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Nitrogen removal driven by zonal supply of thiosulfate and pyrite in an up-flow blanket filter (UBF) reactor.

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Title: Nitrogen removal driven by zonal supply of thiosulfate and pyrite in an up-flow blanket filter (UBF) reactor.
Authors: Zhang Q; College of the Environment & Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China; State Key Laboratory of Advanced Environmental Technology, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China., Lin L; College of the Environment & Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China., Hu T; College of the Environment & Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China; State Key Laboratory of Advanced Environmental Technology, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China., Liu Q; College of the Environment & Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China; State Key Laboratory of Advanced Environmental Technology, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China., Wang Y; College of the Environment & Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China., Mo H; College of the Environment & Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China., Jin W; School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China., Zhang W; Shenzhen Shenshui Water Resources Consulting Co., Ltd., Shenzhen 518004, China., Chen J; School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China; Shenzhen Shenshui Water Resources Consulting Co., Ltd., Shenzhen 518004, China. Electronic address: chenjunzhl@126.com., Zeng H; College of the Environment & Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China., Wang X; State Key Laboratory of Advanced Environmental Technology, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China., Chen S; State Key Laboratory of Advanced Environmental Technology, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China., Zhang Y; State Key Laboratory of Advanced Environmental Technology, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China. Electronic address: ylzhang@iue.ac.cn.
Source: Bioresource technology [Bioresour Technol] 2026 Feb; Vol. 442, pp. 133677. Date of Electronic Publication: 2025 Nov 17.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Language: English
Journal Info: Publisher: Elsevier Applied Science Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 9889523 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1873-2976 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 09608524 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Bioresour Technol Subsets: MEDLINE
Imprint Name(s): Original Publication: Barking, Essex, England : New York, N.Y. : Elsevier Applied Science ; Elsevier Science Pub. Co., 1991-
MeSH Terms: Thiosulfates*/pharmacology , Bioreactors*/microbiology , Nitrogen*/isolation & purification , Sulfides*/pharmacology , Iron*/pharmacology , Filtration*/instrumentation , Water Purification*/methods , Water Purification*/instrumentation, Bacteria/metabolism ; Denitrification
Abstract: Despite its effectiveness in nitrogen removal, the anammox process faces challenges in practical applications due to NO3--N accumulation, which can lead to effluent breaches of discharge standards. This study developed a single-stage up-flow blanket filter (UBF) reactor featuring three axially stratified functional layers with multi-point supplementation of thiosulfate and pyrite. During stable operation, the high-intensity anammox layer (L1) contributed to 82.3 % of total nitrogen (TN) removal and generated alkalinity to support subsequent sulfur autotrophic denitrification (SAD). The SAD-coupled anammox layer (L2) effectively removed accumulated NO3--N, reducing TN from 42.8 mg/L to 25.2 mg/L. The advanced nitrogen removal layer (L3) further polished the effluent to a TN concentration of 4.3 ± 2.8 mg/L and a pH of 7.1 ± 0.1, achieving advanced nitrogen removal and pH self-regulation. Anammox bacteria exhibited an inhibition-recovery response to thiosulfate addition, while pyrite served a triple role as a filter medium, metabolic accelerator, and electron donor. Metagenomic analysis revealed that thiosulfate supplementation selectively enrichedThiobacillusandPFJX01in each functional layer, with denitrification gene abundance increasing along the reactor's height. Notably, functional and associated microorganisms showed layer-specific gene expression and co-metabolism patterns. Even within the same genus, differential gene regulation in response to local microenvironments drove functional divergence at the genetic level. In summary, this work innovatively establishes spatially segregated functional layers within a single UBF reactor, offering a novel low-carbon strategy for advanced nitrogen removal and facilitating the resource utilization of tailings.
(Copyright © 2025. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Contributed Indexing: Keywords: Advanced nitrogen removal; Anammox; Functional layers; Sulfur autotrophic denitrification; Up-flow blanket filter
Substance Nomenclature: 0 (Thiosulfates)
N762921K75 (Nitrogen)
132N09W4PR (pyrite)
0 (Sulfides)
E1UOL152H7 (Iron)
Entry Date(s): Date Created: 20251119 Date Completed: 20260114 Latest Revision: 20260114
Update Code: 20260130
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2025.133677
PMID: 41260374
Database: MEDLINE
Description
ISSN:1873-2976
DOI:10.1016/j.biortech.2025.133677