Continuous-flow membrane bioreactor enhances enrichment and culture of autotrophic nitrifying bacteria by removing extracellular free organic carbon

An activated sludge system can be inoculated with enriched nitrifying bacteria to enhance NH4+-N removal, or enriched nitrifying bacteria can be added directly to a river to remove NH4+-N. However, the enrichment culture is still generally inefficient and the technical bottleneck has not been clarified. Previous studies have shown that extracellular free organic carbon (EFOC) inhibits the growth of some autotrophic bacteria, and separating EFOC during culture with a membrane bioreactor (MBR) promotes the continuous growth of autotrophic bacteria and CO2 fixation. However, whether a membrane bioreactor can also be used to enrich and culture autotrophic nitrifying bacteria by separating EFOC has not been verified. In this study, an MBR was constructed to separate EFOC during the culture of nitrifying bacteria in activated sludge to confirm that the MBR better enriches and cultures nitrifying bacteria than a sequencing batch reactor (SBR). Our results showed that after culture for 34 days, the rate of NH4+-N removal and the nitrification rate by nitrifying bacteria in the MBR were 2.20-fold and 1.42-fold higher than in the SBR, respectively. The abundance of Nitrospira in the MBR was also 7.23-fold greater than in the SBR at the end of the experimental period. After 34 days, the average concentration of EFOC and the average EFOC/bacterial organic carbon ratio in the MBR were only 53% and 37% of those in the SBR, respectively. A correlation analysis suggested that the timely removal by the MBR of the EFOC generated during the culture process may be an important factor in promoting the growth of autotrophic nitrifying bacteria. The possible mechanism by which the MBR separates EFOC to the growth of promote autotrophic nitrifying bacteria is discussed from the perspective of the inhibitory effect of EFOC on cbb gene transcription. Our experimental results suggest a new approach to enhancing the enrichment of autotrophic nitrifying bacteria and extending the application of MBRs.