Removal of ammonium and nitrate through Anammox and FeS-driven autotrophic denitrification

Abstract

● Simultaneous NH₄⁺/NO₃^– removal was achieved in the FeS denitrification system

● Anammox coupled FeS denitrification was responsible for NH₄⁺/NO₃^– removal

● Sulfammox, Feammox and Anammox occurred for NH₄⁺ removal

● Thiobacillus, Nitrospira , and Ca. Kuenenia were key functional microorganisms

An autotrophic denitrifying bioreactor with iron sulfide (FeS) as the electron donor was operated to remove ammonium (NH₄⁺) and nitrate (NO₃⁻) synergistically from wastewater for more than 298 d. The concentration of FeS greatly affected the removal of NH₄⁺/NO₃⁻. Additionally, a low hydraulic retention time worsened the removal efficiency of NH₄⁺/NO₃⁻. When the hydraulic retention time was 12 h, the optimal removal was achieved with NH₄⁺ and NO₃⁻ removal percentages both above 88%, and the corresponding nitrogen removal loading rates of NH₄⁺ and NO₃⁻ were 49.1 and 44.0 mg/(L·d), respectively. The removal of NH₄⁺ mainly occurred in the bottom section of the bioreactor through sulfate/ferric reducing anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Sulfammox/Feammox), nitrification, and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Anammox) by functional microbes such as Nitrospira, Nitrosomonas, and Candidatus Kuenenia. Meanwhile, NO₃⁻ was mainly removed in the middle and upper sections of the bioreactor through autotrophic denitrification by Ferritrophicum, Thiobacillus, Rhodanobacter, and Pseudomonas, which possessed complete denitrification-related genes with high relative abundances.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Anammox / Denitrification / FeS / NH ₄ ⁺/NO ₃ ⁻ / Sulfammox

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