Nitrogen elimination processes via nitrite as an intermediate instead of the classical N / DN pathway via nitrate are promising alternatives. Depending on the wastewater and the application, options include:
Nitritation-Denitritation (Ni / DNi) and Partial Nitritation-Anammox (PN / A). In both processes, the ammonium in the wastewater is only oxidized to nitrite, not further oxidized to nitrate. The nitrite is then reduced either by denitrification using organic carbon as an electron donor or by the anammox process using ammonium as an electron donor. This combination requires that only about half of the ammonium be oxidized to nitrite. In this context, a feasibility study on the implementation of the processes using membrane aerated biofilm reactors will be investigated.
