title: High rate nitrogen removal in an alum sludge-based intermittent aeration constructed wetland.
abstract: A new development on treatment wetland technology for the purpose of achieving high rate nitrogen removal from high strength wastewater has been made in this study. The laboratory scale alum sludge-based intermittent aeration constructed wetland (AlS-IACW) was integrated with predenitrification, intermittent aeration, and step-feeding strategies. Results obtained from 280 days of operation have demonstrated extraordinary nitrogen removal performance with mean total nitrogen (TN) removal efficiency of 90% under high N loading rate (NLR) of 46.7 g N m(-2) d(-1). This performance was a substantial improvement compared to the reported TN removal performance in literature. Most significantly, partial nitrification and simultaneous nitrification denitrification (SND) via nitrite was found to be the main nitrogen conversion pathways in the AlS-IACW system under high dissolved oxygen concentrations (3-6 mg L(-1)) without specific control. SND under high dissolved oxygen (DO) brings high nitrogen conversion rates. Partial nitrification and SND via nitrite can significantly reduce the demand for organic carbon compared with full nitrification and denitrification via nitrate (up to 40%). Overall, these mechanisms allow the system to maintaining efficient and high rate TN removal even under carbon limiting conditions.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Water Resources Research, School of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, Newstead Building, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: Yuansheng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Yaqian
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Xiaohong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Jeyakumar L G
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Kumar
mesh_terms: D000534:Alum Compounds; D000822:Animal Husbandry; D058440:Denitrification; D007220:Industrial Waste; D058465:Nitrification; D009573:Nitrites; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D006109:Poaceae / Q000378:metabolism; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D018508:Water Purification; D053833:Wetlands
chemical_list: D000534:Alum Compounds; D007220:Industrial Waste; D009573:Nitrites; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C041524:aluminum sulfate; D009584:Nitrogen