Enhanced Nitrogen Removal from Contaminated Surface Water Via Deamox Process Using a Novel Vermiculite/Tourmaline Modified Carrier

Abstract

The DEnitrifying AMmonium OXidation (DEAMOX) process effectively removes nitrogen from contaminated surface water. However, there are few investigations on the enhancement of DEAMOX processes using modified carriers. In this study, a novel polyurethane-adhesion vermiculite/tourmaline (VTP) modified carrier was developed to achieve effective enrichment of DEAMOX functional bacteria. In the long-term experiment, the performance of VTP-1 was assessed. The results demonstrated that the VTP-1 exhibited a greater enhancement of DEAMOX process, with the total nitrogen removal rate reaching 87.6% and anammox contributing 63% to nitrogen removal. Scanning electron microscope analysis revealed the superior biofilm structure of the VTP-1 carrier. The addition of VTP-1 promoted the secretion of EPS by microorganisms, which increased to 85.34 mg/g VSS. Microbial analysis indicated higher abundances of functional bacteria Candidatus_Brocadia (0.93%) and Thauera (2.11%) in the VTP-1 system. This study proposed a novel carrier modification method to enhance the DEAMOX process for contaminated surface water treatment.

Keywords: Biological nitrogen removal, Anammox, Partial denitrification, Modified-carrier, Low ammonia nitrogen