Advances in the Efficient Enrichment of Anammox Bacteria

Abstract

Anaerobic ammonia oxidation (anammox) process is known as a low-energy and environmentally friendly process for treating nitrogen-rich wastewater. Anammox bacteria are the key microorganisms to achieve this biological process. However, the efficient enrichment of anammox bacteria has been a bottleneck for its practical application because of their slow growth and high sensitivity, and no pure culture has been found. Therefore, the development of efficient anammox bacterial enrichment techniques is of great theoretical and application value. Solving the problem of anammox bacterial activity and improving the process denitrification performance is one of the current research hotspots. In this paper, three aspects of anammox bacteria are described in terms of their physiological properties, environmental influencing factors, and short-term starvation tolerance; a systematic review of the latest research progress in accelerating the activity of anammox bacteria using enrichment strategies for process regulation, the construction of granulation models, suspended sludge biomass management, and strain preservation. Finally, the future frontier development of anammox bacteria was discussed and foreseen.