Effect of substrate concentration on stability of anammox biofilm reactors

Ammonium and nitrite are two substrates of anammox bacteria, but they are also inhibitors under high concentrations. The performance of two anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing (anammox) upflow biofilm (UBF) reactors was investigated. The results show that anammox UBFs become unstable under nitrogen loading rate (NLR) applied higher than 1.0 g/(L·d). The consumptions of acidity in the anammox reaction lead to the increase of pH, which is as high as 8.70–9.05. Free nitrous acid concentration is accompanied to be lower than the affinity constant of anammox bacteria, and then starvation effect appears. Moreover, free ammonia concentration increases to 57–178 mg/L, resulting in inhibitory effect on the anammox bacteria. Both negative effects contribute to the instability of the anammox bioreactors.