Pilot experimentation with complete mixing anoxic reactors to improve sewage denitrification in treatment plants in small communities

This paper reports the results of two sewage treatment tests in a community of 15,000 inhabitants. The sewage treatment plant is subject to strong fluctuations in load (BOD5, COD, TKN), and in particular in the BOD5/TKN ratio. These fluctuations adversely affect the biological denitrification, as demonstrated by many pilot and real-scale plants. The plants we tested were subjected to two treatment types: anoxic-aerobic and simultaneous denitrification. Both processes are designed for complete mixing conditions in the reactors in order to level the fluctuations in the load and thus improve the denitrification efficiency. The results prove that an average denitrification efficiency of up to 80% can be achieved with the sludge loading close to 0.1 kg BOD5 (d∙kgMLVSS)−1. The effect of the sludge loading and dissolved oxygen on the denitrification efficiency is highlighted.