Kinetic competition between phosphorus release and denitrification on sludge under anoxic condition

The kinetic behaviors of simultaneous phosphorus release and denitrification on sludge were investigated under anoxic condition. A phosphorus enriched sludge produced from Anaerobic-Anoxic-Oxic (AnAO) process under various SRT (5, 10 and 15 days) operation conditions was carried out in a series of batch tests. Experimental results indicated that the available organic substrate determined the kinetic behaviors of phosphorus release/uptake and denitrification. The simultaneous phosphorus release and denitrification demonstrated a kinetic competition under anoxic conditions in the presence of an available organic substrate. When the substrate was abundant, sludge was under ''releasable-phosphorus-limited'' condition; phosphorus release rate decreased slightly by nitrate inhibition. However, nitrate significantly inhibited phosphorus release when sludge was under ''initial-substrate-limited'' condition. Moreover, the sludge's phosphorus contents (as created by different SRT processes) dominated the kinetics of competition between phosphorus release and denitrification. The sludge with a high phosphorus content had a higher phosphorus release rate in accordance with a lower denitrification rate. Additionally, the substrate sequestrated rate markedly increased under the condition of simultaneous phosphorus release and denitrification. Finally, a preliminary metabolism model of denitrifying phosphorus removal bacteria was proposed, and found to be capable of adequately accounting for simultaneous phosphorus release and denitrification under anoxic conditions. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd