The integration of partial nitrification-anammox (PN/A) into membrane-aerated biofilm reactor (MABR) is a promisingly energy-efficient and high-efficiency technology for nitrogen removal. The inhibition of nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) remains as the most significant challenge for its development. In our investigation, we proposed a novel process to integrate carriers to MABR (CMABR), which combined the carriers enriched with anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (AnAOB) and partial nitrifying MABR system. The effect of different hydraulic retention time (HRT) was explored in CMABR and it showed that the nitrogen removal rate of CMABR could reach more than 200 g-N/(m³·d) at an HRT of 3 h. The increase of NOB activity was witnessed when the residual NH₄⁺-N concentration was lower than 5 mg-N/L. Finally, the higher nitrogen removal rate and successful PN/A can be achieved by optimized condition through the operation of two-stage CMABRs with 30% of carriers filling ratio and a total HRT of 6 h. Superior NH₄⁺-N removal efficiency (97%) and total nitrogen removal efficiency (81%) were reached compared with other MABR for PN/A processes. The CMABR exerted the special advantage that significant AnAOB attached on the carriers, rather than only on the membrane biofilm, thus it was beneficial to maintain the activity of ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and improve the nitrogen removal rate and effluent quality. This investigation provides creative and significant perspectives for the design and operation of PN/A processes in the future MABR applications.

中文翻译：

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在载体耦合膜加氧生物膜反应器中通过部分硝化和厌氧氨氧化实现主流脱氮


将部分硝化-厌氧氨氧化 （PN/A） 集成到膜充气生物膜反应器 （MABR） 中是一种很有前途的节能和高效脱氮技术。抑制亚硝酸盐氧化菌 （NOB） 仍然是其发展过程中最大的挑战。在我们的研究中，我们提出了一种将载体整合到 MABR （CMABR） 的新工艺，该工艺结合了富含厌氧铵氧化菌 （AnAOB） 和部分硝化 MABR 系统的载体。探究了不同水力保留时间 （HRT） 对 CMABR 的影响，结果表明，在 3 h HRT 时，CMABR 的脱氮速率可达 200 g-N/（m³·d） 以上。当残留 NH₄⁺-N 浓度低于 5 mg-N/L 时，观察到 NOB 活性的增加。最后，通过两级 CMABR 的运行，以 30% 的载流子填充率和 6 h 的总 HRT 运行，可以通过优化条件来实现更高的脱氮率和成功的 PN/A。与其他 MABR 相比，PN/A 工艺达到了优异的 NH₄⁺-N 去除效率 （97%） 和总氮去除效率 （81%）。CMABR 发挥了显著的 AnAOB 附着在载体上的特殊优势，而不仅仅是附着在膜生物膜上，因此有利于保持氨氧化菌 （AOB） 的活性，提高脱氮率和出水水质。这项调查为未来 MABR 应用中 PN/A 过程的设计和操作提供了创造性和重要的视角。