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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Bowling Green, Kentucky » Food Animal Environmental Systems Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #337099
Research Project: Developing Safe, Efficient and Environmentally Sound Management Practices for the Use of Animal Manure

Location: Food Animal Environmental Systems Research

Title: Evaluation of a single-stage carbon oxidation-nitrification process for treating high TAN effluent from anaerobic digestion of poultry rendering wastewater

Author
item Lovanh, Nanh
item Loughrin, John
item Cook, Kimberly - Kim
item Silva, Philip - Phil
item Sistani, Karamat

Submitted to: ASABE Annual International Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/3/2017
Publication Date: 7/16/2017
Citation: Lovanh, N.C., Loughrin, J.H., Cook, K.L., Silva, P.J., Sistani, K.R. 2017. Evaluation of a single-stage carbon oxidation-nitrification process for treating high TAN effluent from anaerobic digestion of poultry rendering wastewater. ASABE Annual International Meeting. Paper No. 1327.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for plants and animals. However, an excess amount of nitrogen in waterways may lead to anoxic condition and negatively alter various aquatic lifeforms due to their toxicity. Main sources of nitrogen in the environment include the discharge from wastewater treatment plants, runoff from fertilized lawns and croplands, runoff from animal manure and storage areas, and industrial discharges. The USEPA has set the freshwater ammonia aquatic life ambient water quality criteria in accord with the provisions of the Clean Water Act to be at 17 mg TAN/L for one-hour acute criterion magnitude and for a 30-day rolling average of 1.9 mg TAN/L for chronic situations. Thus, any treated wastewater systems have to meet these criteria prior to discharging to any freshwater body. In this study, we examine the effectiveness of a single-stage carbon oxidation-nitrification process in reducing total ammoniacal nitrogen (TAN) from the effluent of a continuous anaerobic digester (1.2 MGD) treating poultry rendering wastewater. During a one year study, our results show that the single activated-sludge process is quite effective in reducing total ammonia nitrogen (>95%) and COD during warmer months (i.e., spring, summer and fall), but failed to meet discharge criteria for TAN during winter months. Therefore, it may not be ideal to utilize a single-stage activated sludge to treat high strength wastewater, especially animal wastes, during winter months or during low temperature conditions. Different processes may be needed (i.e., separate nitrification system, trickling filter system, rotating attached-growth nitrification system) to effectively reduce TAN from waste streams during low temperature conditions.