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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Florence, South Carolina » Coastal Plain Soil, Water and Plant Conservation Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #288355
Title: Deammonification reaction in digested swine effluents

Author
item Vanotti, Matias
item KUNZ, AIRTON - Embrapa
item MARTINEZ, JOSE - Collaborator

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/15/2013
Publication Date: 3/12/2013
Citation: Vanotti, M.B., Kunz, A., Martinez, J. 2013. Deammonification reaction in digested swine effluents. In: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Agricultural and Agroindustrial Waste Management, March 12-14, 2013, Sao Pedro, SP, Brazil.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Farmers that would like to implement biological nitrogen (N) removal from the effluent of anaerobic digesters (AD) – for example to comply with regional surplus nitrogen regulations or to take advantage of environmental nutrient credit programs – are often limited by the low amount of endogenous carbon available for traditional denitrification, since the carbon is consumed in the biogas production. The deammonification process is a completely autotrophic nitrogen removal approach that eliminates the carbon needs for denitrification. Thus, it can be a promising approach for the biological removal of ammonia (NH4+) from anaerobic digester effluents that are low in carbon and high in ammonia concentration. We obtained rapid deammonification reaction by mixing a high performance nitrifying sludge, HPNS (NRRL B-50298) with anammox bacterial sludge, Brocadia caroliniensis (NRRL B-50286) in single, aerated reactors. The reactors contained biofilm plastic carriers (30-40% volume/volume) that were fluidized by the aeration. The process water temperature was 23±2 degrees Celsius. The single-tank reactors were tested with digested swine wastewater. The reactions obtained were consistent with deammonification process. Compared with traditional N removal, the deammonification process reduced 56-57% of the aeration. It removed the nitrogen in a single-tank, further reducing equipment costs. Therefore, deammonification can be a key technology for development of more economical and energy efficient biological ammonia removal systems in the near future.