Development and study of simultaneous nitrogen and methane removal bioprocesses for wastewater treatment

Resumen

The overall objective of the present doctoral thesis was to overcome two of the main drawbacks of the UASB systems, treating domestic sewage at room temperature, e.g., presence of dissolved methane in their effluents and their negligible nitrogen removal capacity. In order to minimize both impacts, the use of two novel technologies, in which dissolved methane is proposed as an inexpensive electron donor to denitrify, a MBR and an IFAS system. Besides, a MBR was used to promote an enrichment in n-damo bacteria, microorganisms that are able to simultaneously remove methane and nitrogen in anaerobic conditions, and with potential to be applied at future wastewater treatment facilities. Finally, the short-term effect of different sulphide concentrations on two different n-damo cultures was evaluated: one culture enriched in n-damo bacteria and the other one in n-damo archaea/anammox.