Nitrogen Removal in Aerobic and Anaerobic Cycles

Exposing wastewater containing ammonia in aerobic and anaerobic environments and in the presence of microorganisms can strip the ammonia from wastewater biologically. In this study, by using an aerobic and anaerobic conversion steps, the efficiency of separating nitrogen from municipal wastewater, which consists of 20% slaughterhouse wastewater, was increased considerably. In the aerobic step, the ammonia was converted to nitrite and nitrate in the presence of microorganisms (nitrification). The obtained nitrite and nitrate were converted to nitrogen in anaerobic environment (denitrification) and released to atmosphere. Nitrification was performed by a trickling filter. The obtained efficiency by using plastic media is about 83%. Denitrification was carried out in a UASB reactor which yielded an efficiency of about 99%.

Keywords:

Keywords: Nitrogen removal , Nitrification , Denitrification , UASB reactor