The Stimulating Effects of the Addition of Glucose on Denitrification and Removal of Recalcitrant Organic Compounds

A laboratory scale aerobic oxidation ditch combined with an anoxic reactor was conducted to treat wastewater from a chemical industrial park in Tianjin, China. The wastewater exhibited a low biodegradability, and the results of gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis showed that some recalcitrant organic components are present in the wastewater. Ammonia nitrogen (NH4-N) removal efficiency of over 90% was obtained. However, the removal efficiencies of total nitrogen (TN) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were below 16% and 15%, respectively. The addition of glucose to the anoxic reactor in the system increased the removal efficiencies of TN and COD to approximately 72% and 25.57%, respectively. Results of mass balance indicate that about 60% of the external carbon was consumed as electron donor for denitrification, while 40% was consumed as a substrate for co-metabolism. The optimal dose of added glucose was also investigated, which was determined at 0.35 to 1.20 (CODglucose:CODoriginal).