Biological nitrogen removal in SBR bypassing nitrate generation accomplished by chlorination and aeration time control

A novel control strategy for biological nitrogen removal with high nitrite built-up through chlorine dosage was studied. In the biological nitrogen removal process operated in a bench-scale sequencing batch reactor, dose of chlorine of 0.2 mg/l in the form of sodium hypochlorite was applied after the COD was depleted. The aerobic phase switched to an anoxic phase shortly after the ammonium was completely biotically oxidized. Nitrite accumulation was stably achieved which was attributed to the chlorination and the lag-time of nitrification. With the time control, stable 100% conversion of nitrite could also be sustained even under the absence of chlorine for at least 20 days. The nitrite oxidizer should have been killed rather than been suppressed in this study. For engineering applications, the advantages of the nitrification/denitrification via nitrite can compensate the cost of chlorine dosage. Combined with the aeration time control, it is feasible to apply chlorination in a biological nitrogen removal process in SBRs.