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An investigation of a process for partial nitrification and autotrophic denitrification combined desulfurization in a single biofilm reactor

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Abstract

In this study, a vertical submerged biofilm reactor was applied to investigate autotrophic partial nitrification/denitrification and simultaneous sulfide removal by using synthetic wastewater. The appropriate influent ratios of ammonia and sulfide needed to achieve partial autotrophic nitrification and denitrification were evaluated with influent ammonium nitrogen ranging from 54.6 to 129.8 mg L−1 and sulfide concentrations ranging from 52.7 to 412.4 mg S L−1. The results demonstrated that the working parameter was more stable when the sulfur/nitrogen ratio was set at 3:2, which yielded the maximum sulfur conversion. Batch experiments with different phosphate concentrations proved that a suitable phosphate buffer solution to control pH values could improve synchronous desulfurization denitrification process performance.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the financial support by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21107093), and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (20110491776) and Zhejiang Province Department of Education Foundation (N20120059).

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Correspondence to Yunlong Wang.

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Liang, Z., Xu, H., Wang, Y. et al. An investigation of a process for partial nitrification and autotrophic denitrification combined desulfurization in a single biofilm reactor. Biodegradation 24, 843–853 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10532-013-9632-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10532-013-9632-7

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