Removal of nitrogen from wastewater with perennial ryegrass/artificial aquatic mats biofilm combined system

To develop a cost-effective combined phytoremediation and biological process, a combined perennial ryegrass/artificial aquatic mat biofilm reactor was used to treat synthetic wastewater. Influent ammonium loading, reflux ratio, hydraulic retention time (HRT) and temperature all had significant effects on the treatment efficiency. The results indicated that the effluent concentration of ammonium increased with increasing influent ammonium loading. The reactor temperature played an important role in the nitrification process. The ammonium removal efficiency significantly decreased from 80% to 30%–50% when the reactor temperature dropped to below 10°C. In addition, the optimal nitrogen removal condition was a reflux ratio of 2. The nitrate and ammonium concentration of the effluent were consistent with the HRT of the combined system. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency was at a high level during the whole experiment, being almost 80% after the start-up, and then mostly above 90%. The direct uptake of N by the perennial ryegrass accounted for 18.17% of the total N removal by the whole system. The perennial ryegrass absorption was a significant contributor to nitrogen removal in the combined system. The result illustrated that the combined perennial ryegrass/artificial aquatic mat biofilm reactor demonstrated good performance in ammonium, total N and COD removal.