Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: A Novel Process for Biological Nitrogen Removal from Dairy Wastewater in Constructed Wetlands
EPA Grant Number: SU833910Title: A Novel Process for Biological Nitrogen Removal from Dairy Wastewater in Constructed Wetlands
Investigators: Tao, Wendong , Hassett, J. , Diemont, Stewart , Shayya, Walid
Institution: The State University of New York
EPA Project Officer: Page, Angela
Phase: I
Project Period: August 15, 2008 through August 14, 2009
Project Amount: $10,000
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet (2008) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: P3 Challenge Area - Safe and Sustainable Water Resources , P3 Challenge Area - Sustainable and Healthy Communities , Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development , P3 Awards , Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Objective:
These students contributed to this project: Matthew Huchzermeier, student team leader, Department of Environmental Resources and Forest Engineering, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry; Paul Ang, Colin Bell, Elizabeth Collins, Cary Ellmers, Mabel Gutliph, Youl Han, Casey Heim, Lawrence Hill, Jefferey Kapus, Sarah Kelsen, Hui Lin, Dan Miller, Brian Nicholson, Christopher Norton, Deborah Ofori, Zach Plonka, Meredith Pochardt, Hannah Volpi, Nghia Vuong, Chad Waltz, Jianfeng Wen, David Wright, et al., Department of Environmental Resources and Forest Engineering, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry; Au Ta, Department of Landscape Architecture, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry; Robyn Oakes, Department of Chemistry, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
SUNY-ESF's P3 project is to develop a wetland treatment system that integrates nitritation and anammox for efficient nitrogen removal without artificial aeration and organic substrate amendment. Biological nitrogen removal is typically accomplished by nitrification with autotrophic bacteria under aerobic conditions and denitrification with heterotrophic bacteria under anoxic conditions. Constructed wetlands are low-energy alternatives to conventional energy-dependent treatment methods. Constructed wetlands provide nitrifying bacteria with oxygen through natural processes and passive aeration. The exudates of growing plants and leachate from senescent plant tissues and litter supplement organic substrates for denitrifying bacteria. Nevertheless, natural aeration processes and passive aeration techniques have limited capacities for oxygen supply. This limitation becomes critical for the treatment of high-ammonia wastewater. Fortunately, anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) bacteria have been discovered recently. This pathway creates a shortcut in biological nitrogen removal. Only about one half of the ammonium needs to be oxidized to nitrite (nitritation). The remaining ammonium and nitrite produced are converted to dinitrogen by anammox bacteria. The challenge to apply anammox for nitrogen removal is to develop and retain anammox bacteria. The second challenge is to provide anammox bacteria with appropriate concentrations of nitrite through nitritation. The specific objectives of this Phase I project were to: 1). set up and operate two anammox enrichment biofilters, which would provide seeding sludge to wetland treatment systems designed for nitritation and anammox; 2). design wetland treatment systems, which integrate nitritation and anammox for biological nitrogen removal from dairy wastewater; 3). construct, operate and monitor the maturation process and performance dynamics of the wetland treatment systems; 4). evaluate and compare the effectiveness of the student designs for nitrogen removal; and 5). identify the factors affecting nitritation and anammox and seek design considerations.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
SUNY-ESF has a multidisciplinary P3 Team, although it is mainly composed of undergraduate students in forest engineering and graduate students in environmental and resources engineering. The Team has successfully enriched anammox bacteria in two vertical flow baffled biofilters that are packed with marble chips. More than 100 students and researchers from SUNY-ESF, Syracuse University, and abroad have visited the anammox enrichment biofilters. However, the effect of gravel size on anammox needs to be concluded through long-term operation under different conditions. Based on the operational results of six wetland treatment systems, the Team has constructed an integrative wetland treatment system that was seeded with anammox biofilm and water in the anammox enrichment biofilters. This wetland treatment system incorporates two types of subsurface wetlands and free water surface wetlands in series. It has been operated in a greenhouse by batch mode for 7 cycles to remove nitrogen from synthetic dairy wastewater (90 mg N/L as ammonium chloride). The in-situ measurements and lab analytical results have showed that marble chips are ideal, natural packing materials of subsurface wetlands to integrate nitritation and anammox. Ammonium-N and TN removal rates of two subsurface wetlands with marble chips, 100 mg/d and 48.8 mg/d respectively on average, demonstrated a significant maturation process across the 7 cycles. Free water surface wetlands efficiently removed N employing nitritation, anammox and denitrification. The free water surface wetland that received the effluent of the two marble-chips subsurface wetlands had average ammonium-N and TN removal rates of 119 mg/d and 194 mg/d respectively. The marble-chips subsurface wetlands − free water surface wetland series had a removal efficiency of 68% for ammonium and 57% for TN on average. A polishing wetland further removed 49% ammonia and 55% TN. Ammonium and TN mass reduction followed zeroorder kinetics, suggesting that nitrogen removal will be further improved with biomass development. The wetland treatment system only consumed 0.06 kW⋅h of non- renewable energy for treatment of per m3 wastewater. Emergy sustainability indices would increase if system size was doubled, indicating that a demonstration project in Phase II would yield increased sustainability.
Conclusions:
This Team has been moving technically closer to field applications. An anammox activity of up to 3.5 g/m3/d had been achieved in the anammox enrichment biofilters in a short period. However, anammox activity can be increased by diversifying bacterial species and adjusting operational parameters. Compared to conventional wastewater treatment methods for biological nitrogen removal, the integrative wetland treatment system is an efficient, sustainable design with much less energy use. Nevertheless, nitrogen removal capacity could be further increased through alternate nitritation and anammox in a subsurface flow wetland cascade.
Proposed Phase II Objectives and Strategies:
The Team is proposing a subsurface flow wetland cascade for alternate nitritation and anammox, which is more suitable for high-ammonia wastewaters like anaerobically digested liquid manure. The optimum depth of unsaturated zones at the inlet side of vertical flow baffled subsurface wetlands will be examined by parallel operation under different ammonium loading rates. With an overlying unsaturated zone for production of the most suitable nitrite concentration, the saturated zone of a vertical flow subsurface wetland further extends anoxic environments for anammox. The SUNY-ESF P3 Team will construct a subsurface flow wetland cascade for nitrogen removal from anaerobically digested liquid manure, and demonstrate its effectiveness through a warm season and a cold season. The demonstration system will be assessed for sustainability using emergy analysis. In addition, the anammox enrichment biofilters will be operated continuously to optimize their operational conditions.
Journal Articles on this Report : 2 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
Other project views: | All 2 publications | 2 publications in selected types | All 2 journal articles |
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Tao W, Wen J, Huchzermeier M. Batch Operation of Biofilter - Free-water Surface Wetlanderies for Enhancing Nitritation and Anammox. WATER ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH 2011;83(6):541-548 |
SU833910 (Final) |
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Tao W, Wen J, Huchzermeier M. Nitrogen Removal in Constructed Wetlands Using Nitritation/Anammox and Nitrification/Denitrification: Effects of Influent Nitrogen Concentration. WATER ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH 2012;84(12):20999-2105 |
SU833910 (Final) |
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Supplemental Keywords:
Agriculture; Agricultural wastewater treatment; Alternative biological pathway; Natural treatment system; Animal feeding operations; Energy conservation; Bioengineering; Biofiltration technology; Sustainable design; Global considerations,Relevant Websites:
http://www.esf.edu/erfeg/tao/P3.html
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.