Manometric measurements of temperature influence on Anammox activity

Abstract

Wastewater treatment plants face more stringent effluent limits, especially with regard to total nitrogen, which force them to consider sidestream nitrogen removal from digested sludge dewatering liquor which can contain up to 20% of incoming nitrogen load. One of the most promising technologies for sidestream nitrogen removal is the deammonification process which is based on partial short-cut nitrification and the Anammox process. Anammox process is an anaerobic ammonia oxidation with nitrite conducted by slowly growing autotrophic bacteria. Ensuring adequate activity of sensitive Anammox bacteria is a key condition for effective deammonification. As the main product of Anammox bacteria is the nitrogen gas, the assessment of Anammox activity can be based on manometric measurements which are a relatively simple and cost-effective alternative to traditional tests involving determination of soluble nitrogen forms. This paper presents the principles of manometric method as well as results of temperature influence on Anammox activity obtained in a commercially available lab-scale set-up.