Short- and long-term effects of temperature on partial nitrification in a sequencing batch reactor treating domestic wastewater

Partial nitrification to nitrite has been frequently obtained at high temperatures, but has proved difficult to achieve at low temperatures when treating low strength domestic wastewater. In this study, the long-term effects of temperature on partial nitrification were investigated by operating a sequencing bath reactor with the use of aeration duration control. The specific ammonia oxidation rate decreased by 1.5 times with the temperature decreasing from 25 to 15 °C. However, low temperature did not deteriorate the stable partial nitrification performance. Nitrite accumulation ratio was always above 90%, even slightly higher (above 95%) at low temperatures. The nitrifying sludge accumulated with ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), but washout of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) was used to determine the short-term effects of temperature on ammonia oxidation process. The ammonia oxidation rate depended more sensitively on lower temperatures; correspondingly the temperature coefficient θ was 1.172 from 5 to 20 °C, while θ was 1.062 from 20 to 35 °C. Moreover, the larger activation energy (111.5 kJ mol−1) was found at lower temperatures of 5-20 °C, whereas the smaller value (42.0 kJ mol−1) was observed at higher temperatures of 20-35 °C. These findings might be contributed to extend the applicability of the partial nitrification process in wastewater treatment plants operated under cold weather conditions. It is suggested that the selective enrichment of AOB as well as the washout of NOB be obtained by process control before making the biomass slowly adapt to low temperatures for achieving partial nitrification to nitrite at low temperatures.