The effects of magnetite on anammox performance: Phenomena to mechanisms

Abstract Low temperature is adverse to anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) reaction while proper Fe addition can enhance anammox performance. Therefore, batch assays were conducted to investigate the potential effects of magnetite (100 μm, 20 μm and 200 nm) on anammox performance which were achieved from the reactor operated at 10–25 °C. After 3 runs, the results indicated that nano-scale magnetite improved the nitrogen elimination significantly. The specific anammox activity (SAA) of the group with nano-magnetite amendments was greater than the other groups after 3 runs (13.5, 12.9, 14.3, 15.4 and 15.7 mgTN/(gVSS·h)), reaching 18.0 mgTN/(gVSS·h). The distribution of magnetite in the granules were then analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The results indicated that nano-magnetite was more feasible to attached to the surface of the granules which might accelerate the release of Fe(II) or Fe(III) to enhance anammox performance.