Study on Nitrite Accumulation Characteristics and Nitrifying Population Dynamics at Different Growth Environments

Authors: Yunxia Zhang, Jiti Zhou, Jianbo Guo, Xiuhong Zhang, Lihong Zhao, Shouzhi Yuan

Abstract:

Novel nitrogen removal technologies via nitrite pathway attract increasing interest in recent years. In this study, batch experiments were performed to investigate nitrite accumulation characteristics and shifts in nitrifying community structure at different growth environments including ammonia concentration, pH and alkalinity. It was found that nitrite accumulation ratios were maintained at around 95% at studied conditions, and the optimum pH and Alk/N (ratio between alkalinity and nitrogen) for ammonium oxidization were 8.5 and 8.33, respectively. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis of nitrifying bacteria showed that high free ammonia (from influent ammonium or caused by high pH) significantly altered the structure of nitrifying community, leading to abundance of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), especially Nitrososmonas, and inhibition of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB). The results suggest that free ammonia plays more important role than other studied conditions on nitrite accumulation.

Keywords: Partial nitrification, Nitrite accumulation, Nitrifyingbacteria, Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1085259

References:

[1] Michael R, Aoife L, Xiao LW (2006) Carbon and nitrogen removal using a novel horizontal flow biofilm system. Process Biochemistry 41: 2270-2275.
[2] Verstraete W, Philips S (1998) Nitrification-denitrification processes and technologies in new contexts. Environ Pollut 102: 717-726.
[3] Park DH, Daniel R, Noguera (2004) Evaluating the effect of dissolved oxygen on ammonia-oxidizing bacteria communities in activated sludge. Water Research 38: 3275-3286.
[4] Kim DG, Kim SH (2006) Effect of nitrite concentration on the distribution and competition of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria in nitratation reactor systems and their kinetic characteristics. Water Research 40: 887-894.
[5] Abeling U, Seyfried CF (1992) Anaerobic-aerobic treatment of highstrength ammonia wastewater nitrogen removal via nitrite. Water Sci Technol 26: 1007-1015
[6] Ciudad G, lez R Gonza', Bornhardt C, Antileo C (2007) Modes of operation and pH control as enhancement factors for partial nitrification with oxygen transport limitation. Water Research 636: 1-9.
[7] Kim DJ, Chang JS, Lee DI, Han DW, Yoo IK, Cha GC (2003) Nitrification of high strength ammonia wastewater and nitrite accumulation characteristics. Water Sci Technol 4711: 45-51.
[8] Fdz-Polanco F, Villaverde S, Garcia PA (1996) Nitrite accumulation in submerged biofilters-combined effects. Water Sci Technol 343: 371- 378.
[9] Amann RI (1995) In situ identification of micro-organisms by whole cell hybridization with rRNA-targeted nucleic acid probes. Kluwer Academic Publishers.
[10] Koops HP, Pommerening-Roser A (2001) Distribution and ecophysiology of the nitrifying bacteria emphasizing cultured species. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 37: 1-9.
[11] APHA (1998) Stand methods for the examination of waster and wastewater. American Public Health Association, Washington, DC.
[12] Amann RI, Binder BJ, Olson RJ (1990) Combination of 16S rDNAtargeted ologomucleotide probes with flow cytometry for analyzing mixed microbial populations. Appl Environ Microbiol 56: 1919-1925.
[13] Mobarry BK, Wagner M, Urbain V, Rittmann BE, Stahl DA (1996) Phylogenetic probes for analyzing abundance and spatial organization of nitrifying bacteria. Appl Environ Biotechnol 62: 2156-2162.
[14] Wagner M, Rath G, Koops HP, Flood J, Amann R (1996) In situ analysis of nitrifying bacteria in sewage treatment plants. Water Sci Technol 34: 237-244.
[15] Daims H, Nielsen P, Nielsen JL (2000) Novel nitrospira-like bacteria as dominant nitrite-oxidizers in biofilm from wastewater treatment plants: diversity and in situ physiology. Water Sci Technol 41: 85-90.
[16] Jih CG, Huang JS, Lin HJ, Chou HH (2008) Comparative kinetic behavior of nitrifiers with different growth environments. Bioresource Technology 99: 3484-3490.
[17] Stehr G, Bottcher B, Dittberner P, Rath G, Koops HP (1995) The ammonia-oxidizing nitrifying population of the river Elbe estuary. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 17: 177-186.
[18] Turk O, Mavinic DS (1989) Maintaining nitrite build-up in a system acclimated to free ammonia. Water Research 23: 1383-1388.
[19] Park SJ, Bae W, Chung JW, Baek SC (2007) Empirical model of the pH dependence of the maximum specific nitrification rate. Process Biochemistry 42: 1671-1676.
[20] Anthonisen AC, Loehr RC, Prakasam TBS, Srimath EG (1976) Inhibition of nitrification of ammonia and nitrous acid. J Water Pollution Control Fed 485: 835-852.