The presence of nutrients, such as nitrogenous compounds, in wastewater can pose serious environmental concerns to water systems leading to reduced water quality and potential risks to the public health. Nutrient removal in conventional wastewater treatment systems is becoming increasingly more costly due to the extensive energy requirements and high aeration costs. Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Anammox) is an alternative method for nutrient removal which can reduce overall treatment costs due to less aeration requirements and less sludge production. Anammox process can be implemented with other innovative technologies, such as membrane aerated biofilm reactors (MABR) to achieve effective and sustainable nutrient removal. A major challenge associated with Anammox process is effective control of nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB). High temperature in wastewater treatment systems can promote Anammox bacterial growth and inhibit NOB activity. This research aims to investigate the feasibility of integrating Anammox processes with MABR technologies and to examine the effects of high temperature aeration supplied to MABR systems on Anammox bacterial growth and NOB suppression. The nitrogen removal by Anammox bacteria in a lab-scaled MABR is examined to determine the impact of aeration temperature on inhibition of NOB. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

In an effort to develop cost-effective technologies for the removal of ammonium nitrogen from dairy waste, a novel biological wastewater treatment process, utilizing anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox), referred to as Oxygen-Limited Autotrophic Nitrification and Denitrification (OLAND) was examined. Due to the potential use of OLAND-based systems in dairy manure management, a detailed water quality assessment of a modern dairy farm manure treatment-system was conducted. The Johnson Highland Dairy Farm, Glade Spring, Virginia, was selected for this assessment and a comprehensive analysis of the wastewater characteristics throughout the confined animal feeding operation was completed. The results suggest that ammonia concentrations in the anaerobic storage facility was high enough to justify use of treatment technologies that reduce ammonia loads in stored dairy waste. A lightly loaded Fixed Film Bioreactor (FFBR), in which the OLAND process was desired to occur, was then constructed in the laboratory and monitored over 51 days. Of particular interest was the time taken to achieve stable performance of this OLAND system. Furthermore, a protocol was developed to determine whether OLAND based metabolism was occurring. Ammonium nitrogen removal efficiency in the FFBR throughout the 51-day monitoring period was high, averaging approximately 95 % for the length of the study. From day 32 to 51, simultaneous removal of both ammonium and nitrite with a low level of concomitant nitrate production was observed, a key indicator of possible anammox activity. Stoichiometric ratios calculated for the FFBR compared favorably with those already established for OLAND systems. The developed protocol, incorporating anaerobic and aerobic batch experiments, to verify the occurrence of OLAND based metabolism did not yield expected results and described poorly what was being observed in the FFBR. Volatilization of ammonia during the experimental test was suspected and should be controlled when the protocol is performed in the future. / Master of Science