Characteristics of Immobilized PVA Beads in Nitrate Removal

Before applying PVA bio-beads to practical biological treatment of nitrate-containing wastewater, their characteristics were examined. PVA bio-beads could steadily produce nitrogen gas from nitrate for 28 batches with 0.04 ml/l/h of the maximum gas production rate; however, the maximum gas production rate dropped remarkably thereafter with apparent deformation of beads. Addition of 2.2% solution containing 1% casamino acid, 1% yeast extract, 0.1% mineral solution, and 0.1% vitamin solution to the culture medium resulted in not only recovery of activity of deactivated beads, but also a higher rate of gas production. Calculation of economic benefit for the use of bio-beads in a long-run operation indicated that reactivation of bio-beads by chemicals had economical advantages over packing new bio-beads in the system. The continuously stirred bioreactor exhibited a satisfactory performance at HRT of 20.0 h. With a 9.5 mg $NO_{3}^{-}N/l/h$ nitrate removal rate, nitrate could completely be removed without nitrite accumulation. The use of PVA bio-beads in nitrate removal appears very promising.