Six years' practical experience with aerobic/anoxic deammonification in biofilm systems

Nitrogen elimination through autotrophic micro-organisms is currently in th e focus of research projects on the treatment of wastewater with high nitro gen contents, for instance to be able to develop and fix dimensioning param eters for purposeful application. In fact, several industrial plants have a lready shown for some years that the steady operation of nitrogen eliminati on without carbon demand is possible. Due to the low growth rates of the pa rticipating micro-organisms, these processes can be found in particular in biofilm systems, which also allow for the simultaneous running of the two b asic processes. In the following, we will discuss on the basis of the operation results of industrial and pilot-scale plants the operation stability of the aerobic/an oxic deammonification, and explain which experiences are available in parti cular for conversion in biofilm systems.