Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

New direction in biological nitrogen removal from industrial nitrate wastewater via anammox

  • Mini-Review
  • Published:
Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) is an important scientific discovery in the field of wastewater treatment. This process is a sustainable option in nitrogen removal due to its energy-efficient and cost-effective advantage. Great effort has been made recently to remove ammonium from industrial and municipal wastewater via the anammox process with a preceding partial nitrification (PN) converting part of NH4+ to NO2−. Anammox process is seldom involved in the nitrate removal. Nitrate (NO3−), one of the main nitrogen compounds produced from various industries, is typically converted to nitrogen gas via denitrification process where a large amount of carbon source is consumed. Within this context, we reviewed the current technologies for high-strength nitrate wastewater treatment. It is found that nitrite accumulation often occurs during nitrate reduction, and its accumulating level would be increased at certain conditions (i.e., low C/N ratio and high pH). Hence, this provides a great opportunity to employ the anammox process to further convert nitrite in a more sustainable way. In this review, we highlight a new approach for industrial nitrate wastewater treatment via partial denitrification coupled with anammox process (PD-A). We also discuss the conditions to achieve successful PD-A process, economic and environmental benefits, and potential challenges as well as the future perspectives in practical application.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adav SS, Lee D, Show K, Tay J (2008) Aerobic granular sludge: recent advances. Biotechnol Adv 26:411–423

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ali M, Chai L, Tang C, Zheng P, Min X, Yang Z, Xiong L, Song Y (2013) The increasing interest of anammox research in china: bacteria, process development, and application. Biomed Res Int 2013:1–21

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Almeida JS, Júlio SM, Reis MA, Carrondo MJ (1995) Nitrite inhibition of denitrification by Pseudomonas fluorescens. Biotechnol Bioeng 46:194–201

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Biradar PM, Dhamole PB, Nair RR, Roy SB, Satpati SK, D’Souza SF, Lele SS, Pandit AB (2008) Long-term stability of biological denitrification process for high strength nitrate removal from wastewater of uranium industry. Environ Prog 27:365–372

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cao S, Wang S, Peng Y, Wu C, Du R, Gong L, Ma B (2013) Achieving partial denitrification with sludge fermentation liquid as carbon source: the effect of seeding sludge. Bioresour Technol 149:570–574

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cao S, Li B, Du R, Ren N, Peng Y (2016a) Nitrite production in a partial denitrifying upflow sludge bed (USB) reactor equipped with gas automatic circulation (GAC). Water Res 90:309–316

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cao S, Peng Y, Du R, Wang S (2016b) Feasibility of enhancing the DEnitrifying AMmonium OXidation (DEAMOX) process for nitrogen removal by seeding partial denitrification sludge. Chemosphere 148:403–407

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cao S, Du R, Niu M, Li B, Ren N, Peng Y (2016c) Integrated anaerobic ammonium oxidization with partial denitrification process for advanced nitrogen removal from high-strength wastewater. Bioresour Technol 221:37–46

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cao S, Du R, Peng Y, Li B, Wang S (2019a) Novel two stage partial denitrification (PD)-anammox process for tertiary nitrogen removal from low carbon/nitrogen (C/N) municipal sewage. Chem Eng J 362:107–115

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cao S, Peng Y, Du R, Zhang H (2019b) Characterization of partial-denitrification (PD) granular sludge producing nitrite: effect of loading rates and particle size. Sci Total Environ 671:510–518

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng KY, Kaksonen AH, Douglas GB (2014) Sequential in situ hydrotalcite precipitation and biological denitrification for the treatment of high-nitrate industrial effluent. Bioresour Technol 172:373–381

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Connan R, Dabert P, Moya-Espinosa M, Bridoux G, Béline F, Magrí A (2018) Coupling of partial nitritation and anammox in two- and one-stage systems: process operation, N2O emission and microbial community. J Clean Prod 203:559–573

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Conthe M, Lycus P, Arntzen M, Ramos Da Silva A, Frostegård Å, Bakken LR, Kleerebezem R, van Loosdrecht MCM (2018) Denitrification as an N2O sink. Water Res 151:381–387

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cyplik P, Marecik R, Piotrowska-Cyplik A, Olejnik A, Drożdżyńska A, Chrzanowski Ł (2012) Biological denitrification of high nitrate processing wastewaters from explosives production plant. Water Air Soil Pollut 223:1791–1800

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Degnan JR, Böhlke JK, Pelham K, Langlais DM, Walsh GJ (2016) Identification of groundwater nitrate contamination from explosives used in road construction: isotopic, chemical, and hydrologic evidence. Environ Sci Technol 50:593–603

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dhamole PB, Nair RR, Souza SF, Lele SS (2007) Denitrification of high strength nitrate waste. Bioresour Technol 98:247–252

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Du R, Peng Y, Cao S, Li B, Wang S, Niu M (2015) Mechanisms and microbial structure of partial denitrification with high nitrite accumulation. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol (4):2011–2021

  • Du R, Cao S, Wang S, Niu M, Peng Y (2016a) Performance of partial denitrification (PD)-ANAMMOX process in simultaneously treating nitrate and low C/N domestic wastewater at low temperature. Bioresour Technol 219:420–429

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Du R, Peng Y, Cao S, Wang S, Niu M (2016b) Characteristic of nitrous oxide production in partial denitrification process with high nitrite accumulation. Bioresour Technol 203:341–347

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Du R, Cao S, Li B, Niu M, Wang S, Peng Y (2017a) Performance and microbial community analysis of a novel DEAMOX based on partial-denitrification and anammox treating ammonia and nitrate wastewaters. Water Res 108:46–56

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Du R, Cao S, Li B, Wang S, Peng Y (2017b) Simultaneous domestic wastewater and nitrate sewage treatment by DEnitrifying AMmonium OXidation (DEAMOX) in sequencing batch reactor. Chemosphere 174:399–407

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Du R, Cao S, Peng Y, Zhang H, Wang S (2019a) Combined Partial Denitrification (PD)-anammox: a method for high nitrate wastewater treatment. Environ Int 126:707–716

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Du R, Cao S, Li B, Zhang H, Wang S, Peng Y (2019b) Synergy of partial-denitrification and anammox in continuously fed upflow sludge blanket reactor for simultaneous nitrate and ammonia removal at room temperature. Bioresour Technol 274:386–394

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Du R, Cao S, Li B, Li X, Zhang H, Zhang Q, Peng Y (2019c) Step-feeding organic carbon enhances high-strength nitrate and ammonia removal via DEAMOX process. Chem Eng J 360:501–510

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fang HH, Xu LC, Chan KY (2002) Effects of toxic metals and chemicals on biofilm and biocorrosion. Water Res 36:4709–4716

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fernández-Nava Y, Marañón E, Soons J, Castrillón L (2008) Denitrification of wastewater containing high nitrate and calcium concentrations. Bioresour Technol 99:7976–7981

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fernández-Nava Y, Marañón E, Soons J, Castrillón L (2010) Denitrification of high nitrate concentration wastewater using alternative carbon sources. J Hazard Mater 173:682–688

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frison N, Di Fabio S, Cavinato C, Pavan P, Fatone F (2013) Best available carbon sources to enhance the via-nitrite biological nutrients removal from supernatants of anaerobic co-digestion. Chem Eng J 215:15–22

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ghafari S, Hasan M, Aroua MK (2008) Bio-electrochemical removal of nitrate from water and wastewater—a review. Bioresour Technol 99:3965–3974

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Glass C, Silverstein J (1998) Denitrification kinetics of high nitrate concentration water: pH effect on inhibition and nitrite accumulation. Water Res 32:831–839

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Glass C, Silverstein J, Oh J (1997) Inhibition of denitrification in activated sludge by nitrite. Water Environ Res 69:1086–1093

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hubaux N, Wells G, Morgenroth E (2015) Impact of coexistence of flocs and biofilm on performance of combined nitritation-anammox granular sludge reactors. Water Res 68:127–139

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jin R, Yang G, Yu J, Zheng P (2012) The inhibition of the anammox process: a review. Chem Eng J 197:67–79

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Joss A, Derlon N, Cyprien C, Burger S, Szivak I, Traber J, Siegrist H, Morgenroth E (2011) Combined nitritation–anammox: advances in understanding process stability. Environ Sci Technol 45:9735–9742

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kampschreur MJ, Temmink H, Kleerebezem R, Jetten MSM, van Loosdrecht MCM (2009) Nitrous oxide emission during wastewater treatment. Water Res 43:4093–4103

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Karanasios KA, Vasiliadou IA, Pavlou S, Vayenas DV (2010) Hydrogenotrophic denitrification of potable water: a review. J Hazard Mater 180:20–37

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kartal B, Kuenen JG, van Loosdrecht MCM (2010) Sewage Treatment with Anammox. Science 328:702–703

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kim H, Kim J, Shin SG, Hwang S, Lee C (2016) Continuous fermentation of food waste leachate for the production of volatile fatty acids and potential as a denitrification carbon source. Bioresour Technol 207:440–445

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kim E, Shin SG, Jannat M, Tongco JV, Hwang S (2017) Use of food waste-recycling wastewater as an alternative carbon source for denitrification process: a full-scale study. Bioresour Technol 245:1016–1021

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Krishna Mohan TV, Nancharaiah YV, Venugopalan VP, Satya Sai PM (2016) Effect of C/N ratio on denitrification of high-strength nitrate wastewater in anoxic granular sludge sequencing batch reactors. Ecol Eng 91:441–448

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krishna Mohan TV, Nancharaiah YV, Venugopalan VP, Satya Sai PM (2018) Denitrification kinetics of high-strength nitrate in granular sludge reactors. Clean soil air water 46:1800239

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lackner S, Gilbert EM, Vlaeminck SE, Joss A, Horn H, van Loosdrecht MC (2014) Full-scale partial nitritation/anammox experiences--an application survey. Water Res 55:292–303

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Laureni M, Weissbrodt DG, Villez K, Robin O, de Jonge N, Rosenthal A, Wells G, Nielsen JL, Morgenroth E, Joss A (2019) Biomass segregation between biofilm and flocs improves the control of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria in mainstream partial nitritation and anammox processes. Water Res 154:104–116

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Le T, Peng B, Su C, Massoudieh A, Torrents A, Al Omari A, Murthy S, Wett B, Chandran K, DeBarbadillo C, Bott C, De Clippeleir H (2019) Impact of carbon source and COD/N on the concurrent operation of partial denitrification and anammox. Water Environ Res 91:185–197

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Li W, Lin X, Chen J, Cai C, Abbas G, Hu Z, Zhao H, Zheng P (2016) Enrichment of denitratating bacteria from a methylotrophic denitrifying culture. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 100:10203–10213

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Li X, Sun S, Yuan H, Badgley BD, He Z (2017) Mainstream upflow nitritation-anammox system with hybrid anaerobic pretreatment: long-term performance and microbial community dynamics. Water Res 125:298–308

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Liao R, Shen K, Li A, Shi P, Li Y, Shi Q, Wang Z (2013) High-nitrate wastewater treatment in an expanded granular sludge bed reactor and microbial diversity using 454 pyrosequencing analysis. Bioresour Technol 134:190–197

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lu H, Chandran K, Stensel D (2014) Microbial ecology of denitrification in biological wastewater treatment. Water Res 64:237–254

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Martienssen M, Schops R (1999) Population dynamics of denitrifying bacteria in a model biocommunity. Water Res 33:639–646

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Molinuevo B, García MC, Karakashev D, Angelidaki I (2009) Anammox for ammonia removal from pig manure effluents: effect of organic matter content on process performance. Bioresour Technol 100:2171–2175

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Morales N, Val Del Río Á, Vázquez-Padín JR, Méndez R, Mosquera-Corral A, Campos JL (2015) Integration of the anammox process to the rejection water and main stream lines of WWTPs. Chemosphere 140:99–105

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Morales-Suarez-Varela MM, Llopis-Gonzalez A, Tejerizo-Perez ML (1995) Impact of nitrates in drinking water on cancer mortality in Valencia, Spain. Eur J Epidemiol 11:15–21

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nair RR, Dhamole PB, Lele SS, Souza SF (2007) Biological denitrification of high strength nitrate waste using preadapted denitrifying sludge. Chemosphere 67:1612–1617

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nancharaiah YV, Venugopalan VP (2011) Denitrification of synthetic concentrated nitrate wastes by aerobic granular sludge under anoxic conditions. Chemosphere 85:683–688

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pan Y, Ye L, Ni B, Yuan Z (2012) Effect of pH on N2O reduction and accumulation during denitrification by methanol utilizing denitrifiers. Water Res 46:4832–4840

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Phan TN, Van Truong TT, Ha NB, Nguyen PD, Bui XT, Dang BT, Doan VT, Park J, Guo W, Ngo HH (2017) High rate nitrogen removal by ANAMMOX internal circulation reactor (IC) for old landfill leachate treatment. Bioresour Technol 234:281–288

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rabah FK, Dahab MF (2004) Nitrate removal characteristics of high performance fluidized-bed biofilm reactors. Water Res 38:3719–3728

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rivett MO, Buss SR, Morgan P, Smith JWN, Bemment CD (2008) Nitrate attenuation in groundwater: a review of biogeochemical controlling processes. Water Res 42:4215–4232

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shen J, He R, Han W, Sun X, Li J, Wang L (2009) Biological denitrification of high-nitrate wastewater in a modified anoxic/oxic-membrane bioreactor (A/O-MBR). J Hazard Mater 172:595–600

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sheng G, Yu H, Li X (2010) Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) of microbial aggregates in biological wastewater treatment systems: a review. Biotechnol Adv 28:882–894

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tang C, Zheng P, Chen T, Zhang J, Mahmood Q, Ding S, Chen X, Chen J, Wu D (2011a) Enhanced nitrogen removal from pharmaceutical wastewater using SBA-ANAMMOX process. Water Res 45:201–210

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tang CJ, Zheng P, Wang CH, Mahmood Q, Zhang JQ, Chen XG, Zhang L, Chen JW (2011b) Performance of high-loaded ANAMMOX UASB reactors containing granular sludge. Water Res 45:135–144

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ugurlu A, Ozturkcu SD (2018) Treatment of nitrocellulose industry wastewaters by upflow denitrification filter: effect of packing media and recirculation. Environ Process 5:81–94

  • van der Star WR, Abma WR, Blommers D, Mulder JW, Tokutomi T, Strous M, Picioreanu C, van Loosdrecht MC (2007) Startup of reactors for anoxic ammonium oxidation: experiences from the first full-scale anammox reactor in Rotterdam. Water Res 41:4149–4163

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • VandeGraaf AA, DeBruijn P, Robertson LA, Jetten M, Kuenen JG (1997) Metabolic pathway of anaerobic ammonium oxidation on the basis of 15N studies in a fluidized bed reactor. Microbiology 143(7):2415–2421

  • Yan F, Jiang J, Zhang H, Liu N, Zou Q (2018) Biological denitrification from mature landfill leachate using a food-waste-derived carbon source. J Environ Manag 214:184–191

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zala S, Nerurkar A, Desai A, Ayyer J, Akolkar V (1999) Biotreatment of nitrate-rich industrial effluent by suspended bacterial growth. Biotechnol Lett 21:481–485

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zala SL, Ayyer J, Desai AJ (2004) Nitrate removal from the effluent of a fertilizer industry using a bioreactor packed with immobilized cells of Pseudomonas stutzeri and Comamonas testosteroni. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 20:661–665

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang H, Jiang J, Li M, Yan F, Gong C, Wang Q (2016) Biological nitrate removal using a food waste-derived carbon source in synthetic wastewater and real sewage. J Environ Manag 166:407–413

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao Y, Zhang B, Feng C, Huang F, Zhang P, Zhang Z, Yang Y, Sugiura N (2012) Behavior of autotrophic denitrification and heterotrophic denitrification in an intensified biofilm-electrode reactor for nitrate-contaminated drinking water treatment. Bioresour Technol 107:159–165

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Environmental Biotechnology Centre, Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute, Nanyang Technological University, 1 Cleantech Loop, Singapore, 637141, Singapore

    Shenbin Cao & Yan Zhou

  2. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore, 639798, Singapore

    Yan Zhou

Authors
  1. Shenbin Cao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yan Zhou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yan Zhou.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical statement

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Cao, S., Zhou, Y. New direction in biological nitrogen removal from industrial nitrate wastewater via anammox. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 103, 7459–7466 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-019-10070-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-019-10070-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation