Accessible mixotrophic growth of denitrifying sulfide removal consortium

•Denitrifying sulfide removal (DSR) consortium was mixotrophically grown.•DSR performance was recorded at varying feed concentrations.•Accessible regimes of kinetic diagram were identified.•Example of using the DSR diagram was provided.

Nitrate, sulfide and organic matters in wastewaters can be removed simultaneously by denitrifying sulfide removal (DSR) process. Complicated interactions between different microbial groups in the DSR medium render the process design and control difficult to implement. A consortium with DSR activity was grown mixotrophically at varying concentrations of nitrate, acetate or ammonium. The kinetic diagram previously proposed was adopted to quantitatively represent DSR performance with accessible regimes of the diagram being identified. Example on the use of the so-yielded accessible regime was provided.