Autotrophic denitrification of nitrate rich wastewater in fluidized bed reactors using pyrite and elemental sulfur as electron donors

Carboni, M. F., Mills, S., Arriaga, S., Collins, G., Ijaz, U. Z. and Lens, P. N.L. (2022) Autotrophic denitrification of nitrate rich wastewater in fluidized bed reactors using pyrite and elemental sulfur as electron donors. Environmental Technology and Innovation, 28, 102878. (doi: 10.1016/j.eti.2022.102878)

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Abstract

This study compared denitrification performances and microbial communities in fluidized bed reactors (FBRs) carrying out autotrophic denitrification using elemental sulfur (S0) and pyrite (FeS2) as electron donors. The reactors were operated for 220 days with nitrate loading rates varying between 23 and 200 mg N-NO 3 − /L ⋅ d and HRT between 48 and 4 h. The highest denitrification rates achieved were 142.2 and 184.4 mg N-NO 3 − /L ⋅ d in pyrite and sulfur FBRs, respectively. Pyrite-driven denitrification produced less SO 4 2 − and no buffer addition was needed to regulate the pH. The sulfur FBR needed instead CaCO3 to maintain the pH neutral and consequentially more sludge was produced (CaSO4 precipitation). The active community of pyrite-based systems was investigated and Azospira sp., Ferruginibacter sp., Rhodococcus sp. and Pseudomonas sp. were the predominant genera, while Thiobacillus sp. and Sulfurovum sp. dominated the active community in the sulfur FBR. However, Thiobacillus sp. became more dominant when operating at elevated nitrogen loading rate. Patterns of diversity and microbial community assembly were assessed and revealed three distinct stages of microbial community succession which corresponded with the operation of a period of high influent nitrate concentration (13 5 mg N-NO 3 − /L). It is proposed that a high degree of functional redundancy in the initial microbial communities may have helped both reactors to respond better to such high influent nitrate concentration.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Collins, Dr Gavin and Ijaz, Dr Umer
Creator Roles:
Collins, G.Supervision, Writing – review and editing
Ijaz, U. Z.Data curation, Formal analysis, Visualization, Writing – review and editing
Authors: Carboni, M. F., Mills, S., Arriaga, S., Collins, G., Ijaz, U. Z., and Lens, P. N.L.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering
College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Infrastructure and Environment
Journal Name:Environmental Technology and Innovation
Publisher:Elsevier
ISSN:2352-1864
ISSN (Online):2352-1864
Published Online:23 August 2022
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2022 The Authors
First Published:First published in Environmental Technology and Innovation 28: 102878
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
170256Understanding microbial community through in situ environmental 'omic data synthesisUmer Zeeshan IjazNatural Environment Research Council (NERC)NE/L011956/1ENG - Infrastructure & Environment
300451Optimising decentralised low-cost wastewater infrastructure by managing the microbesWilliam SloanEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)EP/P029329/1ENG - Infrastructure & Environment
309846Decentralised water technologiesWilliam SloanEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)EP/V030515/1ENG - Infrastructure & Environment