Nitrification–Autotrophic Denitrification Using Elemental Sulfur as an Electron Donor in a Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR): Performance and Kinetic Analysis
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<p>Simultaneous nitrification and autotrophic denitrification (SNAD) has received attention as an efficient biological nitrogen removal alternative. However, SNAD using elemental sulfur (S<sup>0</sup>) has scarcely been studied. Thus, the main objective of this research was to study the behavior of a simultaneous nitrification–autotrophic denitrification operation in a sequential batch reactor (SNAD-SBR) at a lab scale using S<sup>0</sup> as an electron donor, including its kinetics. Two-scale reactors were operated at lab scales in cycles for 155 days with an increasing nitrogen loading rate (NLR: 0.0296 to 0.0511 kg N-NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup>/m<sup>3</sup>/d) at 31 °C. As a result, simultaneous nitrification–autotrophic denitrification using S<sup>0</sup> as an electron donor was performed successfully, with nitrification efficiency of 98.63% and denitrification efficiency of 44.9%, with autotrophic denitrification as the limiting phase. The kinetic model adjusted for ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) was the Monod-type kinetic model (µmax = 0.791 d<sup>?1</sup>), while, for nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB), the Haldane-type model was employed (µmax = 0.822 d<sup>?1</sup>). For denitrifying microorganisms, the kinetic model was adjusted by a half order (k<sub>1/2v</sub> = 0.2054 mg<sup>1/2</sup>/L<sup>1/2</sup>/h). Thus, we concluded that SNAD could be feasible using S<sup>0</sup> as an electron donor, with kinetic behavior similar to that of other processes.</p>
Keywords
SBR, autotrophic denitrification, kinetic parameters, nitrification, SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy