Enrichment features of anammox consortia from methanogenic granules loaded with high organic and methanol contents

Vigorous anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) activity was realized by seeding with diverse sludge contents. Granules taken from a 2-year old methanogenic reactor loaded with high organic and methanol contents were used as inoculum to enrich anammox biomass in a 1.1 L upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor. Anammox activity appeared after an operation of 83 d resulting in the final nitrogen removal rate of 11.7 kg N m−3 d−1 with the efficient granulation of anammox sludge. The analysis based on 16S rDNA sequencing confirmed that Candidatus “Brocadia” was the dominant population in the enriched biomass.