Fast start-up of Anammox process with appropriate ferrous iron concentration

•The start-up time of Anammox process could be shortened to 50 days with 0.09 mM Fe2+.•An increase of heme c content was the key for fast start-up of Anammox process.•The hydrazine dehydrogenase activity is highly relevant to increasing Fe2+ dosage.

In this study, three upflow column reactors were compared for anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Anammox) process start-up time with different ferrous iron concentration in feeding. Continuous experiments indicated that the start-up time of Anammox process could be shortened from 70 to 58 d in R2 (0.06 mM Fe2+) and 50 d in R3 (0.09 mM Fe2+). The Anammox activity appeared after 16 days operation in R3. Quantitative PCR (q-PCR) analysis demonstrated a significant increase in quantity of Anammox bacteria in R3 compared with the other two reactors during entire operation. At the Fe(II) concentration of 0.09 mM, the heme c levels inside Anammox cell and hydrazine dehydrogenase (HDH) activity increased dramatically, which could be the trigger of fast Anammox start-up.