Removal of High-Strength Ammonia Nitrogen in Biofilters: Nitrifying Bacterial Community Compositions and Their Effects on Nitrogen Transformation

Abstract

Increasing attention has been given to the treatment of livestock and poultry wastewater because of its high ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N) content and low carbon/nitrogen ratio (C/N). Ceramic filter medium (CFM) and dewatered aluminum sludge (DAS), which are products from cast-off materials, are used as small-scale combined biological filters (CFM-DAS) for wastewater treatment. The high and stale removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand (COD), NH4+-N, and total nitrogen (TN) in the DAS filter indicate that DAS plays a major role in pollutant removal. Although significant differences are found between the composition of nitrifying bacteria in CFM and DAS, the structures of nitrifying communities are evenly distributed in each layer of CFM or DAS irrespective of the running time. Microbial compositions are attributed to the comprehensive effect of various environmental factors such as pH and TN at effluents. In the DAS, Nitrosospira shows significant negative correlation with the concentrations of NH4+-N in effluents, whereas it has positive correlation with NO3−-N, and Nitrososphaera has a significant negative correlation with NO3−-N in effluents. Pearson correlation test reveals that certain genera may be used in estimating or predicting NH4+-N consumption and NO3−-N accumulation in CFM-DAS for treating sewage with a high NH4+-N content.

Simultaneous Stripping of Ammonia from Leachate: Experimental Insights and Key Microbial Players

“…There is a lack of data combining microbial temporal dynamics with nitrogen removal in systems treating LFL or high-strength N-NH 4 wastewaters. For example, Peng et al [52] studied the bacterial community in biofilters treating synthetic wastewater with a low carbon/nitrogen ratio. The authors made an attempt to find the relationship between the nitrogen concentrations in effluent and relative abundances of the dominant nitrifying bacteria identified on filter media.…”

Ammonia Concentrator for Repeatable Adsorption/Desorption Using Nickel Hexacyanoferrate as Adsorbent and Production of Solid Ammonium Bicarbonate

“…A key solution toward achieving this sustainability lies in the recovery and reuse of NH 3 . There are various ways to remove NH 3 from waste gas such as water scrubbing, ultraviolet light, catalytic reactions, − and biofilters, − but they are not intended for the reuse of NH 3. For example, water scrubbing, a commonly employed method for ammonia removal, falls short in terms of selectivity for the efficient reuse of NH 3 .…”