Dynamics of complete and partial nitrification of source-separated urine
In this thesis the resilience of complete and partial nitrification of source-separated urine under dynamic conditions were investigated and compared. The process stability of nitrification reactors is important for their commercial application. In partial nitrification the alkalinity contained in urine allows nitrifying 50% of the ammonia whereas in complete nitrification the dosage of a base allows the nitrification of almost 100% of the ammonia. Due to considerations about Monod kinetic substrate limitation of Ammonia Oxidizing Bacteria (AOB) it was hypothesized that complete nitrification is more prone to nitrite accumulation and therefore less stable than partial nitrification. A computer model based on Monod kinetics should help to understand the processes and the resilience of urine nitrification reactors. Laboratory experiments were conducted in 7 L moving bed biofilm reactors (MBBR) to analyze the behavior of the two processes in respect to changes in temperature and inflow. The total ammonia concentration in the inflow was on average 1750±150 mg N L-1. Complete nitrification has at same conditions a lower nitrification rate than partial nitrification due to the lower ammonia concentration in the reactor. In order to reach comparable nitrification rates complete and partial nitrification reactors were therefore operated at two different pH values of 7 and 6 respectively. The average nitrification rate in complete nitrification was 1.08±0.17 g N m-2 d-1 and in parital nitrification 0.90±0.25 g N m-2 d-1 with regard to biofilm carrier surface (Kaldnes®). During all experiments no essential difference of process stability between complete and partial nitrification were observed. Both processes remained stable during temperature fluctuations between 20 °C and 32 °C when urine inflow was constant. pH-diven inflow control led to substantial nitrite accumulation and to a break down of nitrification due to an increase of the inflow caused by increasing AOB activity at higher temperatures. It could be shown that the dynamics of bacterial growth due to temperature changes are damped when pH is not controlled. Instantaneous increase of the inflow caused severe nitrite accumulations in both processes. A reliable process control should therefore consider the effects of temperature and restrict load fluctuations to a minimum. The developed model was able to describe the dynamics of nitrogen conversion due to temperature changes but failed in the prediction of process instabilities caused by increasing inflow.