Biological Activated Filtration

Denitrification

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Denitrification in the sand filter for nitrogen reduction

Nitrogen is a basic building block of life and nature and, like phosphorus, is indispensable as a nutrient for all humans, animals and plants. Municipal wastewater contains various nitrogen compounds (including organically bound ammonium and nitrate).

The removal of nitrogen is one of the main tasks of municipal biological wastewater treatment, because without sufficient nitrogen removal, the discharge of wastewater into receiving waters has significant negative effects on water quality and thus on flora and fauna.

Stickstoffentfernung durch Denitrifikation im Sandfilter

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Denitrification

Downstream Nitrogen Removal a Sand Filter

Biological nitrogen removal in the course of wastewater treatment consists of the two process steps nitrification and denitrification, which take place in the aeration tank.

In the nitrification process, ammonium is oxidised to nitrate; with denitrification, nitrate is reduced to elemental nitrogen, which escapes into the air.

If upstream denitrification is not possible for space reasons or if the existing denitrification is not sufficient to meet the required limit values, downstream denitrification in the HUBER Sandfilter CONTIFLOW® can be applied.

Denitrification takes place in the anoxic biofilm that builds up on the filter bed material of the HUBER Sandfilter CONTIFLOW^®. Denitrification does not require oxygen but easily degradable carbon. As a carbon source, e.g. methanol can be added via an external dosing station.

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HUBER Sandfilter CONTIFLOW®

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The conversion of nitrate (NO₃⁻) to molecular nitrogen (N₂) with the help of certain bacteria is called denitrification.

In wastewater treatment, the process of denitrification is used specifically to convert nitrate into molecular nitrogen.

The prerequisite for denitrification is anoxic conditions (absence of molecular oxygen (O₂)), which lead to certain heterotrophic and some autotrophic bacteria using nitrate as an oxidant to generate the necessary life energy from oxidisable wastewater substances.

The oxidative conversion of ammonium ions (NH₄⁺) to nitrate (NO₃^-) with the help of bacteria is called nitrification.

Nitrification consists of two partial steps: