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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 #288994
Title: Treatment technologies for ammonia in liquid manure: nitrification/denitrification and anammox based deammonification

Author
item Vanotti, Matias
item Hunt, Patrick
item MARTINEZ, JOSE - Collaborator
item KUNZ, AIRTON - Embrapa
item FUIJI, TAKAO - Sojo University
item Szogi, Ariel
item FURUKAWA, KENJI - Kumamoto University

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/26/2013
Publication Date: 4/1/2013
Citation: Vanotti, M.B., Hunt, P.G., Martinez, J., Kunz, A., Fuiji, T., Szogi, A.A., Furukawa, K. 2013. Treatment technologies for ammonia in liquid manure: nitrification/denitrification and anammox based deammonification. In: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Agricultural and Agroindustrial Waste Management, March 12-14, 2013, Sao Pedro, SP, Brazil.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Biological treatment is regarded as the most efficient and economically feasible method available for removal of ammonia from wastewater. Its use for animal wastewater required development of new systems and methods that could handle the higher-strength characteristics of liquid manure. The discovery of a high-performing nitrifying bacterial sludge (HPNS) adapted to high ammonia concentrations (> 3,000 milligrams of nitrogen per liter) and low water temperatures (5 degrees Celsius) significantly reduced biological nitrogen removal (BNR) plant footprint and costs. Nitrification of fresh flushed manure was most effective after solid-liquid separation treatment, using a pre-denitrification configuration. Farmers that would like to implement biological ammonia removal from the effluent of anaerobic digesters (AD) 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 from anaerobic digester effluents that are low in carbon and high in ammonia concentration. We obtained rapid deammonification reaction by mixing nitrifying sludge HPNS with anammox bacteria, Brocadia caroliniensis, in a single, aerated reactors. The single-tank reactors were tested with digested swine wastewater. Compared with traditional nitrogen removal, the deammonification process reduced 57% of the aeration. Therefore, deammonification is a key technology for development of more economical and energy efficient biological ammonia removal systems in the near future.