Anammox in IFAS reactor for reject water treatment

Sammanfattning: The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of the integrated fixed-film activated sludge (IFAS) reactor achieving partial nitritation/anammox process to treat reject water after dewatering of digested sludge. During the study period, dissolved oxygen setpoint, aeration mode and inflow loading were changed to evaluate their influence on the process performance and efficiency in the reactor. Four different values for dissolved oxygen setpoint were tested: 2.0 mg/L, 1.8 mg/L, 1.5mg/L and 1.3 mg/L. Three different aeration modes in a one-hour cycle were tested: 30 min, 35 min, 40 min. And two different inflow loadings were tested: 2 g N/m2∙d and 1.6 g N/m2∙d. Discussion and evaluation were based on laboratory analyses and online sensors. The highest achieved total inorganic nitrogen removal efficiency was 85.6%, at 40 min aeration per hour, 2.0 mg/L dissolved oxygen and with 2 g N/m2∙day inflow NH4-N loading. Specific anammox activity (SAA) tests were also done for the anaerobic ammonia oxidizing bacteria in biofilm attached to the carriers in the IFAS reactor, and the results showed that the bacteria could achieve a higher nitrogen removal rate than in the pilot-scale IFAS reactor.