Efficient nitrogen removal and robustness enhancement of a two-stage partial nitrification-anammox (PN/A) process with low sludge concentration for mature landfill leachate

The biological treatment system for high-strength wastewater, particularly landfill leachate, typically requires high sludge concentration to maintain nitrogen removal performance. However, it frequently causes an excessive accumulation of toxins in microbial metabolism, resulting in unstable performance during long-term operation. An efficient two-stage partial nitrification/anammox (PN/A) mature landfill leachate process with low sludge concentration was constructed by settling time reduction and Ca2+ addition. The ammonia removal rate reached 46.7 mg N/(L·h) in PN-SBR. Nitrosomonas (2.0%) was the sole genus responsible for partial nitrification. The influent NO2--N/NH4+-N of A-SBR was kept at 1.39, leading to a dynamic equilibrium of anammox and denitrification. Ca. Brocadia recovered fastest (0.32% → 1.8%) among the detected AnAOB genera. The process achieved NRE of 95.0% with effluent TIN of 37.6 mg/L (<40 mg/L). This research offered recommendations for the favorable operation of the two-stage PN/A mature landfill leachate treatment system with low sludge concentration.