Biological denitrification

Abstract

Principal methods that are specifically employed for the removal of nitrogen from waste water consist mainly of ammonia stripping by air, biological nitrification and denitrification and ion exchange. Both ammonia stripping and ion exchange have been applied at various locations, and design parameters have been developed. However, little information is available on large scale applications of biological denitrification. This paper describes a number of experiments in an effort to investigate methods that may be employed on a larger scale pilot plant unit for reliable biological nitrification and denitrification as an alternative to other physical or chemical methods. The main topics of discussion are: nitrogen transformation in biological processes; process nitrogen losses; denitrification processes; nitrification and denitrification process combinations; and laboratory experiments.