Aerobic Denitrification Enhanced by Immobilized Slow-Released Iron/Activated Carbon Aquagel Treatment of Low C/N Micropolluted Water: Denitrification Performance, Denitrifying Bacterial Community Co-occurrence, and Implications

Ben Ma; Haihan Zhang; Tinglin Huang; Shengnan Chen; Weimin Sun; Wanqiu Yang; Limin Niu; Xiang Liu; Hanyan Liu; Sixuan Pan; Huan Liu; Xiaoli Zhang

doi:10.1021/acs.est.2c08770

Aerobic Denitrification Enhanced by Immobilized Slow-Released Iron/Activated Carbon Aquagel Treatment of Low C/N Micropolluted Water: Denitrification Performance, Denitrifying Bacterial Community Co-occurrence, and Implications

Environ Sci Technol. 2023 Apr 4;57(13):5252-5263. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.2c08770. Epub 2023 Mar 21.

Authors

Ben Ma^{1

2}, Haihan Zhang^{1

2}, Tinglin Huang^{1

2}, Shengnan Chen^{1

2}, Weimin Sun^{3

4}, Wanqiu Yang^{1

2}, Limin Niu^{1

2}, Xiang Liu^{1

2}, Hanyan Liu^{1

2}, Sixuan Pan^{1

2}, Huan Liu^{1

2}, Xiaoli Zhang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Environmental Engineering, Key Laboratory of Northwest Water Resource, Environment and Ecology, MOE, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China.
² School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China.
³ National-Regional Joint Engineering Research Center for Soil Pollution Control and Remediation in South China, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Integrated Agro-environmental Pollution Control and Management, Institute of Eco-environmental and Soil Sciences, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China.
⁴ Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory for Environmental Pollution and Control, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China.

PMID: 36944030
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c08770

Abstract

The key limiting factors in the treatment of low C/N micropolluted water bodies are deficient essential electron donors for nitrogen removal processes. An iron/activated carbon aquagel (IACA) was synthesized as a slowly released inorganic electron donor to enhance aerobic denitrification performance in low C/N micropolluted water treatment. The denitrification efficiency in IACA reactors was enhanced by more than 56.72% and the highest of 94.12% was accomplished compared with those of the control reactors. Moreover, the COD_Mn removal efficiency improved by more than 34.32% in IACA reactors. The Illumina MiSeq sequencing consequence explained that the denitrifying bacteria with facultative denitrification, iron oxidation, and iron reduction function were located in the dominant species niches in the IACA reactors (e.g., Pseudomonas, Leptothrix, and Comamonas). The diversity and richness of the denitrifying bacterial communities were enhanced in the IACA reactors. Network analysis indicated that aerobic denitrifying bacterial consortia in IACA reactors presented a more complicated co-occurrence structure. The IACA reactors presented the potential for long-term denitrification operation. This study affords a pathway to utilize IACA, promoting aerobic denitrification during low C/N micropolluted water body treatment.

Keywords: aerobic denitrification; denitrifying bacterial community; iron/activated carbon aquagel; low C/N micropolluted water.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Bacteria / metabolism
Bioreactors / microbiology
Charcoal / metabolism
Denitrification*
Nitrates* / metabolism
Nitrogen / metabolism

Substances

Nitrates
Charcoal
Nitrogen