Influence of wastewater composition on biological nutrient removal in UniFed SBR process

The effects of influent C/N ratio and C/P ratio on biological nutrient removal performance were investigated in a lab-scale UniFed SBR apparatus treating real domestic wastewater. The results showed that TN removal efficiency increased as C/N ratio increased from 43.6% at 2.8 to 80.8% at 5.7. But when C/N ratio increased further, TN removal efficiency increased very slowly. This was because when C/N ratio was higher than 5.7, complete denitrification in the sludge blanket during feed/decant period had been achieved, TN removal efficiency during this period always kept the maximum value and only TN removal efficiency during aeration period rose as C/N ratio increased. PO₄³⁻ removal efficiency increased as C/N ratio increased from 27.3% at 2.8 to 88.1% at 5.7. When C/N ratio was 6.5 and above, PO₄³⁻ concentration couldn't be detected in the effluent. When influent C/N ratio and volumetric exchange ratio were fixed at 6 and 33% respectively, as C/P ratio was higher than 33, PO₄³⁻ concentration of effluent always remained below the detection level and phosphorus removal efficiency kept stable at 100%, but as the C/P ratio was lower than 33, phosphorus removal efficiency increased as C/P ratio increased linearly. C/P ratio hardly affected TN removal efficiency, which always kept at 82.2%–85.8% in this study.