In-situ utilization of nitrogen-rich wastewater discharged from a biotrickling filter as a moisture conditioning agent for composting: Insights into nitrogen transformation behavior and microbial mechanism

Dong Xie; Min Yang; Shuang Zhang; Mingyue Xu; Jie Meng; Chuanfu Wu; Qunhui Wang; Shu Liu

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2022.128362

In-situ utilization of nitrogen-rich wastewater discharged from a biotrickling filter as a moisture conditioning agent for composting: Insights into nitrogen transformation behavior and microbial mechanism

Bioresour Technol. 2023 Feb:369:128362. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2022.128362. Epub 2022 Nov 21.

Authors

Dong Xie¹, Min Yang², Shuang Zhang², Mingyue Xu², Jie Meng², Chuanfu Wu³, Qunhui Wang⁴, Shu Liu⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Engineering, School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 30 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, China; Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
² Department of Environmental Engineering, School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 30 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, China.
³ Department of Environmental Engineering, School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 30 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, China; Beijing Key Laboratory on Resource-oriented Treatment of Industrial Pollutants, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 30 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, China. Electronic address: wucf@ustb.edu.cn.
⁴ Department of Environmental Engineering, School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 30 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, China; Beijing Key Laboratory on Resource-oriented Treatment of Industrial Pollutants, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 30 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, China.
⁵ Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, School of Space and Environment, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China.

PMID: 36423771
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2022.128362

Abstract

An NH₄⁺-NO₂^--rich wastewater discharged from a composting-biotrickling filter coupled system can be reused as a composting moisture adjustment agent. To investigate the impact mechanism of reuse, NH₄⁺-NO₂^--rich wastewater, NH₄⁺-rich wastewater, NO₂^--rich wastewater, and distilled water were added into the composting (i.e., AMN, AAN, ANO2, and ADW groups). Results show that compost of all groups met the corresponding criteria for stabilization, humification, and non-phytotoxicity of mature compost. AMN increased organic-N and NO₃^--N content and reduced NH₃ emissions, like AAN or ANO2, and avoid stimulating N₂O emission in AAN and ANO2. Furthermore, LEfSe analysis of microorganisms revealed that AMN reduced NH₃ emissions and increase organic-N content probably due to the inhibition of Alphaproteobacteria by ammonium, and increased nitrate content probably due to the stimulation of Aquamicrobium by nitrite. The avoided N₂O emission is probably due to a negative synergistic effect on the stimulation from ammonia and nitrite to denitrifying bacteria (eg., Sphingobacteriaceae).

Keywords: Biotrickling filter; Composting; Microbial analysis; Nitrogen conversion; Nitrogenous wastewater.

MeSH terms

Ammonia / analysis
Composting*
Manure
Nitrites
Nitrogen Dioxide
Nitrogen* / analysis
Soil
Wastewater

Substances

Nitrogen
Wastewater
Nitrites
Nitrogen Dioxide
Soil
Ammonia
Manure