LIWei,HANPanting,GAOMingjie,et al.Mechanism of Micro-electrolysis Enhancing Nitrogen and Phosphorus Removal Performance in Sequencing Batch Reactor under Low Temperature[J].China Water & Wastewater,2026,42(3):85-94.
Mechanism of Micro-electrolysis Enhancing Nitrogen and Phosphorus Removal Performance in Sequencing Batch Reactor under Low Temperature
China Water & Wastewater[ISSN:1000-4062/CN:12-1073/TU]
volume:
第42卷
Number:
第3期
Page:
85-94
Column:
Date of publication:
2026-02-01
- Keywords:
- iron-carbon micro-electrolysis; SBR; low-temperature wastewater treatment; microbial enhancer; nitrogen and phosphorus removal
- Abstract:
- Micro-electrolysis particles were employed as microbial enhancers to develop a micro-electrolysis coupled sequencing batch reactor (ICME-SBR) system to address the inefficiency of wastewater treatment using biological processes under low temperature. The performance of the ICME-SBR system in treating wastewater under low temperature conditions was evaluated, and the mechanism by which micro-electrolysis enhanced biological nitrogen and phosphorus removal under low temperature was elucidated. Micro-electrolysis particles exhibited a high specific surface area and an exceptionally high density of active sites, along with a significant content of iron and carbon elements. The optimal process conditions for the low-temperature operation of the ICME-SBR system were determined as follows: micro-electrolysis particle dosage of 2.6 g/gMLSS, pH maintained at 7.0, and dissolved oxygen (DO) ranging from 2.84 mg/L to 3.22 mg/L. Under these conditions, the removal efficiencies of COD, TP, NH4+-N, and TN reached 80.57%, 94.88%, 70.61%, and 58.12%, respectively. The application of micro-electrolysis significantly enhanced the treatment performance of wastewater under low temperature conditions. In addition, micro?electrolysis significantly enhanced the metabolic activity and functional enzyme activity of denitrifying phosphorus-accumulating organisms. The anaerobic phosphorus release in the ICME-SBR system was 2.76 times higher than that of the influent, while the accumulation of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHB) and aerobic degradation reached 78.93 mg/gVSS and 82.74 mg/gVSS, respectively. After 30 minutes of aerobic treatment, the maximum activities of dehydrogenase (DHA) and electron transport system (ETS) in the system were recorded at 13.34 μg/(mgVSS·h) and 102.88 μg/(mgVSS·h), respectively. In the ICME-SBR activated sludge system， the dominant phylum for nitrogen and phosphorus removal functional microbial communities was Proteobacteria (48.80%)， and the dominant genus was Candidatus_Accumulibacter (8.19%), respectively. Compared with the conventional low-temperature SBR system, their relative abundances increased by 17.20% and 4.65%, respectively, indicating an improved microbial community structure in the activated sludge under low temperature. Therefore, the ICME-SBR system demonstrated enhanced performance in the treatment of low-temperature sewage.
Last Update:
2026-02-01