Autotrophic Nitrogen Removal in a Membrane-Aerated Biofilm Reactor Under Continuous Aeration: A Demonstration

This work describes the successful coupling of partial nitrification (nitritation) and anaerobic ammonium oxidation in a membrane-aerated biofilm reactor (MABR) with continuous aeration. Controlling the relative surface loadings of oxygen versus ammonium prevented complete nitrite oxidation and allowed anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (AnaerAOB) to develop and be retained for >250 days. Daily autotrophic nitrogen removal of 1.7 g N/m2 (75% of influent N load) was achieved at an oxygen/nitrogen surface loading ratio of 2.2, with up to 85% of the influent N proceeding through AnaerAOB. During early nitritation, nitrogen oxide (NO(g), NO2(g), and N2O(g)) emissions comprised up to 10% of the removed influent nitrogen, but emissions disappeared after proliferation of AnaerAOB. Microbial communities were radially stratified, with aerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (AerAOB) colonizing nearest to and AnaerAOB furthest from the membrane. Despite the presence of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria, this work demonstrated that these autotrophic processes can be successfully coupled in an MABR with continuous aeration, achieving the benefits of competitive specific N removal rates and the elimination of gaseous nitrogen oxide emissions.