Microbial monitoring of ammonia removal in a UASB reactor treating pre-digested chicken manure with anaerobic granular inoculum. (October 2017) - Yangin-Gomec, Cigdem
Highlights: Maximum ammonia removal of 80% was achieved with 20 mg TAN/L in the effluent. qPCR and Illumina Miseq sequencing were used to assess microbial community dynamics. A significant association was found between hzsA gene and anaerobic ammonia removal. The dominant route for ammonia removal was distinguished by Planctomycetes . Abstract: Performance and microbial community dynamics in an upflow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) reactor coupled with anaerobic ammonium oxidizing (Anammox) treating diluted chicken manure digestate (Total ammonia nitrogen; TAN = 123 ± 10 mg/L) were investigated for a 120-d operating period in the presence of anaerobic granular inoculum. Maximum TAN removal efficiency reached to above 80% with as low as 20 mg/L TAN concentrations in the effluent. Moreover, total COD (tCOD) with 807 ± 215 mg/L in the influent was removed by 60–80%. High-throughput sequencing revealed that Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes were dominant phyla followed by Euryarchaeota and Bacteroidetes . The relative abundance of Planctomycetes significantly increased from 4% to 8–9% during the late days of the operation with decreased tCOD concentration, which indicated a more optimum condition to favor ammonia removal through anammox route. There was also significant association between the hzsA gene and ammonia removal in the UASB reactor.