Coupling Thiosulfate-Driven denitrification and anammox to remove nitrogen from actual wastewater.

Abstract

A coupled thiosulfate-driven denitrification and anammox (TDDA) process was established to remove nitrogen from wastewater. It was optimized in an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor using synthetic wastewater, and its reliability was then verified with actual wastewater. The results demonstrated that nitrate, nitrite, and ammonium could be synergistically removed, and the highest total nitrogen removal efficiency reached 97.8% at a loading of 1.39 kgN/(m³·d). Anammox bacteria, primarily Candidatus_Brocadia, were the main contributors to nitrogen removal, while sulfur-oxidizing bacteria such as Thiobacillus and Rhodanobacter played a supportive role. By optimizing substrate conditions to enhance the anammox process, the coupled system attained higher abundances of functional genes such as napA, nirS, hzs, soxXA, and soxYZ, along with the corresponding microbial species. The data suggested that microbial cross-feeding and self-adaptation strategies were key to efficient nitrogen removal by TDDA.