Enhancing the nitrogen removal of anammox by treating municipal wastewater with sludge fermentation products in a continuous flow reactor

In this study, a novel process was developed to treat real sewage with a low chemical oxygen demand/total nitrogen ratio (COD/TN = 3.2) and to obtain enhanced nitrogen removal through Anaerobic ammonia oxidation (anammox). Anaerobic/aerobic/anoxic/aerobic (AOAO) reactor processes were amended with a fixed anammox biofilm in the anoxic zone. During an operational period of 212 days, an average effluent TN of 13.7 mg/L with a removal efficiency of 72.0% was obtained with an influent of 47.0 mg/L ammonium. Mass balance analysis suggested that the anammox resulted in removal of 33.6% of the TN. Besides, by adding sludge fermentation products, nitrite accumulation occurred via nitration while in the aerobic zone for the anammox process. This study demonstrated an alternative way to apply a sewage anammox process via excess sludge fermentation products triggering nitrite production in a continuous flow reactor. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd