Biological Nitrogen Removal Database
A manually curated data resource for microbial nitrogen removal
Biological Nitrogen Removal Database
A manually curated data resource for microbial nitrogen removal
Influent:Groundwater
Denitrification system:Fixed-film
Denitrifying reactor:Fluidized
Medium:Methacrylate
Culture taken from:Activated sludge
Organism (s) cultured:nan
Respiration:Anaerobic
Electron donor:Methanol
Electron acceptor:Nitrate
Input NO3-N (mg/l):22
Nitrate removal rate (mg NO3-N/l/h):nan
Denitrification rate (gNO3-N removed/m3/day):240–480
Microorganisms identified:nan
Molecular tools:nan
Major findings:Alcohols (ethanol and methanol) are more suitable as carbon sources than sucrose for a fixed-film system, in order to eliminate nitrate from contaminated groundwater. However methanol is a toxic substance when it comes to human health.
Authors:Gómez et al., 2000
Title:Influence of Carbon Source on Nitrate Removal of Contaminated Groundwater in a Denitrifying Submerged Filter
Pubmed link:Link
Full research link:Link
Abstract:The effectiveness of three selected carbon sources (sucrose, ethanol and methanol) on submerged filters for the removal of nitrate from contaminated groundwater (100mg NO3(-)/litre), was studied. Process yields, nitrite accumulation, biomass production and growth of denitrifying bacteria were compared. Process yields, represented as ratio C/N were 2.5, 1.08 and 1.1 for sucrose, ethanol and methanol assays, respectively, making sucrose the least efficient carbon source. Nitrite accumulation in treated groundwater was more notable for sucrose assays, reaching values of 5mg NO2(-)/l. However, when ethanol or methanol were used as carbon sources, nitrite accumulation in treated water was practically zero during the experiments. On the other hand, a greater biomass production was observed in these assays with sucrose, causing clogging of the filter. Higher density of denitrifying bacteria in the biofilm, observed when ethanol and methanol were amended to the influent, suggested that these carbon sources increased the denitrification activity compared with the experiments performed with sucrose. Since methanol is toxic, ethanol is considered the most suitable carbon source out of the three tested, under the experimental conditions.