Impact of reactor configuration on anammox process start-up: MBR versus SBR.

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) is an energy saving biological nitrogen removal process which was limited to slow growth rate of anammox bacteria during start-up period. This study investigated the start-up of anammox process by a laboratory sequential batch reactor (SBR) for 218 days and subsequently modified the reactor as a membrane bioreactor (MBR) for 178 days. Modification of a SBR as MBR with installation of an external membrane module resulted in acceleration of specific anammox activity by 19 times. The acceleration of specific anammox activity with MBR was further confirmed by starting-up another MBR for a 242 day period. Molecular microbial analyses showed that Candidatus "Brocadia anammoxidans" and Candidatus "Kuenenia stuttgartiensis" were the dominant species in the inocula and biomass developed in the reactor. The start-up with MBR appeared to be more effective than SBR for the enrichment of anammox bacteria due to high sludge retention property of MBR configuration.

[1]  B. Gao,et al.  Interaction of anammox bacteria and inactive methanogenic granules under high nitrogen selective pressure. , 2010, Bioresource technology.

[2]  Chong-Jian Tang,et al.  Start-up and inhibition analysis of the Anammox process seeded with anaerobic granular sludge , 2009, Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology.

[3]  S. Giovannoni,et al.  High-Throughput Methods for Culturing Microorganisms in Very-Low-Nutrient Media Yield Diverse New Marine Isolates , 2002, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[4]  P. Zheng,et al.  Suppression of anaerobic ammonium oxidizers under high organic content in high-rate Anammox UASB reactor. , 2010, Bioresource technology.

[5]  H. Siegrist,et al.  Full-scale nitrogen removal from digester liquid with partial nitritation and anammox in one SBR. , 2009, Environmental science & technology.

[6]  M. Loosdrecht,et al.  Sewage Treatment with Anammox , 2010, Science.

[7]  M. V. van Loosdrecht,et al.  The membrane bioreactor: A novel tool to grow anammox bacteria as free cells , 2008, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[8]  R. Amann,et al.  Revising the nitrogen cycle in the Peruvian oxygen minimum zone , 2009, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[9]  Hanqing Yu,et al.  Microbial and Physicochemical Characteristics of Compact Anaerobic Ammonium-Oxidizing Granules in an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactor , 2010, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[10]  J. J. Heijnen,et al.  The sequencing batch reactor as a powerful tool for the study of slowly growing anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing microorganisms , 1998, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology.

[11]  S. Okabe,et al.  Development of high-rate anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing (anammox) biofilm reactors. , 2007, Water research.

[12]  Marc Strous,et al.  Ammonium removal from concentrated waste streams with the anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Anammox) process in different reactor configurations , 1997 .

[13]  P. Zheng,et al.  Floatation and control of granular sludge in a high-rate anammox reactor. , 2010, Water research.

[14]  J. Galloway,et al.  Transformation of the Nitrogen Cycle: Recent Trends, Questions, and Potential Solutions , 2008, Science.

[15]  Chong-Jian Tang,et al.  Enrichment features of anammox consortia from methanogenic granules loaded with high organic and methanol contents. , 2010, Chemosphere.

[16]  Dawen Gao,et al.  Current research and development of controlling membrane fouling of MBR , 2009 .

[17]  M. V. van Loosdrecht,et al.  Startup of reactors for anoxic ammonium oxidation: experiences from the first full-scale anammox reactor in Rotterdam. , 2007, Water research.

[18]  Marc Strous,et al.  Key Physiology of Anaerobic Ammonium Oxidation , 1999, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[19]  K. Schleifer,et al.  Molecular evidence for genus level diversity of bacteria capable of catalyzing anaerobic ammonium oxidation. , 2000, Systematic and applied microbiology.

[20]  J. Georgiadis,et al.  Science and technology for water purification in the coming decades , 2008, Nature.

[21]  H Temmink,et al.  Autotrophic nitrogen removal from black water: calcium addition as a requirement for settleability. , 2011, Water research.

[22]  M. Wagner,et al.  Biomarkers for In Situ Detection of Anaerobic Ammonium-Oxidizing (Anammox) Bacteria , 2005, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[23]  Lesley A. Robertson,et al.  Autotrophic growth of anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing micro-organisms in a fluidized bed reactor , 1996 .

[24]  J. G. Kuenen,et al.  Anaerobic ammonium oxidation discovered in a denitrifying fluidized bed reactor , 1995 .

[25]  K. Schleifer,et al.  Combined Molecular and Conventional Analyses of Nitrifying Bacterium Diversity in Activated Sludge: Nitrosococcus mobilis and Nitrospira-Like Bacteria as Dominant Populations , 1998, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[26]  A. Stams,et al.  Microbial diversity and community structure of a highly active anaerobic methane-oxidizing sulfate-reducing enrichment. , 2009, Environmental microbiology.

[27]  J. G. Kuenen,et al.  Copyright � 1995, American Society for Microbiology Anaerobic Oxidation of Ammonium Is a Biologically Mediated Process , 1994 .

[28]  Hanqing Yu,et al.  Identification and quantification of anammox bacteria in eight nitrogen removal reactors. , 2010, Water research.

[29]  D. Gao,et al.  Comparison of Ca2+ and Mg2+ enhancing aerobic granulation in SBR. , 2010, Journal of hazardous materials.

[30]  A. Stams,et al.  Enrichment of anaerobic methanotrophs in sulfate‐reducing membrane bioreactors , 2009, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[31]  C. Vannini,et al.  Nitrite inhibition and intermediates effects on Anammox bacteria: a batch-scale experimental study. , 2010 .

[32]  Dawen Gao,et al.  Kinetic model for biological nitrogen removal using shortcut nitrification-denitrification process in sequencing batch reactor. , 2010, Environmental science & technology.

[33]  B. Ward,et al.  Denitrification as the dominant nitrogen loss process in the Arabian Sea , 2009, Nature.

[34]  Jun-xin Liu,et al.  Decomposition and mineralization of aquatic humic substances (AHS) in treating landfill leachate using the Anammox process. , 2009, Chemosphere.

[35]  A. E. Greenberg,et al.  Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater : supplement to the sixteenth edition , 1988 .