Achieving Partial Nitrification via Intermittent Aeration in SBR and Short-Term Effects of Different C/N Ratios on Reactor Performance and Microbial Community Structure

• Main Authors: Zhengyao Zhou, Meixia Qi, Hongping Wang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-12-01
• Series: Water
• Subjects: partial nitrification; intermittent aeration; C/N ratio; high-throughput sequencing; microbial community
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/12/3485

A sequencing batch reactor (SBR) with an intermittent aeration mode was established to achieve partial nitrification (PN) and the short-term effects of C/N ratios were investigated. Stable nitrite accumulation was achieved after 107 cycles, about 56d, with the average ammonia nitrogen removal efficiency (ARE) and nitrite accumulation rate (NAR) of 96.92% and 82.49%, respectively. When the C/N ratios decreased from 4.64 to 3.87 and 2.32, ARE and NAR still kept a stable and high level. However, when the C/N ratio further decreased to 0.77, nitrite accumulation became fluctuation, and ARE, total nitrogen (TN), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal performance declined obviously. Except for four common phyla (<i>Proteobacteria</i>, <i>Bacteroidetes</i>, <i>Chloroflexi,</i> and <i>Acidobacteria</i>) in the wastewater treatment system, <i>Patescibacteria</i>, the newly defined superphylum, was found and became the most dominant phylum in the PN sludge for their ultra-small cell size. The only ammonia oxidation bacteria (AOB), <i>Nitrosomonas</i>, and nitrite oxidation bacteria (NOB), <i>Nitrospira</i>, were detected. The relative abundance of NOB was low at different C/N ratios, showing the stable and effective inhibition effects of intermittent aeration on NOB growth.