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A lab-scale study on heterotrophic nitrification-aerobic denitrification for nitrogen control in aquatic ecosystem

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Abstract

Nitrogen (N) loss is generally caused by denitrification under anaerobic conditions and the N loss in the heterotrophic nitrification_aerobic denitrification (HN_AD) system is of recent research interest. However, previous studies are generally focused on pure cultures-based system and the information on HN_AD in the complex aquatic ecosystem is limited. In this study, HN-AD system was established in the mixed cultures of the sediments and the performances of HN-AD were evaluated under different conditions. Further, the N loss mechanism in HN_AD system was explored. The study found that the N was lost in the sediment cultures with ammonium-N (NH4+_N) (or) and nitrate-N (NO3−_N) as N source under aerobic conditions. The highest N loss rate was achieved under the TOC/TN mass ratio of 10 with citrate as the carbon source. Under this condition, the N loss percentages of NH4+_N (201.91 mg/L) and NO3−_N (130.00 mg/L) reached 99.61% and 100.00%, respectively, which were higher than those in the pure HN_AD strains reported in the literature. High NH4+_N removal efficiencies were also achieved at low C/N mass ratio and high NH4+_N concentration (493.12 mg L−1). The N loss pathway in the system was investigated by adding Na2WO4 as the nitrate reductase inhibitor. The study found that the N was not lost via partial nitrification/denitrification pathway, i.e., NH4+ → NH2OH → NO2− → N2O (N2), instead via full nitrification/denitrification pathway, i.e., NH4+ → NH2OH → NO2− → NO3− → NO2− → N2O (N2), since nitrate was a key intermediate. The variation in NH4+_N, NO3−_N, and NO2−_N concentrations in the HN_AD processes further confirmed the N transformation pathway. Therefore, HN_AD may occur and cause N loss in natural aquatic ecosystems. The results of this study demonstrate that N was lost through HN-AD and that the well-cultured HN-AD sediments could be useful biological tool to remediate eutrophic water bodies.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Program no. 41601338 and no. 51608444), the Natural Science Basic Research Plan in Shaanxi Province of China (Program no. 2018JQ4019), Science, Technology and Innovation Commission of Shenzhen Municipality (no. JCYJ20170306153655840), National Training Program of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Undergraduates (S201910699176), and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Program No. 3102018zy042).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Chemistry, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, 710129, China

    Zixia Qiao, Yaoguo Wu, Jin Qian, Sihai Hu, Jiangwei Chan, Xiaoyan Liu, Ran Sun & Bo Zhou

  2. Research & Development Institute, Northwestern Polytechnical University in Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518057, China

    Jin Qian

  3. School of Human Settlements and Civil Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, China

    Wendong Wang

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  1. Zixia Qiao
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  2. Yaoguo Wu
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  3. Jin Qian
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  4. Sihai Hu
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  5. Jiangwei Chan
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  6. Xiaoyan Liu
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  7. Ran Sun
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  8. Wendong Wang
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  9. Bo Zhou
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Correspondence to Yaoguo Wu.

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Responsible editor: Boqiang Qin

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Qiao, Z., Wu, Y., Qian, J. et al. A lab-scale study on heterotrophic nitrification-aerobic denitrification for nitrogen control in aquatic ecosystem. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 9307–9317 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-07551-3

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