Biological Sulfur and Nitrogen Removal from Wastewater

Based on the summary of biotechnology principles and common processes for the separated desulfurization and denitrogenation in organic wastewater treatment, two novel biotechnologies for simultaneous sulfur and nitrogen removal, which developed from sulfide-dependent denitrification (denitrification with sulfide as electron donor) and sulfate-dependent ANAMMOX (anaerobic ammonium oxidation with sulfate as electron acceptor), were introduced. The reaction mechanism, operating conditions and functional organisms for the new techniques were described. It is considered that the novel process of simultaneous sulfur and nitrogen removal would be of grate benefit to the treatment of wastewater with high sulfate and ammonia in efficiency-improving, energy-saving and resource recovery.