Performance evaluation of a novel anaerobic-anoxic sludge blanket reactor for biological nutrient removal treating municipal wastewater

A novel anaerobic-anoxic sludge blanket reactor, AnoxAn, unifies the non-aerated zones of the biological nutrient removal treatment train in a single upflow reactor, aimed at achieving high compactness and efficiency. The environmental conditions are vertically divided up inside the reactor with the anaerobic zone at the bottom and the anoxic zone above. This contribution presents the performance evaluation of the novel reactor in the removal of organic matter and nutrients from municipal wastewater, coupled with an aerobic hybrid MBR. The overall system achieved total nitrogen and phosphorus removal with average efficiencies of 75% and 89%, respectively. Separate anoxic and anaerobic conditions were maintained in AnoxAn, allowing anaerobic phosphate release and nearly complete anoxic denitrification in the single reactor operating with an HRT of 4.2 h. Biomass was retained in the reactor achieving TSS concentration up to 10 g L−1 and partial hydrolysis of influent particulate organic matter.