A’ utilities guide to starting up Anammox

Water NZ Conference 2018

(Strous et al, 1998. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 50: 589-596; Vlaeminck et al, 2010. Appli.Env.Microbiol 76, 900-909; Ni et al, 2013. BioMed Resch 469360;)

ANAMMOX (Anaerobic Ammonium Oxidation)

• It is a Microbe

• It is a Process • Discovered

in 1995

THE ENERGY NEUTRALITY PROGRAMME

Mangere WWTP

Rosedale WWTP

THE ENERGY NEUTRALITY PROGRAMME

Aeration reduction

Biochemistry optimization

Harvest more Carbon

Gas and biosolids

production

Higher capacity to climate

change adaptation

BIOLOGICAL NITROGEN REMOVAL FROM WASTEWATER

THE BOOM OF ANAMMOX TECHNOLOGY

Exponential use and study of anammox microbes for wastewater treatment

Full

scal

e in

stal

latio

ns

Scie

ntifi

c pu

blic

atio

ns

Year

(Lackner et al, 2015. Water Research 55, 292-303)

THE BOOM OF ANAMMOX TECHNOLOGY

(Ali et al, 2015. Chemosphere 141, 144-153)

Bugs on a quest for world domination

HOW SHALL WE START?

We need the bugs!

Develop our native strain

Import them from overseas

1.Genetic detection

2.Enrichment

3.Scale-up

4.Pilot trials

5.Construction

6.Commissioning

NATIVE ANAMMOX IMPLEMENTATION PATHWAY

1. DETECTION

Successful genetic detection in almost 60 wastewater samples Presence at very low concentrations Two identified species

2. ENRICHMENT

Three wastewater samples each cultivated in a SBR bioreactor (3L) • Mangere RAS (R) • Rosedale RAS (M) • Digesters sludge (D)

2. ENRICHMENT

Cultivation time (days)

Amm

oniu

m c

once

ntra

tion

(mg-

N L

-1)

Positive results (NH4

+ consumption) for all three reactors after 250 days of cultivation

Rosedale RAS (R)

Mangere RAS (M)

Digesters sludge (D)

• Increasing anammox genes

• Increasing activity rates

• Nitrogen gas production

• By-product (NO3-) formation

2. ENRICHMENT

Further evidence of successful anammox enrichment

NH

4+ con

sum

ptio

n ra

re

(mg-

N L

-1 d

-1)

Cultivation time (day)

(R) (M) (D)

Anam

mox

gen

e co

pies

Lo

g10 (

copi

es/u

L)

Cultivation time (day)

N2 gas bubbles

NO

3- con

.(mg-

N L

-1)

Cultivation time (days)

2. ENRICHMENT

3. SCALE-UP

Humbly, but putting New Zealand back on the map

Amm

oniu

m v

olum

etric

load

ing

rate

(K

g-N

m-3

d-1

)

Anammox based BNR systems

(Third et al, 2005. Microbial Ecol 49:236-244; Lackner et al, 2015. Water Research 55, 292-303)

Scale-up strategy On-going work.

3. SCALE-UP

3 L 15 L 250 L 1250 L50 L

12 months

12 months

12 months

12 months

Centrate pre-treatment

Centrate

Suspended sludge

Carriers (MBBR)

Lab scale Scale up Pilot scale

Overseas strain(Austria)

2 X 15 L

PC2 containment

• We now have cultures which will be used to seed larger reactors

• We developed a method to enrich anammox bugs which has resulted in valuable knowledge and potential Intellectual Property

• We have built an on-site Wastewater Innovation Centre, available to do pilot trials

PROMISING FUNDATIONS

• It has been a very valuable and challenging journey

• Anammox based BNR technology is now reachable in N.Z.

• On target to achieve Energy Neutrality by 2025

• Our operations and partnerships will intensify to really reach this goal

SUMMARY

Thanks