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In this work, nitrogen loss in the nitrite oxidation step of the nitrification process in an aerobic-granule-based reactor was characterized with both experimental and modeling approaches. Experimental results showed that soluble microbial products (SMP) were released from the nitrite-oxidizing granules and were utilized as a carbon source by the heterotrophs for denitrification. This was verified by the fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis. Microelectrode tests showed that oxygen diffusion limitation did result in an anoxic micro-zone in the granules and allowed sequential utilization of nitrate as an electron acceptor for heterotrophic denitrification with SMP as a carbon source. To further elucidate the nitrogen loss mechanisms, a mathematic model was formulated to describe the growth of nitrite oxidizers, the formation and consumption of SMP, the anoxic heterotrophic growth on SMP and nitrate, as well as the oxygen transfer and the substrate diffusion in the granules. The results clearly indicate that the heterotrophs grown on the SMP released by the autotrophs are responsible for the nitrogen loss in the nitrifying granules, and give us a better understanding of the aerobic granules for nitrogen removal. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2011;108: 2844-2852. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., (Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

In this work, the heterotrophic growth on the microbial products of autotrophs and the effecting factors were evaluated with both experimental and modeling approaches. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis illustrated that ammonia oxidizers (AOB), nitrite oxidizers (NOB), and heterotrophs accounted for about 65%, 20%, and 15% of the total bacteria, respectively. The mathematical evaluation of experimental data reported in literature indicated that heterotrophic growth in nitrifying biofilm (30-50%) and granules (30%) was significantly higher than that of nitrifying sludge (15%). It was found that low influent ammonium resulted in a lower availability of soluble microbial products (SMP) and a slower heterotrophic growth, but high ammonium (>150 mg N L(-1)) feeding would lead to purely AOB dominated sludge with high biomass-associated products contained effluent, although the absolute heterotrophic growth increased. Meanwhile, the total active biomass concentration increased gradually with the increasing solids retention time, whereas the factions of active AOB, NOB, and heterotrophs varied a lot at different solids retention times. This work could be useful for better understanding of the autotrophic wastewater treatment systems., (Copyright © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

A mathematical model was developed to describe the anaerobic ammonium oxidation (ANAMMOX) process in a granular upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor. ANAMMOX granules were cultivated in the UASB reactor by seeding aerobic granules. The granule-based reactor had a great N-loading resistant capacity. The model simulation results on the 1-year reactor performance matched the experimental data well. The yield coefficient for the growth and the decay rate coefficient of the ANAMMOX granules were estimated to be 0.164 g COD g(-1) N and 0.00016 h(-1), respectively. With this model, the effects of process parameters on the reactor performance were evaluated. Results showed that the optimum granule diameter for the maximum N-removal should be between 1.0 and 1.3 mm and that the optimum N loading rate should be 0.8 kg N m(-3) d(-1). In addition, the substrate micro-profiles in the ANAMMOX granules were measured with a microelectrode to explore the diffusion dynamics within the granules, and the measured profiles matched the predicted results well., (2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

A mathematical model to describe the simultaneous storage and growth activities of denitrifiers in aerobic granules under anoxic conditions has been developed in an accompanying article. The sensitivity of the nitrate uptake rate (NUR) toward the stoichiometric and kinetic coefficients is analyzed in this article. The model parameter values are estimated by minimizing the sum of squares of the deviations between the measured and model-predicted values. The model is successfully calibrated and a set of stoichiometric and kinetic parameters for the anoxic storage and growth of the denitrifiers are obtained. Thereafter, the model established is verified with three set of experimental data. The comparison between the model established with the ASM1 model and ASM3 shows that the present model is appropriate to simulate and predict the performance of a granule-based denitrification system., ((c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)