Nitrogen removal efficiencies and microbial communities in full-scale IFAS and MBBR municipal wastewater treatment plants at high COD:N ratio

Highlights

• Two IFAS and two MBBR full-scale systems (high COD:N ratio 8:1) were characterized.

• High specific surface area carriers grew and retained slow-growing nitrifiers.

• High TN removal is related to high SRT and low DO concentration in anoxic tanks.

Abstract

The relative locations of AOB, NOB, and DNB were examined for three different kinds of carriers in two types of hybrid biofilm process configurations: integrated fixed-film activated sludge (IFAS) and moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) processes. IFAS water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) used Anodkalness^TM K1 carriers (KC) at Broomfield, Colorado, USA and polypropylene resin carriers (RC) at Fukuoka, Japan, while MBBR WRRFs used KC carriers at South Adams County, Colorado, USA and sponge carriers (SC) at Saga, Japan. Influent COD to N ratios ranged from 8:1 to 15:1. The COD and BOD removal efficiencies were high (96%–98%); NH₄⁺-N and TN removal efficiencies were more varied at 72%–98% and 64%–77%, respectively. The extent of TN removal was higher at high SRT, high COD:N ratio and low DO concentration in the anoxic tank. In IFAS, RC with high specific surface area (SSA) maintained higher AOB population than KC. Sponge carriers with high SSA maintained higher overall bacteria population than KC in MBBR systems. However, the DNB were not more abundant in high SSA carriers. The diversity of AOB, NOB, and DNB was fairly similar in different carriers. Nitrosomonas sp. dominated over Nitrosospira sp. while denitrifying bacteria included Rhodobacter sp., Sulfuritalea sp., Rubrivivax sp., Paracoccus sp., and Pseudomonas sp. The results from this work suggest that high SRT, high COD:N ratio, low DO concentration in anoxic tanks, and carriers with greater surface area may be recommended for high COD, BOD and TN removal in WRRFs with IFAS and MBBR systems.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

IFAS / MBBR / Anodkalness^TM K1 carrier / Polypropylene resin carrier / Sponge carrier

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Acknowledgements

This research study was financially supported by the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) (#105/2563), Faculty of Engineering Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand (Post Doc. 62/08.ENV) and Kasetsart University Research and Development Institute (KURDI) (#ENV/2563). The authors also thank Ms. Nimaradee Boonapatcharoen and Dr. Somkiet Techkarnjanaruk at Pilot Plant Development and Training Institute, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (Bangkuntien) for giving helpful suggestions on molecular techniques.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-020-1374-2 and is accessible for authorized users.

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