This study investigated the feasibility of a new biological nitrogen removal process that integrates sulfur-driven autotrophic denitratation (NO₃⁻→NO₂⁻) and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Anammox) for simultaneous removal of nitrate and ammonium from industrial wastewater. The proposed sulfur(thiosulfate)-driven denitratation and Anammox process was developed in two phases: First, the thiosulfate-driven denitratation was established in the UASB inoculated with activated sludge and fed with ammonium, nitrate and thiosulfate for 52 days until the nitrite level in the effluent reached 32.1 mg N/L. Second, enriched Anammox biomass was introduced to the UASB to develop the integrated thiosulfate-driven denitratation and Anammox (TDDA) bioprocess (53–212 d). Results showed that nitrate and ammonium could be efficiently removed from synthetic wastewater by the integrated TDDA system at a total nitrogen (TN) removal efficiency of 82.5 ± 1.8% with an influent NH₄⁺-N of 101.2 ± 2.2 mgN/L, NO₃⁻-N of 101.1 ± 1.5 mgN/L and thiosulfate of 202.5 ± 3.2 mg S/L. It was estimated that Anammox and autotrophic denitritation (NO₂⁻→N₂) contributed to about 90% and 10% of the TN removal respectively at stable operation. The established TDDA system was further supported by high-throughput sequencing analysis that sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (e.g., Thiobacillus and Sulfurimonas) coexisted with Anammox bacteria (e.g., Ca. Kuenenia and Ca. Anammoxoglobus) in this syntrophic biocenosis. Additionally, batch experiments were conducted to reveal the kinetic rates and to reconcile the stoichiometry of the electron donor/acceptor couples of the TDDA process. The results unraveled the mechanisms in the new bioprocess: i) sulfite and elemental sulfur (S⁰) were initially generated from branched thiosulfate; ii) oxidation of sulfite and elemental sulfur coupled with fast and slow denitratation; iii) nitrite produced from denitratation together with ammonium were effectively converted to dinitrogen gas via Anammox.

本实验研究了新的生物脱氮工艺的可行性，集成硫驱动自养denitratation（NO ₃ ^- →NO ₂ ^-）和厌氧铵氧化（Anammox），用于同时去除工业废水中的硝酸盐和铵盐。拟议中的硫（硫代硫酸盐）驱动的反硝化和厌氧氨氧化工艺分两个阶段进行：首先，在UASB中建立硫代硫酸盐驱动的反硝化接种活性污泥，并向其中加入氨，硝酸盐和硫代硫酸盐52天，直到亚硝酸盐水平达到废水达32.1 mg N / L。第二，将富集的厌氧氨氧化生物质引入UASB，以开发硫代硫酸盐驱动的反硝化和厌氧氨氧化（TDDA）生物工艺（53–212 d）。结果表明，通过集成的TDDA系统，在进水NH ₄ ^{+的情况下，}总氮（TN）去除效率为82.5±1.8％，可以有效地从合成废水中去除硝酸盐和铵。-N为101.2±2.2 mgN / L，NO ₃ ^-- N为101.1±1.5 mgN / L，硫代硫酸盐为202.5±3.2 mg S / L。估计厌氧氨氧化和自养反硝化（NO ₂ ⁻ →N ₂）在稳定运行时分别贡献了约90％和10％的TN去除率。高通量测序分析进一步证明了已建立的TDDA系统，即在这种同养生物菌落病中，硫氧化细菌（例如，硫杆菌和硫尿单胞菌）与厌氧细菌（例如，卡氏菌和厌氧钙化杆菌）共存。另外，进行批量实验以揭示动力学速率并调和TDDA过程的电子供体/受体对的化学计量。结果揭示了新生物过程中的机理：i）亚硫酸盐和元素硫（S ⁰）最初是由支链硫代硫酸盐产生的；ii）亚硫酸盐和元素硫的氧化，以及快速和缓慢的反硝化作用；iii）通过Anammox将反硝化产生的亚硝酸盐与铵一起有效地转化为氮气。