Over the last 30 years, the successful implementation of the anammox process has attracted research interest from all over the world. Various reactor configurations were investigated for the anammox process. However, the construction of the anammox process is a delicate topic in regards to the high sensitivity of the biological reaction. To better understand the effects of configurations on the anammox performance, process-kinetic models and activity kinetic models were critically overviewed, respectively. A significant difference in the denitrification capabilities was observed even with similar dominated functional species of anammox with different configurations. Although the kinetic analysis gained insight into the feasibility of both batch and continuous processes, most models were often applied to match the kinetic data in an unsuitable manner. The validity assessment illustrated that the Grau second-order model and Stover-Kincannon model were the most appropriate and shareable reactor-kinetic models for different anammox configurations. This review plays an important role in the anammox process performance assessment and augmentation of the process control.
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