T-RFLP detection of nitrifying bacteria in a fluidized bed reactor of achieving simultaneous nitrification–denitrification

Steady simultaneous nitrification–denitrification (SND) was achieved in a fluidized bed reactor (FBR) by the control of DO concentration without physical separation of the aerobic and anoxic zones. The performance and composition of nitrifying bacteria were examined in this study. The ammonium removal efficiency was higher than 80% and the DO concentration (1–5 mg l−1) had little influence on it. More than 50% total nitrogen (TN) removal efficiency was achieved when DO was less than 3 mg l−1 and in many cases the removal efficiency varied between 60–70%. The volumetric loading of TN varied between 0.12 and 0.20 kg N m−3 d−1. 16S rRNA-based terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis was used to characterize the diversity and distribution of the ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) in the FBR. The results indicated that, the composition and number of both AOB and NOB changed with position in the reactor and operating time. Nitrosomonas sp. was found to be dominant species of the AOB community, and Nitrobacter sp. also existed in the system. The SND mechanism in the FBR was proved to be the vertical stratification of active populations; however, the presence of microenvironments within the biofilm cannot be ruled out.