Application of a Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor for Tertiary Ammonia Removal in High Temperature Industrial Wastewater

In order to meet point source pollution reduction goals and stringent maximum loading regulations, many wastewater treatment facilities will be required to add tertiary treatment to their existing operations. Significant nitrogen reductions for industrial dischargers pose a particular challenge in that high temperature and chemical inhibition common to these industries can slow or stop biological nutrient removal. This study examines the use of a Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor as a tertiary treatment step to remove ammonia from high temperature (35° to 45°C), chemically inhibitory industrial wastewater and identifies different phenotypes of ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and quantifies nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) that may be responsible for nitrification at elevated operation temperatures. Bench scale reactors operating at 35° and 40°C were able to successfully remove greater than 90% of the influent ammonia in both the synthetic and industrial wastewater. qPCR techniques identified N. oligotropha as dominant population in biofilm for first phases of reactor operation. In the later phases detection of N. nitrosa was observed, and may be responsible for increases in ammonia removal efficiency.