Inhibition of free nitrous acid and free ammonia on polyphosphate accumulating organisms: Evidence of insufficient phosphorus removal through nitritation-denitritation

2021 ◽  
Vol 297 ◽  
pp. 113390
Author(s):  
Dimitris Andreadakis ◽  
Constantinos Noutsopoulos ◽  
Gerasimos Fragkiskatos ◽  
Daniel Mamais ◽  
Theodora Misirli ◽  
...  
2011 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 345-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Pijuan ◽  
L. Ye ◽  
Z. Yuan

Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) normally occurs together with nitrogen removal in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). In recent years, efforts have been devoted to remove nitrogen via the nitrite pathway (oxidation of ammonia to nitrite and reduction of nitrite to nitrogen gas without going through nitrate), reducing the requirement for carbon and oxygen in the plant. However nitrite and free nitrous acid (FNA), the protonated species of nitrite, have been shown to cause EBPR deterioration under certain concentrations. This study provides a direct comparison between the different levels of FNA inhibition in the aerobic processes of polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs) and glycogen accumulating organisms (GAOs) by reviewing the studies published in this area. Also, new data is presented assessing the FNA effect on the anaerobic metabolism of these two groups of bacteria. Overall, FNA has shown inhibitory effects on most of the processes involved in the metabolism of PAOs and GAOs. However, the inhibition-initiation levels are different between different processes and, even more importantly between the two groups. In general, PAOs appear to be more affected than GAOs at the same level of FNA, thus giving GAOs competitive advantage over PAOs in EBPR systems when nitrite is present.


2013 ◽  
Vol 68 (9) ◽  
pp. 2035-2041 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. W. Sun ◽  
Y. Bai ◽  
Y. Z. Peng ◽  
H. G. Xie ◽  
X. N. Shi

In this study, a biological system consisting of an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) and anoxic–oxic (A/O) reactor was established for the advanced treatment of high ammonium urban landfill leachate. The inhibitory effect of free ammonia (FA) and free nitrous acid (FNA) on the nitrifying bacterial activity was used to achieve stable nitritation in the A/O reactor. The results demonstrated that the biological system achieved chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN) and NH4+-N removal efficiencies of 95.3, 84.6 and 99.2%, respectively at a low carbon-to-nitrogen ratio of 3:1. Simultaneous denitritation and methanogenesis in the UASB could improve the removal of COD and TN. Nitritation with above 90% nitrite accumulation was successfully achieved in the A/O reactor by synergetic inhibition of FA and FNA on the activity of nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB). Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis showed that ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) was dominant and was considered to be responsible for the satisfactory nitritation performance.


2007 ◽  
Vol 56 (7) ◽  
pp. 89-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
V.M. Vadivelu ◽  
J. Keller ◽  
Z. Yuan

The inhibitory effects of free ammonia (FA) and free nitrous acid (FNA) on the catabolic and anabolic processes of Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter were investigated using a method that allows decoupling the growth and energy generation processes. Lab-scale sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) were operated for the enrichment of Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter. Fluorescent In-Situ Hybridization (FISH) analysis showed that the reactors were 82% and 73% enriched with Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter, respectively. Batch tests were carried out to measure the oxygen uptake rate (OUR) by the enriched cultures at various FA and FNA levels, in the presence (OURwithCO2) or absence (OURwithoutCO2) of inorganic carbon (CO2, HCO3− and CO32−). FA up to 16.0 mgNH3-N.L−1 was not found to have any inhibitory effect on either the catabolic or anabolic processes of the Nitrosomonas culture, but both these processes were inhibited by FNA. While an FNA level of 0.40–0.63 mgHNO2-N.L−1 inhibited the energy production capability of Nitrosomonas by 50%, the growth process of the culture was completely inhibited by FNA at a concentration of 0.40 mgHNO2-N.L−1. Both FA and FNA were found to have strong inhibition on the anabolic processes of Nitrobacter, but with limited inhibitory effects on the catabolism of this culture. The biosynthesis of Nitrobacter was totally inhibited at an FA level of 6.0 mgNH3-N.L−1 (or above) or an FNA level of 0.02 mgHNO2-N.L−1 (or above). At the same level of FA, the energy production capability of Nitrobacter was only inhibited by 12%, whereas an FNA level of up to 0.024 mgHNO2-N.L−1 did not show any inhibition on the energy production of Nitrobacter. Further, these inhibitory effects appears to be much stronger on Nitrobacter than on Nitrosomonas, supporting that FA and FNA inhibition may play a major role in the elimination of nitrite oxidizing bacteria in processes treating wastewater containing a high level of nitrogen.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhijia Miao ◽  
Duo Li ◽  
Shan Guo ◽  
Zhirui Zhao ◽  
Xiaofeng Fang ◽  
...  

The inhibition of free nitrous acid (FNA) on denitrifying phosphorus removal has been widely reported for enhanced biological phosphorus removal; however, few studies focus on the nitrous oxide (N2O) production involved in this process. In this study, the effects of FNA on N2O production and anoxic phosphorus metabolism were investigated using phosphorus-accumulating organisms (PAOs) culture highly enriched (91±4%) inCandidatus Accumulibacter phosphatis. Results show that the FNA concentration notably inhibited anoxic phosphorus metabolism and phosphorus uptake. Poly-β-hydroxyalkanoate (PHA) degradation was completely inhibited when the FNA concentration was approximately 0.0923 mgHNO2-N/L. Higher initial FNA concentrations (0.00035 to 0.0103 mgHNO2-N/L) led to more PHA consumption/TN (0.444 to 0.916 mmol-C/(mmol-N·gVSS)). Moreover, it was found that FNA, rather than nitrite and pH, was likely the true inhibitor of N2O production. The highest proportion of N2O to TN was 78.42% at 0.0031 mgHNO2-N/L (equivalent to 42.44 mgNO2-N/L at pH 7.5), due to the simultaneous effects of FNA on the subsequent conversion of NO2into N2O and then into N2. The traditional nitrite knee point can only indicate the exhaustion of nitrite, instead of the complete removal of TN.


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