Simultaneous enhanced ammonia and nitrate removal from secondary effluent in constructed wetlands using a new manganese-containing substrate

doi:10.1007/s11783-024-1807-4

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.

2024, Vol. 18

Issue (4) : 47 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-024-1807-4

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Simultaneous enhanced ammonia and nitrate removal from secondary effluent in constructed wetlands using a new manganese-containing substrate

Zhihao Xian^1,², Jun Yan^1,², Jingyi Dai^1,², Hao Wu^1,², Xin Zhang^1,², Wenbo Nie^1,², Fucheng Guo^1,², Yi Chen^1,²(

)

¹. Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region’s Eco-Environment (Ministry of Education), Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
². College of Environment and Ecology, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China

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Abstract

● MnO₂/PCL composite material (MPCM) enhances ammonia and nitrate removal in CWs.

● The reduction and re-oxidation of MnO₂ both facilitate the removal of ammonia.

● Mnammox accounts for 17.16%–27.24% of ammonia removal at the height of 0–20 cm.

● MPCM promotes the richness of ammonia oxidizers and denitrifiers in CWs.

● MPCM significantly decreases N₂O emission in CWs.

Constructed wetlands (CWs) are widely used to treat secondary effluent. However, simultaneously removing ammonia (NH₄⁺-N) and nitrate (NO₃^––N) is challenging because of insufficient oxygen and carbon sources. In this study, a novel composite material (MPCM) comprising MnO₂ and polycaprolactone was developed as a substrate for CWs to enhance the synchronous removal of NH₄⁺–N and NO₃^––N. The CWs with a higher MPCM content (H-CW), lower MPCM content (L-CW), and controlled CW (C-CW) exhibited average NH₄⁺–N removal efficiencies of 75.69%, 70.49%, and 52.40%, respectively. The ¹⁵N isotope tracking technique showed that NH₄⁺–N removal was attributed to anaerobic ammonia oxidation mediated by MnO₂ reduction (Mnammox), which accounted for 17.16%–27.24% of the NH₄⁺–N removal in the composite material layers (0–20 cm) of the H-CW and L-CW. The richness of ammonia oxidizers in the upper layers (40–50 cm) of the H-CW and L-CW further facilitated NH₄⁺–N removal. Moreover, the average total nitrogen (TN) removal efficiencies of the H-CW and L-CW were 1.99 and 1.59 times that of C-CW, respectively, owing to enhanced denitrification by MPCM. Furthermore, N₂O emissions were reduced by 81.31% and 70.83% in the H-CW and L-CW, respectively. This study provides an effective approach for improving nitrogen removal and reducing N₂O emissions during the treatment of secondary effluent by CWs.

Keywords Constructed wetland Nitrogen removal Manganese redox Polycaprolactone Nitrous oxide

Corresponding Author(s): Yi Chen

Issue Date: 18 December 2023

Cite this article:

Zhihao Xian,Jun Yan,Jingyi Dai, et al. Simultaneous enhanced ammonia and nitrate removal from secondary effluent in constructed wetlands using a new manganese-containing substrate[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2024, 18(4): 47.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-024-1807-4
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2024/V18/I4/47

Fig.1 Schematic diagram of three CWs in the experiment (H-CW: high content of MPCM; L-CW: low content of MPCM; C-CW: control).

Fig.2 NH₄⁺–N (a), NO₃^––N (b), and TN (c) concentrations of influent and effluents from three CWs during the experiment.

Fig.3 Removal efficiency of TN (a) and NH₄⁺?N (b) at different heights of CWs. H, L, and C are the corresponding CWs. The N₂O emission fluxes of three CWs during the experiment (c). Structural equation model evaluating the impact of MPCM and HRT on NH₄⁺?N and TN concentrations in effluent and N₂O emission fluxes. Solid and dashed lines represent positive and negative relationships, respectively. Numbers are standardized path coefficients.

Fig.4 XPS spectra of Mn 2p of MPCM (a), MPCM in H-CW after the experiment (b), MPCM in L-CW after the experiment (c), gravels before the experiment (d), gravels in the upper layers of H-CW after the experiment (e), and gravels in the uppers layers of L-CW after the experiment (f).

Fig.5 ³⁰N₂ (a) and ²⁹N₂ (b) production rates in the group-Control, group-¹⁵NH₄Cl, and group-¹⁵NH₄Cl + C₂H₂ for the substrates from the composite material layers of the three CWs. MnO₂ reduction rates in the three groups of the substrates from the composite material layers of the three CWs (c). Pearson’s correlations of MnO₂ reduction rates with ³⁰N₂ production rates (d) and ²⁹N₂ production rates (e). n.d. = not detectable within the detection limit of 0.005 mg ¹⁵N/(L·d).

Fig.6 Relative abundances of Mn/Fe cycle-related microbes (a), ammonia oxidizers (b), and denitrifiers (c). Feammox: anaerobic ammonia oxidation coupled with ferric iron reduction; DNRA: dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonia. Relative abundances of the functions predicted by FAPROTAX (d). Relative abundance of the Mn-oxidation genes predicted by Tax4Fun (e). H_CM, L_CM, and C_CM are the composite material layers in the corresponding CWs; H_UP, L_UP, and C_UP are the upper layers in the corresponding CWs.

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