A benchmark simulation to verify an inhibition model on decay stage for nitrification

Activated Sludge Models (ASMs) are widely used for biological wastewater treatment plant design, optimisation and operation. In commonly used ASMs, the nitrification process is modelled as a one-step process. However, in some process configurations, it is desirable to model the concentration of nitrite nitrogen through a two-step nitrification process. In this study, the benchmark datasets published by the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) were used to develop a two-step nitrification model considering the kinetics of Ammonium Oxidising Bacteria (AOB) and Nitrite Oxidising Bacteria (NOB). The WERF datasets were collected from a chemostat reactor fed about 1,000 mg-NH₃-N/L synthetic influent with at different sludge retention times of 20, 10 and 5-d, whereas the pH in the reactor varied in the range of 5.8 and 8.8. Supplemental laboratory batch experiments were conducted to assess the toxicity of nitrite-N on nitrifying bacteria. These tests suggested that 500 mg-N/L of nitrite at pH 7.3 was toxic to NOB and resulted in continuous decrease in bulk oxygen uptake rate. To model this phenomenon, a poisoning model was used instead of the traditional Haldane-type inhibition model. The poisoning model for NOB and AOB with different threshold poisonings for unionised NO₂-N and NH₃-N concentrations could successfully reproduce the three WERF datasets.