Enhanced biological nitrogen and phosphorus removal from sewage driven by fermented glycerol: comparative assessment between sequencing batch- and continuously fed-structured fixed bed reactor

The nutrient biological removal from sewage, especially from anaerobic reactor effluents, still represents a major challenge in conventional sewage treatment plants. In this work, the nitrogen and phosphorus removal from anaerobic pre-treated domestic sewage in an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor was assessed in a structured fixed bed reactor (SFBR) operated in a continuous and in a batch mode using polyurethane foam as material support for biomass and fermented glycerol as the exogenous carbon source. The SFBR was operated as a sequencing batch reactor with cycles of 90, 120, and 150 min under anaerobic, oxic, and anoxic conditions, respectively, reaching average efficiencies for total nitrogen and phosphorus removal of 88% and 56%, respectively. Fermented glycerol was added during the non-aerated periods. Under continuous feeding, the SFBR was operated with aeration/non-aeration periods of 2/1 (h) and 3/1 (h), hydraulic retention time of 12 h, and a recirculation ratio of 3. Without fermented glycerol addition, the maximum removal of total nitrogen (TN) reached 42%, while adding glycerol in the non-aerated period improved TN removal to 64.9% (2/1 h) and 69.5% (3/1 h). During continuous operation, no phosphorus removal was observed, which was released during the non-aerated period, remaining in the effluent. Optical microscopy analyses confirmed the presence of polyphosphate granules and of the phosphorus accumulating organisms in the reactor biofilm. It was concluded that the batch feeding method was determinant for phosphorus removal. The structured fixed bed reactor with polyurethane foam proved to be feasible in the removal of organic matter and nutrients remaining in the UASB reactor effluent.