Sustained nitrite accumulation in a membrane-assisted bioreactor (MBR) for the treatment of ammonium-rich wastewater

A membrane‐assisted bioreactor (MBR) for sustained nitrite accumulation is presented, treating a synthetic wastewater with total ammonium nitrogen (TAN) concentrations of 1 kg N m−3 at a hydraulic retention time down to 1 day. Complete biomass retention was obtained by microfiltration with submerged hollow fibre membranes. A membrane flux up to 189.5 dm3 day−1 m−2 could be maintained at a suction pressure below 100 kPa. Nitrification was effectively blocked at the nitrite stage (nitritation), and nitrate concentration was less than 29 g N m−3. The rate of aeration was reduced to obtain a mixture of ammonium and nitrite, and after adjusting this rate the TAN/NO2‐N ratio in the reactor effluent was kept around unity, making it suitable for further treatment by anaerobic oxidation of ammonium with nitrite. After increasing again the rate of aeration, complete nitrification to nitrate recovered after 11 days. It is suggested that nitrite accumulation resulted from a combination of factors. First, the dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration in the reactor was always limited with concentrations below 0.1 g DO m−3, thereby limiting nitrification and preventing significant nitrate formation. The latter is attributed to the fact that ammonium‐oxidising bacteria cope better with low DO concentrations than nitrite oxidisers. Second, the MBR was operated at a high ammonia concentration of 7–54 g N m−3, resulting in ammonia inhibition of the nitrite‐oxidising microorganisms. Third, a temperature of 35 °C was reported to yield a higher maximum growth rate for ammonium‐oxidising bacteria than for nitrite‐oxidising bacteria. Nitrite oxidisers were always present in the MBR but were out‐competed under the indicated process conditions, which is reflected in low concentrations of nitrate. Oxygen limitation was shown to be the most important factor to sustain nitrite accumulation. Nevertheless, nitritation was possible at ambient temperature (22–24 °C), lower ammonia concentration (