Nitrogen Removal from Milking Center Wastewater via Simultaneous Nitrification and Denitrification Using a Biofilm Filtration Reactor

Milking center wastewater (MCW) has a relatively low ratio of carbon to nitrogen (C/N ratio), which should be separately managed from livestock manure due to the negative impacts of manure nutrients and harmful effects on down-stream in the livestock manure process with respect to the microbial growth. Simultaneous nitrification and denitrification (SND) is linked to inhibition of the second nitrification and reduces around 40% of the carbonaceous energy available for denitrification. Thus, this study was conducted to find the optimal operational conditions for the treatment of MCW using an attached-growth biofilm reactor; i.e., nitrogen loading rate (NLR) of 0.14, 0.28, 0.43, and 0.58 kg m(−3) d(−1) and aeration rate of 0.06, 0.12, and 0.24 m(3) h(−1) were evaluated and the comparison of air-diffuser position between one-third and bottom of the reactor was conducted. Four sand packed-bed reactors with the effective volume of 2.5 L were prepared and initially an air-diffuser was placed at one third from the bottom of the reactor. After the adaptation period of 2 weeks, SND was observed at all four reactors and the optimal NLR of 0.45 kg m(−3) d(−1) was found as a threshold value to obtain higher nitrogen removal efficiency. Dissolved oxygen (DO) as one of key operational conditions was measured during the experiment and the reactor with an aeration rate of 0.12 m(3) h(−1) showed the best performance of NH(4)-N removal and the higher total nitrogen removal efficiency through SND with appropriate DO level of ~0.5 mg DO L(−1). The air-diffuser position at one third from the bottom of the reactor resulted in better nitrogen removal than at the bottom position. Consequently, nitrogen in MCW with a low C/N ratio of 2.15 was successfully removed without the addition of external carbon sources.