Advanced nitrogen and phosphorus removal in A2O-BAF system treating low carbon-to-nitrogen ratio domestic wastewater

A laboratory-scale anaerobic-anoxic-aerobic process (A²O) with a small aerobic zone and a bigger anoxic zone and biologic aerated filter (A²O-BAF) system was operated to treat low carbon-to-nitrogen ratio domestic wastewater. The A²O process was employed mainly for organic matter and phosphorus removal, and for denitrification. The BAF was only used for nitrification which coupled with a settling tank Compared with a conventional A²O process, the suspended activated sludge in this A²O-BAF process contained small quantities of nitrifier, but nitrification overwhelmingly conducted in BAF. So the system successfully avoided the contradiction in sludge retention time (SRT) between nitrifying bacteria and phosphorus accumulating organisms (PAOs). Denitrifying phosphorus accumulating organisms (DPAOs) played an important role in removing up to 91% of phosphorus along with nitrogen, which indicated that the suspended activated sludge process presented a good denitrifying phosphorus removal performance. The average removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and NH ₄ ⁺ -N were 85.56%, 92.07%, 81.24% and 98.7% respectively. The effluent quality consistently satisfied the national first level A effluent discharge standard of China. The average sludge volume index (SVI) was 85.4 mL·g^?1 additionally, the volume ratio of anaerobic, anoxic and aerobic zone in A²O process was also investigated, and the results demonstrated that the optimum value was 1:6:2.     

Effects of nitrite on phosphate uptake in anaerobic-oxic process

An anaerobic-oxic (A/O) biological phosphorus removal reactor was operated to study the effect of nitrite on phosphate uptake. The phosphorus uptake profile was determined under different operating conditions. The results indicated that in addition to oxygen and nitrate (DPB_Na, nitrate denitrifying phosphorus removal), to some extent, nitrite could also serve as an electron acceptor to achieve nitrite denitrifying phosphorus removal (DPB_Ni). The quantity and rate of phosphorus uptake of DPB_Ni, however, were evidently lower than that of DPB_Na. The experiment results revealed that nitrite would bring toxic action to phosphate-accumulating organisms (PAOs) when NO₂ ^?-N ? 93.7 mg/L. The nitrite existing in the anoxic reactor made no difference to the quantity and rate of denitrifying phosphorus removal, but it could reduce the consumption of nitrate. Moreover, the data showed that the aerobic phosphate uptake of DPB_Ni was lower than that of anaerobic phosphorus-released sludge in a traditional A/O process. However, there was not much difference between these two kinds of sludge in terms of the total phosphorus uptake quantity and the effluent quality.     

Effect of short-term atrazine addition on the performance of an anaerobic/anoxic/oxic process

In this study, an anaerobic/anoxic/oxic (A²O) wastewater treatment process was implemented to treat domestic wastewater with short-term atrazine addition. The results provided an evaluation on the effects of an accidental pollution on the operation of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in relation to Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and biological nutrient removal. Domestic wastewater with atrazine addition in 3 continuous days was treated when steady biological nutrient removal was achieved in the A²O process. The concentrations of atrazine were 15, 10, and 5 mg·L^?1 on days 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The results showed that atrazine addition did not affect the removal of COD. The specific NH₄ ⁺ oxidation rate and NO₃ ^? reduction rate decreased slightly due to the short-term atrazine addition. However, it did not affect the nitrogen removal due to the high nitrification and denitrification capacity of the system. Total nitrogen (TN) removal was steady, and more than 70% was removed during the period studied. The phosphorus removal rate was not affected by the short-term addition of atrazine under the applied experimental conditions. However, more poly-hydroxy-alkanoate (PHA) was generated and utilized during atrazine addition. The results of the oxygen uptake rate (OUR) showed that the respiration of nitrifiers decreased significantly, while the activity of carbon utilizers had no obvious change with the atrazine addition. Atrazine was not removed with the A²O process, even via absorption by the activated sludge in the process of the short-term addition of atrazine.     

Optimization of denitrifying phosphorus removal in a pre-denitrification anaerobic/anoxic/post-aeration + nitrification sequence batch reactor (pre-A<Subscript>2</Subscript>NSBR) system: Nitrate recycling,carbon/nitrogen ratio and carbon source type

Because the efficiency of biological nutrient removal is always limited by the deficient carbon source for the low carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio in real domestic sewage, the denitrifying phosphorus removal (DNPR) was developed as a simple and efficient method to remove nitrogen and phosphorous. In addition, this method has the advantage of saving aeration energy while reducing the sludge production. In this context, a pre-denitrification anaerobic/anoxic/post-aeration + nitrification sequence batch reactor (pre-A₂NSBR) system, which could also reduce high ammonia effluent concentration in the traditional two-sludge DNPR process, is proposed in this work. The pre-A₂NSBR process was mainly composed of a DNPR SBR and a nitrifying SBR, operating as alternating anaerobic/anoxic/post-aeration + nitrification sequence. Herein, the long-term performance of different nitrate recycling ratios (0–300%) and C/N ratios (2.5–8.8), carbon source type, and functional microbial community were studied. The results showed that the removal efficiency of total inorganic nitrogen (TIN, including NH₄⁺-N, NO₂^– -N, and NO₃^– -N) gradually increased with the nitrate recycling ratios, and the system reached the highest DNPR efficiency of 94.45% at the nitrate recycling ratio of 300%. The optimum C/N ratio was around 3.9–7.3 with a nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiency of 80.15% and 93.57%, respectively. The acetate was proved to be a high-quality carbon source for DNPR process. The results of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis indicated that nitrifiers and phosphorus accumulating organisms (PAOs) were accumulated with a proportion of 19.41% and 26.48%, respectively.

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Simultaneous denitrifying phosphorus accumulation in a sequencing batch reactor

In order to achieve simultaneous nitrogen and phosphorus removal in the biological treatment process, denitrifying phosphorus accumulation (DNPA) and its affecting factors were studied in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) with synthetic wastewater. The results showed that when acetate was used as the sole carbon resource in the influent, the sludge acclimatized under anaerobic/aerobic operation had good phosphorus removal ability. Denitrifying phosphorus accumulation was observed soon when fed with nitrate instead of aeration following the anaerobic stage, which is a vital premise to DNPA. If DNPA sludge is fed with nitrate prior to the anaerobic stage, the DNPA would weaken or even disappear. At the high concentration of nitrate fed in the anoxic stage, the longer anoxic time needed, the better the DNPA was. Induced DNPA did not disappear even though an aerobic stage followed the anoxic stage, but the shorter the aerobic stage lasted, the higher the proportions of phosphorus removal via DNPA to total removal.     

Research on polyhydroxyalkanoates and glycogen transformations: Key aspects to biologic nitrogen and phosphorus removal in low dissolved oxygen systems

In this paper, a study was conducted on the effect of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) and glycogen transformations on biologic nitrogen and phosphorus removal in low dissolved oxygen (DO) systems. Two laboratory-scale sequencing batch reactors (SBR1 and SBR2) were operating with anaerobic/aerobic (low DO, 0.15–0.45 mg·L^-1) configurations, which cultured a propionic to acetic acid ratio (molar carbon ratio) of 1.0 and 2.0, respectively. Fewer poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB), total PHA, and glycogen transformations were observed with the increase of propionic/acetic acid, along with more poly-3-hydroxyvalerate (PHV) and poly-3-hydroxy-2-methyvalerate (PH2MV) shifts. The total nitrogen (TN) removal efficiency was 68% and 82% in SBR1 and SBR2, respectively. In the two SBRs, the soluble ortho-phosphate (SOP) removal efficiency was 94% and 99%, and the average sludge polyphosphate (poly-P) content (g·g-MLVSS^-1) was 8.3% and 10.2%, respectively. Thus, the propionic to acetic acid ratio of the influent greatly influenced the PHA form and quantity, glycogen transformation, and poly-P contained in activated sludge and further determined TN and SOP removal efficiency. Moreover, significant correlations between the SOP removal rate and the (PHV+ PH2MV)/PHA ratio were observed (R²>0.99). Accordingly, PHA and glycogen transformations should be taken into account as key components for optimizing anaerobic/aerobic (low DO) biologic nitrogen and phosphorus removal systems.     

Practical consideration for design and optimization of the step feed process

Based on the anoxic/oxic (A/O) step feed process, a modified University of Cape Town (UCT) step feed process was developed by adding an anaerobic zone and adjusting sludge return pipeline. Performance evaluation of these two types of processes was investigated by optimizing operational parameters, such as the anaerobic/anoxic/oxic volumes, internal recycle ratios, and sludge retention times, for removal of chemical oxygen demanding (COD), nitrogen, and phosphorus. Results showed high removal efficiencies of COD of (85.0±1.7)%, ammonium of (99.7±0.2)%, total nitrogen (TN) of (85.5±1.7)%, phosphorus of (95.1±3.3)%, as well as excellent sludge settleability with average sludge volume index of (83.7±9.5) L·mg^-1 in the modified UCT process. Moreover, (61.5±6.0)% of influent COD was efficiently involved in denitrification or phosphorus release process. As much as 35.3% of TN was eliminated through simultaneous nitrification and denitrification process in aerobic zones. In addition, the presence of denitrifying phosphorus accumulating organisms (DNPAOs), accounting for approximately 39.2% of PAOs, was also greatly beneficial to the nitrogen and phosphorus removal. Consequently, the modified UCT step feed process was more attractive for the wastewater treatment plant, because it had extremely competitive advantages such as higher nutrient removal efficiencies, lower energy and dosages consumption, excellent settling sludge and operational assurance.     

Effects of Al3+ on pollutant removal and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) under anaerobic,anoxic and oxic conditions

The highest removal efficiencies of COD and TN were achieved under 10 mg/L of Al³⁺. The highest TP removal efficiency occurred under 30 mg/L of Al³⁺. EPS, PS and PN concentrations increased with the addition of Al³⁺. Sludge properties significantly changed with the addition of Al³⁺. Aluminum ions produced by aluminum mining, electrolytic industry and aluminum-based coagulants can enter wastewater treatment plants and interact with activated sludge. They can subsequently contribute to the removal of suspended solids and affect activated sludge flocculation, as well as nitrogen and phosphorus removal. In this study, the effects of Al³⁺ on pollutant removal, sludge flocculation and the composition and structure of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) were investigated under anaerobic, anoxic and oxic conditions. Results demonstrated that the highest chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total nitrogen (TN) removal efficiencies were detected for an Al³⁺ concentration of 10 mg/L. In addition, the maximal dehydrogenase activity and sludge flocculation were also observed at this level of Al³⁺. The highest removal efficiency of total phosphorus (TP) was achieved at an Al³⁺ concentration of 30 mg/L. The flocculability of sludge in the anoxic zone was consistently higher than that in the anaerobic and oxic zones. The addition of Al³⁺ promoted the secretion of EPS. Tryptophan-like fluorescence peaks were detected in each EPS layer in the absence of Al³⁺. At the Al³⁺ concentration of 10 mg/L, fulvic acid and tryptophan fluorescence peaks began to appear, while the majority of protein species and the highest microbial activity were also detected. Low Al³⁺ concentrations (<10 mg/L) could promote the removal efficiencies of COD and TN, yet excessive Al³⁺ levels (>10 mg/L) weakened microbial activity. Higher Al³⁺ concentrations (>30 mg/L) also inhibited the release of phosphorus in the anaerobic zone by reacting with PO₄^3-.     

Kinetic analysis of anaerobic phosphorus release during biological phosphorus removal process

Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) is a commonly used and sustainable method for phosphorus removal from wastewater. Poly-β-hydroxybutyrate (PHB), polyphosphate, and glycogen are three kinds of intracellular storage polymers in phosphorus accumulation organisms. The variation of these polymers under different conditions has an apparent influence on anaerobic phosphorus release, which is very important for controlling the performance of EBPR. To obtain the mechanism and kinetic character of anaerobic phosphorus release, a series of batch experiments were performed using the excessively aerated sludge from the aerobic unit of the biological phosphorus removal system in this study. The results showed that the volatile suspended solid (VSS) had an increasing trend, while the mixed liquid suspended sludge (MLSS) and ashes were reduced during the anaerobic phosphorus release process. The interruption of anaerobic HAc-uptake and phosphorus-release occurs when the glycogen in the phosphorus-accumulating-organisms is exhausted. Under the condition of lower initial HAc-COD, HAc became the limiting factor after some time for anaerobic HAc uptake. Under the condition of higher initial HAc-COD, HAc uptake was stopped because of the depletion of glycogen in the microorganisms. The mean ratio of Δρ _P/Δρ _PHB, Δρ _GLY/Δρ _PHB, Δρ _P/ΔCOD, was 0.48, 0.50, 0.44, and 0.92, respectively, which was nearly the same as the theoretical value. The calibrated kinetic parameters of the HAc-uptake and phosphorus-release model were evaluated as follows: Q _HAc,max was 164 mg/(g · h), Q _P,max was 69.9 mg/(g · h), K _gly was 0.005, and KCOD was 3 mg/L. An apparently linear correlation was observed between the ratio of Δρ _P/ΔCOD and pH of the solution, and the equation between them was obtained in this study.     

Simulation of long-term nutrient removal in a full-scale closed-loop bioreactor for sewage treatment: an example of Bayesian inference

In this study, the performance of nitrogen and phosphorus removal in a full-scale closed-loop bioreactor (oxidation ditch) system was simulated using the ASM2d model. Routine data describing the process for two years were compiled for calibration and validation. To overcome the identifiability problem, the classic Bayesian inference approach was utilized for parameter estimation. The calibrated model could describe the long-term trend of nutrient removal and short-term variations of the process performance, showing that the Bayesian method was a reliable and useful tool for the parameter estimation of the activated sludge models. The anoxic phosphate uptake by polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAO) contributed 71.2% of the total Poly-P storage, which reveals the dominance of denitrifying phosphorus removal process under the oxygen limiting conditions. It was found that 58.7% of the anoxic Poly-P storage and denitrification by PAO in the reactor was achieved in the aerated compartment, implying that the PAO’s anoxic activity was significantly stimulated by the low dissolved oxygen (DO) level in this compartment due to the oxygen gradient caused by brush aerator.     

Pollutant removal by an integrated vertical-flow constructed wetland treating simulated river water by reoxygenation

The effects and mechanism of chemical oxygen demand (COD), nitrogen, and phosphorus concentration removal by an integrated vertical-flow constructed wetland were studied in the wetland system during one inlet–outlet operating period, in two typical stages (each stage is connective 24 h, sampled once every 4 h). The concentration of ammonia decreased along the flow direction in the system, while levels of nitrate (NO₃^?-N) increased. In one operating period, total nitrogen (TN) concentration fell with rising operation time due to evacuative reoxygenation. The TN and NH₃-N removal rates in the system were 26.6% and 97.5%, respectively. COD decreased rapidly in the early stages and more gradually in the direction of water flow of the wetland system. Average total phosphorus (TP) removal rate was 20.71%. TN and NO₃^?-N levels in water of the wetland had a tendency to decline gradually with increasing operation time. Ammonia concentrations displayed only a small variation with operation time. The results also indicated that the wetland was able to maintain its temperature. The oxygen content differed during the various operating stages and exerted a marked influence on COD, TP, and TN removal.     

Degradation of ammonium dinitramide (ADN) in digested sewage sludge under strict anaerobic conditions

The biodegradation of one popular nitramine energetics, ammonium dinitramide (ADN) by mixture of denitrifying bacterial species was investigated. ADN was observed to be effectively mineralized in the anaerobic mixed culture. The initial ADN concentration of 250 mg/L was reduced to non‐detectable levels (> 99% removal efficiency) in 5 days of incubation under anaerobic conditions. Final products generated from anaerobic degradation of nitramine energetics by anaerobic metabolism were NH₄ ⁺, CH₄, and CO₂ that were released to the environment with the denitrifiers’ growth. In addition, it was found that the activity of denitrifiers was inhibited by high concentration of ammonia generated through the degradation reactions of energetic nitrites.     

Removing nitrogen and phosphorus from simulated wastewater using algal biofilm technique

Algal biofilmtechnology is a new and advanced wastewater treatment method. Experimental study on removing nitrogen and phosphorus from simulated wastewater using algal biofilm under the continuous light of 3500 Lux in the batch and continuous systems was carried out in this paper to assess the performance of algal biofilm in removing nutrients. The results showed that the effect of removing nitrogen and phosphorus by algal biofilm was remarkable in the batch system. The removal efficiencies of total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN), ammonia-nitrogen (NH₃-N), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) reached 98.17%, 86.58%, 91.88%, and 97.11%, respectively. In the continuous system, hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 4 days was adopted; the effects of removing TP, TN, NH₃-N, and COD by algal biofilm were very stable. During a run of 24 days, the removal efficiencies of TP, TN, NH₃-N, and COD reached 95.38%, 83.93%, 82.38%, and 92.31%, respectively. This study demonstrates the feasibility of removing nitrogen and phosphorus from simulated wastewater using algal biofilm.     

Mechanism on minimization of excess sludge in oxic-settling-anaerobic (OSA) process

The oxic-settling-anaerobic (OSA) process is a promising wastewater treatment technique for efficiently reducing sludge production and improving the stability of process operation. In this paper, the possible factors of sludge reduction such as sludge decay, uncoupled metabolism, and anaerobic oxidation with low sludge production were discussed in the OSA process. It has been confirmed that sludge decay is the decisive cause in the OSA process, accounting for 66.7% of sludge production reduction. Sludge decay includes hydrolysis and acidogenesis of dead microorganisms and particle organic carbon adsorbed in sludge floc and endogenous metabolism. By batch experiments, it has been proven that there is energetic uncoupling in the OSA system since microorganisms were exposed to alternative anaerobic and aerobic environment. It accounts for about 7.5% of sludge production reduction. Soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) released from the anaerobic sludge tank in the OSA process was used as the substrate for cryptic growth. The substrate was used for anoxic denitrifying, anaerobic phosphorus release, sulfate reduction, and methane production. These anaerobic reactions in the sludge anaerobic tank have lower sludge production than in the aerobic oxidation when equivalent SCOD is consumed, which may lead to approximately 23% of sludge reduction in the OSA process. It has been concluded that multiple causes resulted in the minimization of excess sludge in the OSA system. The microbial community structure and diversity of sludge samples from the CAS (conventional activated sludge) and OSA systems were investigated by 16 SrDNA PCR-DG-DGGE (polymerase chain reaction-double gradient-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis). DGGE profile and cluster analysis showed more abundant species in the OSA system contrasting to microbial communities in the CAS system.     

COD对颗粒污泥厌氧氨氧化反应性能的影响

研究了COD对颗粒污泥厌氧氨氧化反应的影响,并对颗粒污泥的厌氧氨氧化脱氮性能进行了分析.厌氧颗粒污泥取自实验室长期运行的EGSB生物脱氮反应器,实验用水为人工配水,以葡萄糖为有机碳源;主要考察了COD对NH4 -N、NO2--N、NO3--N和TN去除的影响.结果表明:当进水不含COD时,反应器对NH4 -N、NO2--N和NO3--N和TN的去除率分别为12.5%、29.1%、16.1%和16.3%;当COD浓度分别为200mg/L、350mg/L和550mg/L时,反应器对NH4 -N的去除率分别为14.2%、14.2%和23.7%,对NO2--N的去除率均接近100%,对NO3--N的去除率分别为94.5%、86.6%和84.2%,对TN的去除率分别为50.7%、46.9%和50.4%,COD去除率分别为85%、66%和60%.分析发现,在反应初期,氨氮的去除主要通过厌氧氨氧化过程实现,随着反应的进行,反硝化菌活性逐渐提高,传统的反硝化过程占优势.同时还观察到,在反应初期COD对氨氮去除的抑制作用非常明显.图2参21     

Circulating fluidized bed biological reactor for nutrients removal

A new biological nitrogen removal process, which is named herein “The circulating fluidized bed bioreactor (CFBBR)”, was developed for simultaneous removal of nitrogen and organic matter. This process was composed of an anaerobic bed (Riser), aerobic bed (Downer) and connecting device. Influent and nitrified liquid from the aerobic bed enters the anaerobic bed from the bottom of the anaerobic bed, completing the removal of nitrogen and organic matter. The system performance under the conditions of different inflow loadings and nitrified liquid recirculation rates ranging from 200% to 600% was examined. From a technical and economic point of view, the optimum nitrified liquid recirculation ratewas 400%. With a shortest total retention time of 2.5 h (0.8 h in the anaerobic bed and 1.5 h in the aerobic bed) and a nitrified liquid recirculation rate of 400% based on the influent flow rate, the average removal efficiencies of total nitrogen (TN) and soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) were found to be 88% and 95%, respectively. The average effluent concentrations of TN and SCOD were 3.5 mg/L and 16 mg/L, respectively. The volatile suspended solid (VSS) concentration, nitrification rate and denitrification rate in the system were less than 1.0 g/L, 0.026-0.1 g NH₄ ⁺-N/g VSS·d, and 0.016–0.074 g NO_x ^?-N/g VSS·d, respectively.     

Optimization of phosphorus removal in uniFed SBR system for domestic wastewater treatment

The characteristic of phosphorus removal and appropriate change of the traditional operation modes were investigated in UniFed sequencing batch reactor (SBR) laboratory-scale apparatus (40 L), treating actual domestic wastewater with low ratios of C/N (2.57) and C/P (30.18), providing theoretical basis for actual application of wastewater treatment plant. UniFed SBR system with its unique operation mode had the distinct superiority of phosphorus removal. On this occasion, the effect of volumetric exchange ratio (VER) and the method of influent introduction for phosphorus removal were studied. When the carbon source became the limiting factor to phosphorus release, the higher the VER, the lower the phosphorus concentration in the effluent. Three different influent patterns, including one-time filling, four-time filling, and continuous filling with the same quantity of wastewater could increase the release rate of anaerobic phosphorus from 0.082 to 0.143 mg·P·(L·min)^-1. Appropriate change of the traditional operation modes could optimize the efficiency of phosphorus removal. When the feed/ decant time was extended from 2 h to 4 h, the phosphorous removal efficiency increased from 59.93% to 88.45% without any external carbon source. In the mode of alternation of anoxic-aerobic (A/O) condition, phosphorous removal efficiency increased from 55.07% to 72.27% clearly. The carbon source in the influent can be used adequately, and denitrifying phosphorus removal was carried out in anoxic stage 2 (A2). This mode was optimal for the treatment of actual domestic wastewater with low C/N and C/P ratios.     

猪场废水厌氧消化过程中的除磷效果

采用序批式半连续厌氧消化试验方法,研究猪场废水厌氧消化过程中磷的去除情况。结果表明,水力停留时间（HRT）为1、3、6和9 d的厌氧反应器平均除磷率分别为65.0%、81.1%、82.7%和83.0%,而COD平均去除率分别为54.5%、82.3%、87.0%和85.9%。厌氧反应器除磷能力随沼气产量的增加而增加,说明厌氧反应器中磷的去除与产甲烷过程密切相关。对厌氧消化前后的污泥进行浸提后发现,厌氧消化过程中,化学反应生成磷酸盐沉淀的除磷作用十分显著,污泥中正磷酸盐,与铁结合的磷化合物（Fe-RP）,还原可溶性磷,与钙、镁离子结合的磷化合物（Ca-RP、Mg-RP）以及无机或有机聚合磷增加量分别为0.027 8～0.101 5、0.013 5～0.081 0、0.2165～0.430 5、23.4～54.8和7.2～21.5 mg.g-1;且总体而言,HRT越长,污泥中与不同金属结合的磷增加量就越大。从HRT、磷和有机物的去除效果以及沼气产气速率3个方面综合考虑,猪场废水厌氧消化反应器的HRT控制在3 d为宜。     

N2O emission from a sequencing batch reactor for biological N and P removal from wastewater

Nitrous oxide （N2O） is a greenhouse gas that can be released during biological nitrogen removal from wastewater. N2O emission from a sequencing batch reactor （SBR） for biological nitrogen and phosphorus removal from wastewater was investigated, and the aims were to examine which process, nitrification or denitrification, would contribute more to N2Oemission and to study the effects of heterotrophic activities on N2O emission during nitrification. The results showed that N2O emission was mainly attributed to nitrification rather than to denitrification. N2O emission during denitrification mainly occurred with stored organic carbon as the electron donor. During nitrification, NaO emission was increased with increasing initial ammonium or nitrite concentrations. The ratio of N2O emission to the removed ammonium nitrogen （N2O- N/NH4-N） was 2.5% in the SBR system with high heterotrophic activities, while this ratio was in the range from 0.14% to 1.06% in batch nitrification experiments with limited heterotrophic activities.     

Impact of photosynthesis and transpiration on nitrogen removal in constructed wetlands

To determine the impact of photosynthesis and transpiration on nitrogen removal in wetlands, an artificial wetland planted with reeds was constructed to treat highly concentrated domestic wastewater. Under different meteorological and hydraulic conditions, the daily changes of photosynthesis and transpiration of reeds, as well as nitrogen removal efficiency were measured. It was found that net photosynthesis rate per unit leaf area was maintained on a high level (average 19.0 μmol CO₂/(m²·s)) from 10:00 to 14:00 in July 2004 and reached a peak of 21.1 μmol CO₂/(m²·s) when Photon Flux Density was high during the day. Meanwhile, TN and NH₄ ⁺-N removal efficiency rose to 79.6% and 89.6%, respectively—the maximum values observed in the test. Correlation coefficient analysis demonstrated a positive correlation among photon flux density, net photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, and TN and NH₄ ⁺-N removal efficiency. In contrast, there was a negative correlation between stomatal conductance and TN and NH₄ ⁺-N removal efficiency. Results suggest that the photosynthesis and transpiration of wetland plants have a great impact on nitrogen removal efficiency of wetlands, which can be enhanced by an increase in the photosynthesis and transpiration rate. In addition, the efficiency of water usage by reeds and nitrogen removal efficiency could be affected by the water level in wetlands; a higher level boosts nitrogen removal efficiency.