Immobilized cell augmented activated sludge process for enhanced nitrogen removal from wastewater

Water Environ Res. 2007 Oct;79(11):2325-35. doi: 10.2175/106143007x184177.

Abstract

The immobilized cell augmented activated sludge (ICAAS) system combines a cell immobilization technique and an offline enricher-reactor for the bioaugmentation of the activated sludge system to improve treatment performances. In this study, enhanced nitrogen removal using ICAAS was investigated. Laboratory-scale, offline, batch enricher-reactors were used to maintain nitrification and denitrification activities of coimmobilized nitrifiers and denitrifiers used to augment a laboratory-scale completely mixed activated sludge system (CMAS) treating synthetic wastewater. Cellulose triacetate was the media used to entrap nitrifiers and denitrifiers at a 2:1 mass ratio. The ICAAS augmented with the coimmobilized cells between 5 and 20% by volume gained 24 +/- 5% higher nitrogen removal than a control CMAS, which provided nitrogen removal of 28 +/- 7%. The ICAAS scheme is a viable alternative for upgrading existing activated sludge systems to gain better nitrogen removal. .

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study

MeSH terms

  • Bacteria / metabolism
  • Biodegradation, Environmental
  • Bioreactors
  • Cells, Immobilized
  • Cellulose / analogs & derivatives
  • Cellulose / chemistry
  • Nitrogen / metabolism*
  • Sewage / chemistry*
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical / metabolism*
  • Water Purification / methods*

Substances

  • Sewage
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical
  • Cellulose
  • cellulose triacetate
  • Nitrogen