LANDFILL-LEACHATE TREATMENT: INNOVATIVE AUTOTROPHIC BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES FOR THE NITROGEN REMOVAL

摘要

This research evaluates the use of SNAD process to treat old landfill leachate. This study was carried out as an initial step towards development of SNAD process, in order to find a sustainable inoculums. Preliminary batch studies, conducted in a 4 L reactor, equipped as a Sequence Batch Reactor (SBR), showed that simultaneous removal of carbon and nitrogen from effluents with high N/C ratio is feasible in one single reactor. A synthetic wastewater, which composition was similar to that of old leandfill leachates, was used to confirm that anaerobic ammonia removal is a sustainable process also in presence of organic matter (OM) but it is feasible for low C/N ratio (< 1). At high C/N ratios, denitrifers and DNRA organisms are highly competitive with anammox bacteria.