MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF SULFUR UTILIZING AUTOTROPHIC DENITRIFICATION IN AN UP-FLOW PACKED-BED REACTOR BASED ON BIOMASS DISTRIBUTION

A novel technology for the removal of nitrogen from wastewater, an autotrophic denitrification process with sulfur particles, has been developed. A respirometer was employed to monitor the nitrogen gas produced in the reactor, while 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole staining was employed to investigate the biomass distribution in terms of cell number according to the reactor height. From the respirometric monitoring, the denitrification reaction was defined as a first order reaction. The reactor was divided into 7 sections and biomass was analyzed in each section where cell number was ranged from $4.8\;{\times}\;10^6\;to\;8.7\;{\times}\;10^7$ cells/g dry weight of sulfur. Cells placed mostly in the lower layer ( < 10 cm of height). A function for biomass distribution was obtained with non-linear regression. Then a mathematical model has been developed by combining a plug-flow model with the biomass distribution function. The model could make a vertical profile of the up-flow packed-bed reactor resulting in a reasonable comparison with measured nitrate concentration with 5% of error range.