritation with aerobic granular sludge reactors enhanced by sludge recirculation events
Zulkifly JEMAAT1,3,Josep Anton TORA2,Albert BARTROLI2,Julián CARRERA1,Julio PEREZ1,*()
1. Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona 08193, Spain
2. Aeris Tecnologías Ambientales, Ed. Eureka-Campus UAB, Barcelona 08193, Spain
3. Present address: Faculty of Chemical & Natural Resources Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Lebuhraya Tun Razak, Kuantan 26300, Malaysia
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Abstract

A ratio control strategy has been used to demonstrate the feasibility of this automatic control procedure for the achievement of stable full and partial nitritation. The control strategy assured constant ratio between the dissolved oxygen (DO) and the total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) concentrations in the bulk liquid of aerobic granular sludge reactors operating in continuous mode. Three different set-ups with different reactor capacities were used (3, 110, and 150 L). High strength synthetic wastewaters and reject water were tested with similar performance. Achieved nitrogen loading rates ranged between 0.4 and 6.1 kgN·m-3·d-1, at temperatures between 20°C and 30°C. Granular sludge and nitritation were stable in the long term continuous operation of the reactors. Suitable stable effluent for Anammox has been obtained using the desired TAN setpoint (i.e. 50% of influent ammonium oxidation). An existing biofilm model developed incorporating the implemented control loops and validated in a previous publication was used to investigate the effects of the ammonium concentration of the influent and the biofilm density on the achievement of full nitritation. The model demonstrated how sludge recirculation events led to a stable and significant increase of the biomass concentration in the reactor, which in turn resulted in the achievement of high nitrogen loading rates, due to the action of the control strategy. The model predicted an enhancement of stable full nitritation at higher ammonium concentrations in the influent. Poor influence of the biofilm density in the achievement of full nitritation was predicted with the model.
Keywords partial nitrification      reject water      high strength ammonium wastewater      closed-loop control     
Corresponding Author(s): Julio PEREZ   
Online First Date: 18 February 2014    Issue Date: 30 April 2015
 Cite this article:   
Josep Anton TORA,Albert BARTROLI,Julián CARRERA, et al. Achievement of high rate nitritation with aerobic granular sludge reactors enhanced by sludge recirculation events[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2015, 9(3): 528-533.
 URL:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-014-0641-5
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2015/V9/I3/528
set-up reactor volume /L instrumentation and control wastewater inoculum
I 3 DO, T, pH synthetic aerobic granular sludge previously treating sewage [20]
II 110 DO, T, pH, N H 4 + synthetic activated sludge+ activated carbon particles (removed after inducement of granules) [15]
III 150 DO, T, pH, N H 4 + reject water activated sludge; granulation in SBR and later switching to continuous operation
Tab.1  Description of reactor set-ups, type of wastewater and inoculums used
set-up period temperature /°C RSP/(mg O2·mg-1TAN) TAN converted to TNN /% TAN converted to nitrate /% flow-rate /(L·d-1)
exp. model exp. model exp. model
I A 30 0.04 96 n.c. 1 n.c. 1.33 n.c.
I B 30 0.004 52 n.c. 1 n.c. 2.9 n.c.
II A 30 0.17 96 98 1 0 61 93
II B 30 0.35 1 4 98 94 93 80
II C 30 0.25 98 98 1 0 79 74
II D 30 0.18 98 97 1 0 93 117
II E 30 0.18 98 97 1 0 570* 516
II F 20 0.15 98 98 1 0 56 60
III A 30 0.14 98 n.c. 1 n.c. 200 n.c.
III B 30 0.10 98 n.c. 1 n.c. 345* n.c.
III C 30 0.02 50 n.c. 1 n.c. 805* n.c.
Tab.2  Summary of results obtained when applying a ratio control strategy for nitritation in aerobic granular sludge airlift reactors
set-up (period) loading rate /(kg N·m-3·d-1) [DO]SP/(mg O2·L-1) [TAN]SP/(mg N·L-1) size /mm reactor biomass concentration /(gVS·L-1) solids concentration in effluent /(gVS·L-1) granule density /(gVS· L p a r t i c l e - 1 )
I(A) 0.4 2 50 0.8 3.3 0.03 200
I(B) 1.0 2 460 1.1 3.4 0.05 110
II(A) 0.8 5 30 0.9 0.6 <0.1 38
II(B) 1.0 7 20 0.7 0.6 <0.1 73
II(C) 0.9 5 20 0.9 0.6 <0.1 38
II(D) 1.0 7 40 0.7 0.6 <0.1 64
II(E) 6.1 7 40 0.7 4.6 <0.1 67
II(F) 0.6 4.5 30 0.7 0.8 <0.1 40
III(A) 0.9 5.5 40 0.5 1.6 0.2 98
III(B) 1.7 4 40 0.4 5.5 0.2 n.m.
III(C) 4.0 5.5 305 0.4 5.0 0.2 n.m
Tab.3  Complementary characterization and reactor conditions for each steady state described in Table 2
Fig.1  Influence of the influent TAN concentration on conversion at different setpoints ratios (RSP): (a) The dissolved oxygen concentration setpoint ([DO]SP); (b) The volumetric nitrogen loading rate (NLRV) achieved at different influent TAN concentrations; (c) The percentage of TAN converted to TNN or nitrate. All simulated values were computed keeping a fixed total ammonia nitrogen concentration setpoint [TAN]SP = 20 mg N·L-1 and manipulating [DO]SP. Temperature 30°C, granule size of 0.9 mm. The arrow indicates that the maximum value of RSP leading to full nitritation (Rmax,fN) was decreasing as the inflow TAN concentrations decrease
[TAN]influent /(mg N·L-1) [X]AOB /(mg COD·L-1) flow-rate /(L·d-1) NLRv /(g N·L-1·d-1) Rmax,fN /(mg O2·mg-1TAN)
1200 77.7 73.6 1.05 0.30
800 53.4 97.8 0.70 0.25
700 47.2 107.1 0.67 0.15
600 42.9 111.4 0.60 0.05
Tab.4  Simulation study to determine the effect of different influent TAN concentrations ([TAN]influent) on full nitritation
Fig.2  Effect of different biofilm density on the maximum value of setpoints ratio leading to full nitritation (Rmax,fN) and on the applied volumetric nitrogen loading rate (NLRV). Different biofilm areas were tested and expressed per unit of reactor volume. For all simulations, temperature was 30°C, granule size of 0.9 mm and the dissolved oxygen concentration setpoint was kept constant at [DO]SP= 5 mg O2·L-1
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