Soil infiltration bioreactor incorporated with pyrite-based (mixotrophic) denitrification for domestic wastewater treatment

Bioresour Technol. 2015:187:14-22. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2015.03.052. Epub 2015 Mar 24.

Abstract

In this study, an integrated two-stage soil infiltration bioreactor incorporated with pyrite-based (mixotrophic) denitrification (SIBPD) was designed for domestic wastewater treatment. Benefited from excellent adsorption ability and water-permeability, soil infiltration could avoid clogging, shorten operating time and lower maintenance cost. Respiration and nitrification were mostly engaged in aerobic stage (AES), while nitrate was majorly removed by pyrite-based mixotrophic denitrification mainly occurred in anaerobic stage (ANS). Fed with synthetic and real wastewater for 120days at 1.5h HRT, SIBPD demonstrated good removal performance showing 87.14% for COD, 92.84% for NH4(+)-N and 82.58% for TP along with 80.72% of nitrate removed by ANS. TN removal efficiency was 83.74% when conducting real wastewater. Compared with sulfur-based process, the effluent pH of SIBPD was maintained at 6.99-7.34 and the highest SO4(2-) concentration was only 64.63mgL(-1). This study revealed a promising and feasible application prospect for on-site domestic wastewater treatment.

Keywords: Alkalinity; Mixotrophic denitrification; Pyrite; Soil infiltration; Wastewater.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Bioreactors / microbiology*
  • Equipment Design
  • Equipment Failure Analysis
  • Iron / chemistry*
  • Soil Microbiology*
  • Sulfides / chemistry*
  • Ultrafiltration / instrumentation
  • Wastewater / chemistry
  • Wastewater / microbiology*
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical / isolation & purification
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical / metabolism*
  • Water Purification / instrumentation*
  • Water Purification / methods

Substances

  • Sulfides
  • Waste Water
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical
  • pyrite
  • Iron