title: Pilot-scale tertiary MBBR nitrification at 1°C: characterization of ammonia removal rate, solids settleability and biofilm characteristics.
abstract: Pilot-scale moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) is used to investigate the kinetics and biofilm response of municipal, tertiary nitrification at 1°C. The research demonstrates that significant rates of tertiary MBBR nitrification are attainable and stable for extended periods of operation at 1°C, with a maximum removal rate of 230 gN/m(3) d at 1°C. At conventional nitrogen loading rates, low ammonia effluent concentrations below 5 mg-N/L were achieved at 1°C. The biofilm thickness and dry weight biofilm mass (massdw) were shown to be stable, with thickness values showing a correlation to the protein/polysaccharide ratio of the biofilm extracellular polymeric substances. Lastly, tertiary MBBR nitrification is shown to increase the effluent suspended solids concentrations by approximately 3 mg total suspended solids /L, with 19-60% of effluent solids being removed after 30 min of settling. The settleability of the effluent solids was shown to be correlated to the nitrogen loading of the MBBR system.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Civil Engineering , University of Ottawa , Ottawa , ON , Canada.
authors.forename: Bradley
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Young
authors.affiliation: a Department of Civil Engineering , University of Ottawa , Ottawa , ON , Canada.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Delatolla
authors.affiliation: a Department of Civil Engineering , University of Ottawa , Ottawa , ON , Canada.
authors.forename: Baisha
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: a Department of Civil Engineering , University of Ottawa , Ottawa , ON , Canada.
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.affiliation: b Veolia Water Technologies Canada Inc ., Montreal , QC , Canada.
authors.forename: Edith
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Laflamme
authors.affiliation: c Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology , Ottawa Institute of Systems Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa , Ottawa , ON , Canada.
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stintzi
mesh_terms: D000641:Ammonia / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018441:Biofilms; D019149:Bioreactors; D003080:Cold Temperature; D007700:Kinetics; D058465:Nitrification; D010865:Pilot Projects
chemical_list: D000641:Ammonia
keywords: MBBR tertiary nitrification; biofilm morphology; cold temperature; protein/polysaccharide ratio; solids analysis