Abstract
In this study, the degradation performance of nutrients in zeolite trickling filter (ZTF) with different influent C/N ratios and aeration conditions was investigated. Microaeration was beneficial for enhancing NH4+-N removal performance. Due to the sufficient carbon source supply under a C/N ratio of 8, a high removal efficiency of NH4+-N and TN was simultaneously observed in ZTF. In addition, TN removal mainly occurred at the bottom, which might be explained by the sufficient nutrients available for bacteria to multiply in this zone. The abundant genera were Acinetobacter, Gemmobacter, Flavobacterium, and Pseudomonas, all of which are heterotrophic nitrification-aerobic denitrification (HNAD) bacteria. In addition, biofilm only slowed down the adsorption rate but did not significantly reduce the adsorption capacity of zeolite. Bio-zeolite had NH4+-N well adsorption capacity and bio-desorption capacity. Biological nitrogen removal performance was superior to physicochemical absorption of zeolite. The results suggested that the physicochemical of zeolite and biochemical reactions of microorganism coupling actions may be the main nitrogen transformation pathway in ZTF. Our research provides a reference for further understanding the nitrogen removal mechanism of zeolite bioreactors.
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The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful for the support by the Major Special Science and Technology Project of Henan Province (181100310300), the National Science and Technology Major Project (2017ZX07602-003-002), and the fellowship of China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2020TQ0284).
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This study was supported by Major Special Science and Technology Project of Henan Province (181100310300), National Science and Technology Major Project (2017ZX07602-003-002), and Fellowship of China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2020TQ0284).
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Conceptualization: Jingqing Gao, Zhenzhen Huang; data curation: Lina Liu; formal analysis: Chunyang Tao; funding acquisition: Jinliang Zhang; investigation: Jingshen Zhang; methodology: Lina Liu; project administration: Ming Cai; resources: Jianlei Gao; software: Yubo Zhao; supervision: Jingqing Gao; validation: Na Li; visualization: Lina Liu; writing-original draft: Lina Liu; writing-review and editing: Lina Liu, Zhenzhen Huang, Na Li.
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Liu, L., Li, N., Tao, C. et al. Nitrogen removal performance and bacterial communities in zeolite trickling filter under different influent C/N ratios. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 15909–15922 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11776-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11776-y