Nitrification Treatment of Swine Wastewater With Acclimated Nitrifying Sludge Immobilized in Polymer Pellets

Abstract

uring recent decades, animal production methods in the U.S. have changed from small, individual operations to large, confined, commercial enterprises. This change has caused many problems for the swine industry including emission of ammonia (NH 3) from lagoons. Liquid swine manure is usually treated and stored in large (0.25 to 5 ha) anaerobic lagoons before land application. It may be anticipated that 50 to 80% of the nitrogen (N) entering animal lagoons will escape to the atmosphere through NH 3 volatilization (

Nitrification of anaerobic digester effluent for nitrogen management at swine farms

“…The biological conversion of NH 4 + to NO 2 À started in the second week when the free ammonia in the liquid was much lower, with a rapid acceleration of the conversion rate over the next few days. The startup time of nitrification is similar to that achieved by Vanotti and Hunt (2000), who reported a lag phase of 10 d in the nitrification of swine wastewater from an anaerobic lagoon. The maximum NO 2 À -N production rate (calculated as the fastest increase in concentration during the experiment) was 18 mg L À1 d À1 while the NO 2 À concentration leveled off about two weeks after the start of nitrification due to the depletion of NH 4 + in the liquid and consumption of NO 2 À .…”

Removal of Phosphorus from Livestock Effluents

“…These reactors were constructed and operated as described by Vanotti and Hunt (2000) A culture of acclimated lagoon nitrifying sludge was prepared with seed biofilm sludge obtained from the surface horizon of an overland flow treatment plot that treated the effluent from an anaerobic swine lagoon in Duplin Co., NC (Vanotti and Hunt, 2000; Szogi et al, 2004). The reactors contained the acclimated lagoon nitrifying sludge immobilized in a supporting porous medium that consisted of pellets (cubes that were 3‐ to 5‐mm per side) made of polyvinyl alcohol polymer according to the polyvinyl alcohol–freezing method described by Vanotti and Hunt (2000) The nitrifying pellets increased the bacteria population in the reactor vessel (150 g of pellets per L‐reactor), which reduced total nitrification treatment time. However, the support medium per se is not critical, and other biological nitrification methods are equally suitable, provided that the nitrifying bacteria are acclimated to wastewater with a high NH 4 –N concentration (Szogi et al, 2004).…”

The Role of Biotechnology in Improvement of Livestock

“…6.2 A schematic diagram of wastewater nitrification using polyethylene glycol immobilization of nitrifying bacteria (Vanotti and Hunt 2000) due to the process of vermicomposting due to increase in the stability of soil structure and less use of pesticides to control plant pathogens. Additionally, it can increase the availability of micronutrients for plants along with better texture of soils and increase the waterholding capacity of the soil.…”