Mainstream Deammonification with the IFAS ANITAMox Process

F. Veuillet1, R. Lemaire2, P. Zozor1, R. Monnier2, M. Piculell3, S. Blivi-Akue1, F. Poty1, J. Higgins4

1
Veolia Research and Innovation, Paris, France
2
Veolia Technical and Performance Department, Paris, France
3
AnoxKaldnes AB, Veolia Water and Technologies, Lund, Sweden
4
Veolia Water Ireland, Kilkenny Industrial & Business Park, Purcellsinch, Dublin Road, Kilkenny, Ireland

ABSTRACT: The IFAS ANITA Mox process was applied to simultaneously treat organic carbon and nitrogen from
municipal mainstream effluent after a COD-stage in a 1-stage reactor. In order to increase the process performances
under complex conditions (e.g. low temperature, high COD/NH4-N ratio, low ammonia concentration), strategies were
applied to repress NOB by intermittent aeration. Preliminary results with intermittent aeration achieved an NH4-removal
of 1.2 gN/m2.d at 23C and 0.5gN/m2.d at 15C, with a final effluent TN level around 10 mg/L. Intermittent aeration
seems to be an efficient strategy to (i) repress NOB population at low temperatures and (ii) improve simultaneous
denitrification to achieve lower final TN. This performance combined with good settling properties of suspended biomass
produce a high quality final effluent without requiring a further polishing step for N-removal. Studies are continuing in
order to treat wastewater just after the primary stage, with higher COD/NH4 ratio.

Keywords: Anammox; ANITAMox; Mainstream; Intermittent aeration, IFAS.

INTRODUCTION
The deammonification process has been successfully applied in full-scale for nitrogen removal from
anaerobic digested sludge centrate with high level of ammonia and low level of organic matters. This
process reduces the cost for nitrogen removal compared to a conventional nitrification-denitrification
process. The ANITAMox Process is a single-stage deammonification process utilizing the moving
bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) technology. The biofilm on the MBBR carriers consists of multiple-
layers, where anammox bacteria grow on the inner layer and Ammonia Oxidizing Bacteria (AOB)
grow on the outer layer. The MBBR systems are not very sensitive to incoming total suspended
solids, since solids flow through the non-clogging sieves (flow-through system) while carriers with
anammox biomass are easily and securely retained in the reactor (Lemaire et al., 2013). Currently, a
total of nine full-scale ANITAMox plants are in operation in Europe and in the US. More plants
are under design and construction to treat both municipal and industrial nitrogen-rich effluents.

Two recent studies by Liu et al. (2014) and Veuillet et al. (2014a) reported a significant
improvement in N-removal rate by applying the the integrated fixed-film activated sludge (IFAS)
ANITAMox configuration, reaching up to 3 kgN/m3.d at both the pilot- and full-scale level for
sidestream treatment. The integration of activated sludge and biofilm is an effective approach to
improve single-stage biofilm deammonification processes, as suspended growth is capable of
enriching nitrifiers and improving the rate of nitritation at low DO levels due to less limitation on
mass transfer, while carriers with anammox biomass are easily and securely retained in the reactor.

The next revolution in biological nutrient removal (BNR) at municipal WWTPs is to implement
deammonification systems on the mainstream process line and not just on the sidestream, where only
15-25% of the plant N-load can be treated. Mainstream deammonification has been gaining a great
deal of interest in the wastewater industry worldwide as this cost and energy efficient process
provides a paradigm shift for the wastewater industry. The possibility of removing most of the
incoming nitrogen load without requiring large amounts of organic matter to denitrify opens new
roads in the way we design and operate WWTPs, as described in Figure 1. Several additional
challenges have to be addressed to successfully apply the ANITA Mox process on mainstream
municipal effluent: (i) low temperatures, (ii) low ammonia concentration, (iii) higher COD/NH4-N
ratios, (iv) competition between the different bacterial consortiums (Ammonia Oxidizing Bacteria
(AOB), Nitrite Oxidizing Bacteria (NOB), Anammox (AnAOB) and ordinary Heterotrophs (OHO)),
(v) biomass spatial distribution inside the biofilm and flocs and (vi) efficient NOB repression
strategy.
C removal Energy positive N-removal (without COD)

High rate AS Lower Energy consumption (- - -)

CEPT IFAS ANITA Mox

Biofilter (Mainstream)

MBBR-C

Energy production ANITA Mox

UASB
(+++) (Sidestream)

THP Digester

Figure 1. Simplified process flow diagram of an energy positive mainstream ANITA Mox WWTP.

For mainstream deammonification applications, the IFAS ANITAMox configuration provides an

easy and purely mechanical solution to securely retain anammox biomass in the system with the
combination of biofilm carriers and retention sieves. This fast and robust physical separation
between anammox-rich biofilm carriers and nitrifier-rich suspended sludge allows for easy control of
the sludge age in the system and therefore efficient selective wash-out of NOB while retaining
anammox. The IFAS configuration also has the advantage of being more tolerant towards soluble
biodegradable COD (sbCOD), handling an influent with a relatively high sbCOD/NH4-N ratio
(Veuillet et al., 2014b). Finally, the IFAS ANITAMox configuration can be readily retrofitted into
existing activated sludge systems.

This paper reports more than 2 years operation of mainstream IFAS ANITA Mox Pilots. Overall
process performance, but also strategies to repress NOB activity at low temperature are presented.
The impacts of biomass distribution (between biofilm and suspended sludge) and competition
(between AOB, AnAOB and OHO) on global N-removal performances are also investigated.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

IFAS ANITA Mox pilot trial #1 (Paris WWTP). Two pilot plants were used in series (i) a 2 m3 C-
stage MBBR for COD removal with a 40m Drumfilter for TSS separation followed by (ii) a 2 m3
mainstream IFAS ANITA Mox (Figure 2a). K5 carriers from AnoxKaldnes (800 m2/m3) were used at
a filling degree of 30% in the MBBR and 40% in the IFAS. K5 carriers in the IFAS were taken from
a full scale sidestream ANITA Mox plant. Primary treated influent from a local WWTP was fed to
the Pilot with temperature ranging between 14-23C.

Primary treatment C-stage N-stage

Primary Settler MBBR DRUMLFILTER IFAS ANITATM Mox

Municipal
WWTP

(a)
 CEPT Biostyr-C Hybas ANITA Mox
(Mainstream)

COD = 90 mg/L
BOD = 20 mg/L
TSS = 30 mg/L

Reject water
Digester

(b)
Figure 2. Schematic of IFAS ANITA Mox pilot (a) treating primary effluent at local WWTP in Paris and (b) treating
fullscale COD-treated BAF effluent at Hyeres WWTP

IFAS ANITA Mox pilot trial #2 (Hyeres WWTP). A fully containerised 1.2m3 IFAS ANITA Mox
Pilot with 45% K5 carriers filling was installed at a fullscale WWTP using CEPT and Biostyr BAF
process for COD removal only (Figure 2b). The goal of this trial is to demonstrate that ANITA Mox
could be applied downstream of existing COD plants if TN consent are to be enforced in the future.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

IFAS ANITA Mox pilot trial #1 (Paris WWTP): Continuous aeration at low DO (0.5-1 mg/L) was
initially applied. Between Day 120 and 220, recurrent issues with the pilot air supply resulted in
higher NO3/NH4 ratio, indicating NOB activity. The SRT was therefore reduced to wash out more
NOB. This resulted in the NH4 removal dropping to 0.2 gN/m2.d before reaching 1 gN/m2.d again
after improving DO and SRT control. TNout fluctuated between 20-30 mgN/L.
2 loss MLSS Aeration issue Sequenced Aeration 30
NH4 load, NH4 removal (gN/m2.d)

1,8
25
1,6

1,4

Temperature (C)
20
1,2

1 15

0,8
10
0,6

0,4
5
0,2

0 0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 (a)
70 100
65
90
NH4 in, NH4 out, TN out (mg/L)

60
55 80
50 70
45
% NO3/NH4

60
40
35 50
30
40
25
20 30
15 20
10
10
5
0 0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 (b)
Figure 3. (a) NH4 load and removal rate and temperature variation, (b) NH4 in the inlet, NH4 and TN in the outlet and
NO3-Nprod/NH4-Nrem ratio for the Paris IFAS ANITA Mox Pilot.

After Day 235, the temperature started to decrease to reach 17C on day 280, remaining until day
430. During this period it was difficult to maintain high NH4 removal rate while keeping the NO3-
Nprod/NH4-Nrem ratio <20% due to NOB activity in the suspended sludge. A NH4 removal rate of 0.5-
0.8gN/m2.d was achieved with TNout still in the range of 20-30 mgN/L. To improve final TN level in
the effluent and to better repress NOB in the system, the intermittent aeration strategy was
implemented on day 430. After only 2 weeks, the NO3-Nprod/NH4-Nrem ratio decreased to 6% while
TNout improved to less than 15 mgN/L. After optimizing the aeration strategy, the NH4 removal rate
steadily increased to 1.3 gN/m2.d and the final effluent quality greatly improved with TNout reaching
10 mgN/L. This aeration strategy successfully reduced the NOB activity in the system and also
allowed for some simultaneous denitrification to occur, improving the final effluent quality.
During the following winter, the NH4 removal rate decreased as expected with temperature dropping
down to 14-15C, but the NO3-Nprod/NH4-Nrem ratio stabilised below 15%, indicating that the
intermittent aeration strategy and strict SRT control was a robust strategy to repress NOB activity,
even at low temperature. Ex-situ activity batch test performed on biofilm and suspended sludge
confirmed the strong repression of NOB. The TN concentration in the final effluent was also very
stable and consistently below 15 mgN/L during this period.

IFAS ANITA Mox pilot trial #2 (Hyeres WWTP): The low sCOD (<50mg/L) and TSS level (<25
mg/L) in the WWTP treated effluent meant that it took quite a long time to develop a suspended
nitrifying-rich biomass in the IFAS Pilot, while K5 carriers were already colonised with Anammox.
After 2.5 months operation, stable N-removal was achieved in the ANITA Mox with a TN level
below 10 mg/L. Intermittent aeration and short SRT control were also implemented to reduce NOB
activity.
50 30
45
NH4 in, NH4 out, TN out (mgN/L)

25
40
35
20

Temperature (C)
30
25 15
20
10
15
10
5
5
0 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Figure 4. (a) NH4 load and removal rate and temperature variation, (b) NH4 in the inlet, NH4 and TN in the outlet and
NO3-Nprod/NH4-Nrem ratio for the Paris IFAS ANITA Mox Pilot.

CONCLUSIONS
This work demonstrates that the IFAS ANITA Mox process can simultaneously remove COD and
N from mainstream effluent after a COD-removal stage in a single reactor at low temperatures.
NH4-removal performances were 1.2 gN/m.d at 23C and around 0.5gN/m2.d at 15C with a final
effluent TN level < 10-15 mg/L, without any polishing steps.
NOB activity is strongly repressed using an intermittent aeration strategy and tight SRT control at
lower temperature. This will be confirmed with quantification of AnAOB, AOB, NOB in the
sludge and in the biofilm using molecular tools (qPCR).
Studies are continuing to optimize the aeration strategy and validate the possibility to treat
mainstream influent directly after a primary treatment with higher COD/NH4 ratio.

REFERENCES
Lemaire R., Thesing G., Christensson M., Zhao H., Ochoa J. and Liviano I. (2013) Experience from Start-up and
Operation of Deammonification MBBR Plants, and Testing of a New Deammonification IFAS Configuration.
WEFTEC 2013, Oct 5-9, Chicago, IL, USA.
Liu M., Smal N., Barry J., Morton R., Tang C., Friess P., and Zhao H. (2014). Pilot-Scale Evaluation of ANITA Mox
for Centrate Nitrogen Removal at the Joint Water Pollution Control Plant. WEFTEC 2014(Alternate), Sep 27-Oct
1, New Orleans, LA, USA.
Veuillet F., Lacroix S., Bausseron A., Gonidec E., Ochoa J., Christensson M. and Lemaire R. (2014a). IFAS ANITA
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Veuillet F., Bausseron A., Gonidec E., Chastrusse S., Christensson M., Lemaire R. and Ochoa J. (2014b). ANITA Mox
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