Denitrification of Wastewater Containing High Nitrate Using a Bioreactor System Packed by Microbial Cellulose

Authors: H. Godini, A. Rezaee, A. Jafari, S. H. Mirhousaini

Abstract:

A Laboratory-scale packed bed reactor with microbial cellulose as the biofilm carrier was used to investigate the denitrification of high-strength nitrate wastewater with specific emphasis on the effect the nitrogen loading rate and hydraulic retention time. Ethanol was added as a carbon source for denitrification. As a result of this investigation, it was found that up to 500 mg/l feed nitrate concentration the present system is able to produce an effluent with nitrate content below 10 ppm at 3 h hydraulic retention time. The highest observed denitrification rate was 4.57 kg NO3-N/ (m3 .d) at a nitrate load of 5.64 kg NO3- N/(m3 .d), and removal efficiencies higher than 90% were obtained for loads up to 4.2 kg NO3-N/(m3 .d). A mass relation between COD consumed and NO3-N removed around 2.82 was observed. This continuous-flow bioreactor proved an efficient denitrification system with a relatively low retention time.

Keywords: Biological nitrate removal, Denitrification, Microbial cellulose, Packed-bed reactor.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1080914

References:

[1] C. Y. Yang, D. C. Wu, and C. C. Chang, "Nitrate in drinking water and risk of death from colon cancer in Taiwan," Environ. Int., vol 33, no. 5, pp. 649-653, Jul. 2007.
[2] D. C. Bouchard, M. K. Williams, and R. Y. Surampalli, "Nitrate contamination of groundwater: source and potential health effects," Journal. AWWA, vol. 84, no 9, pp. 85-90, Sep. 1992.
[3] C. E. Boyd, and C. S. Tucker, "Sustainability and Environmental Issues," Pond Aquaculture and Water Quality Management, pp. 601- 624, 1998.
[4] S. Aslan, and H. Cakici, "Biological denitrification of drinking water in a slow sand filter," J. Hazard. Mat., vol. 148, no. 1-2, pp. 253-258, Sep. 2007.
[5] B. Delanghe, F. Nakamura, H. Myoga, Y. Magara, and E. Guibal, "Drinking water denitrification in a membrane bioreactor," Water. Sci. Technol., vol. 30, no. 6, pp. 157-160, Jun. 1994.
[6] S. Sozen, and D. Orhon, "The effect of nitrite correction on the evaluation of the rate of nitrate utilization under anoxic conditions," J. Chem. Technol. Biotechnol., vol. 74, no. 8, pp. 790-800, Jul. 1999.
[7] I. Kessreu, and Z. Kiss, "Biological denitrification in a continuous-flow bioreactor containing immobilized Pseudomonas butanovora cells," Bioresour. Tech., vol. 87, no. 1, pp. 75-80, March. 2003.
[8] X. Dong, and E. W. Tollner, "Evaluation of Anammox and denitri¬fication during anaerobic digestion of poultry manure," Bioresour. Technol., vol. 86, no. 2, pp. 139-145, Jan. 2003.
[9] R. Pujol, M. Hamon, X. Kendel, and H. Lemmel, "Biofilters: flexible, reliable biological reactors," Wat. Sci. Tech., vol. 29, no. 10-11, pp. 33- 38, 1994.
[10] W. W. Eckenfelder, and Y. Argaman, Principles of biological and physical/chemical nitrogen removal, Lewis Publishers, New York, 1991, pp. 3-42.
[11] V. R. Borregaard, "Experience with nutrient removal in fixed-film system at full scale wastewater treatment plants, Wat. Sci. Tech., vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 129-137, 1997.
[12] M. Henze, P. Harremoes, J. A. Cour Jansen and E. Arvin, Wastewater Treatment. "Biological and Chemical Processes (third ed.)," Springer, Berlin, 2002.
[13] S. Manohar, and T. B. Karegoudar, "Degradation of naphthalene by cells of Pseudomonas sp. strain NGK 1 immobilized in alginate, agar and polyacrylamide," Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol., vol. 49, no. 6, pp. 785- 792, Jun. 1998.
[14] A. Rezaee, J. Drayat, and S. B. Mortazavi, "Removal of mercury from chlor-alkali industry wastewater using Acetobacter xylinum cellulose," Am. J. Environ. Sci.,vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 102-105, 2005.
[15] D. Klemm, D. Schumann, and U. Udhardt, "Bacterial synthesized cellulose - artificial blood vessels for microsurgery," Prog. Polym. Sci.,vol. 26, no. 9, pp. 1561-1603, Nov. 2001.
[16] R. Grommen, M. Verhaege, and W. Verstraete, "Removal of nitrate in aquaria by means of electrochemically generated hydrogen gas as electron donor for biological denitrification," Aquacult. Eng., vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 33-39, Jan. 2006.
[17] J. Van Rijn, Y. Tal, and H.J. Schreier, "Denitrification in recirculating systems: theory and applications," Aquacult. Eng., vol. 34, no. 3, pp. 364-376, May. 2006.
[18] W. Fuchs, G. Schatzmayr, and R. Braun, "Nitrate removal from drinking water using a membrane-fixed biofilm reactor," Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol., vol. 48, no. 2, pp. 267-274, August. 1997.
[19] A. ├ås├©y, H. ├ÿdegaard, K. Bach, R. Pujol, and M. Hamon, "Denitrification in a packed bed biofilm reactor (BIOFOR)-experiments with different carbon sources," Water. Res., vol. 32, no. 5, pp. 1463- 1470, May. 1998.
[20] A. Mohseni-Bandpi, and D. J. Elliott, "Groundwater denitrification with alternative carbon sources," Wat. Sci. Tech., vol. 38, no.6, pp. 237-243, 1998.
[21] S. Hallin, C. F. Lindberg, M. Pell, E. Plaza, and B. Carlsson, "Microbial adaptation, process performance and a suggested control strategy in a pre-denitrifying system with ethanol dosage," Wat. Sci. Tech., vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 91-99, 1996.
[22] S. Hasselblad, and S. Hallin, "Intermittent dosage of ethanol in a predenitrifying activated sludge process," Wat. Sci. Tech., vol. 34, no 1-2, pp. 387-389, 1996.
[23] W. J. B. Saliling, P. W. Westerman, and T. M. Losordo, "Wood chips and wheat straw as alternative biofilter media for denitrification reactors treating aquaculture and other wastewaters with high nitrate concentrations," Aquacultur. Eng., vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 222-233, Nov. 2007.
[24] APHA, AWW, WPCF, "Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater," 21th ed, American Public Health Association, Washington, DC, USA, 2005.
[25] M. Dahab, and Y. W. Lee, "Nitrate removal from water supplies using biological denitrification," J. Water. Pollut. Control. Fed., vol. 60, no. 9, pp. 1670-1678, 1998.
[26] A. Mohseni-Bandpi, D. Elliot, and A. Momeny-Mazdeh, "Denitrification of ground water using acetic acid as a carbon source," Wat. Sci. Tech., vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 53-59, 1999.
[27] A. Hirata, Y. Makamura, and S. Tsuneda, "Biological nitrogen removal from industrial wastewater discharged from metal recovery processes," Wat. Sci. Tech., vol. 44, no. 2-3, pp. 171-179, 2001.
[28] Y. Suzuki, T. Maruyama, H. Numata, H. Sato, and M. Asakawa, "Performance of a closed recirculating system with foam separation, nitrification and denitrification units," Aquacult. Eng., vol. 29, no. 3-4, pp. 165-182, December. 2003.
[29] P. Menasveta, T. Panritdam, and P. Sihanonth, "Design and function of a closed, recirculating seawater system with denitrification for the culture of black tiger shrimp broodstock," Aquacult. Eng., vol. 25, no. 1, pp.35- 49, Aug. 2001.
[30] Y. K. Kim, K. Nakano, and T. L. Lee, "On-site nitrate removal of groundwater by an immobilized phychrophilic denitrifier using soluble starch as a carbon source," J. Biosci. Bioeng., vol. 93, no. 3, pp. 303- 308, Mar. 2002.
[31] Y. Tal, A. Nussinovitch, and J. van Rijn, "Nitrate removal in aquariums by immobilized denitrifers," Biotechnol. Prog, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 1019- 1021, 2003.
[32] M. Gomez, J. Gonzalez-Lopez, and E. Honotia-Garcia, "Influence of carbon source on nitrate removal of contaminated groundwater in a dentrifying submerged filter," J. Hazard. Mater, vol. 80, no. 1-3, pp. 69- 80, Dec. 2000.
[33] E. J. Park, J. K. Seo, M. R. Kim, I. H. Jung, and J. Y. Kim, "Salinity acclimation of immobilized freshwater denitrifiers," Aquacult. Eng., vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 169-180, April. 2001.
[34] P. Kesseru, I. Kiss, Z. Bihari, and B. Polyák, "Investigation of the denitrification activity of immobilized Pseudomonas butanovora cells in the presence of different organic substrate," Water. Res., vol. 36, no. 6, pp. 1565-1571, Mar. 2002.
[35] USEPA (US Environmental Protection Agency), "Manual: Nitrogen Control," EPA/625/R-93/010. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC., 1993
[36] Metcalf and Eddy Inc, (Tchobanoglous, G, Burton, FL, and Stensel, HD, Editors), "Wastewater Engineering-Treatment, Disposal and Reuse (fourth ed.)," McGraw-Hill, New York., 2002.
[37] W. D. Robertson, G. I. Ford and P. S. Lombardo "Wood-based filter for nitrate removal in septic systems," Trans. ASAE., vol. 48, no. 1, pp. 121-128, 2005.