Achieving
a rapid start-up of the anammox process is still full
of challenges and obstacles due to the slow growth of anammox bacteria.
In this study, a new physical energy, infrared electromagnetic fields
(EMFs) generated from a widely used traditional Chinese medicine apparatus
by accelerating charged particles through thermal excitation, proved
to be a “bioactivity enhancer” for the anammox process.
Short-term batch tests indicated that the specific anammox activity
[26.6 mg of N (g of MLSS)−1 h–1] was increased by 76% after the treatment with infrared EMFs. The
long-term effect of the EMFs on anammox was studied in upflow column
reactors, and a 36.8% start-up time saving, a 17.7% total nitrogen
removal increase, and a 22.5% acceleration of the anammox bacteria
growth rate were achieved. The reactor that included EMFs also had
better resistance to performance deterioration and shock loading.
The high-throughput sequencing results showed that the existence of
the EMFs increased the relative abundance of Candidatus Kuenenia and Candidatus Jettenia. Furthermore,
the evaluation of the community functions based on the Kyoto Encyclopedia
of Genes and Genomes indicated infrared EMFs stimulated anammox bacteria
by controlling the metabolism of c-di-GMP. Taken together, infrared
EMFs are, therefore, considered to be an efficient “bioactivity
enhancer” for promoting the anammox process.