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Formation and removal of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) in membrane bioreactor and conventional activated sludge processes

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Abstract

Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) has become a growing concern due to its contribution to eutrophication and nitrogenous disinfection byproducts (N-DBPs) formation. However, information of DON in membrane bioreactors (MBRs) is very limited. In this study, occurrence, transformation and fate of DON in an MBR system were systematically investigated. MBR sludge showed a larger hydrolysis rate of particle organic nitrogen (PON) and also a higher transformation rate of DON to nitrate compared to conventional activated sludge (CAS). For long-term experiments, MBR achieved higher DON removal efficiency at low temperature than CAS; however, at high temperature, the effluent DON concentrations were almost the same in both systems. Batch tests on DON biodegradability showed that DON concentration increased and large molecular weight DON accumulated after 3-h aeration at low temperature, while DON concentration continuously decreased with the increase of aeration time at high temperature. The obtained results provide insights in DON removal in MBRs for meeting increasingly stringent regulations in terms of nitrogen removal.

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Acknowledgments

We thank National Natural Science Foundation of China (51422811), Shanghai Postdoctoral Science Foundation (14R21422500), Shanghai Rising-Star Program (14QA1403800), and Shanghai Science & Technology Commission Fund (13231202000) for the financial support of this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai, 200092, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaomeng Han, Zhiwei Wang, Jinxing Ma, Junjian Zheng & Zhichao Wu

  2. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Jinxing Ma

  3. Shanghai Municipal Engineering Design Institute (Group) Co., Ltd., Shanghai, 200092, People’s Republic of China

    Pan Wang

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  1. Xiaomeng Han
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  2. Zhiwei Wang
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  3. Jinxing Ma
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  4. Junjian Zheng
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  5. Pan Wang
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  6. Zhichao Wu
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Correspondence to Zhiwei Wang or Jinxing Ma.

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Responsible editor: Gerald Thouand

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Han, X., Wang, Z., Ma, J. et al. Formation and removal of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) in membrane bioreactor and conventional activated sludge processes. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 12633–12643 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4542-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4542-3

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