An iron-carbon-activated carbon and zeolite composite filter, anaerobic-aerobic integrated denitrification device for nitrogen removal in low C/N ratio sewage

Abstract

In this study, we use an anaerobic-aerobic integrated denitrification (Fe/C-ZACID) device with an iron-carbon-activated carbon and zeolite composite filter to remove nitrogen from simulated low carbon-nitrogen ratio (C/N) sewage. The impacts of dissolved oxygen (DO) level, hydraulic retention time (HRT), C/N and nitrate recirculation ratio on denitrification performance were studied. The results show that when HRT was 6 h, DO was 3 ± 0.1 mg/L, influent C/N was 3, and nitrate recirculation ratio was 100%, and removal rates of 95% for ammonia and 85% for total nitrogen (TN) were achieved. A beaker comparison test demonstrated that this synergistic denitrification system included heterotrophic denitrification, physicochemical denitrification, iron autotrophic denitrification and hydrogen autotrophic denitrification, etc. The Fe/C-ZACID device has a high-efficiency nitrogen removal effect for low C/N ratio sewage and strong shock resistance, which provides technical support and a theoretical basis for advanced denitrification of rural domestic sewage.