Nitrite oxidation inhibition by hydroxylamine: experimental and model evaluation

A proposed approach for biological nitrogen removal significantly reduces cost by reducing biomass production and carbon requirements via inhibition of nitrite oxidation (NO2- to NO3-). Batch experiments were conducted to examine the effect of hydroxylamine (HM) on nitrite oxidizers, ammonia oxidizers, and nitrite reducers. Hydroxylamine effect experiments were done at initial pH values of 7.4-8.4, nitrogen concentrations of 100 mg N/L, biomass concentrations of 100-400 mg VSS/L and HM dosages up to 43 mg/L. Nitrite oxidizer activity was completely inhibited by HM at dosages of 7.0 and 8.9 mg/L for pH values of 8.4 and 7.6, respectively. Relatively low HM concentrations (0.35-5.5 mg/L) can be used to completely inhibit nitrite oxidation, but do not significantly affect ammonia oxidizers and nitrite reducers. A model developed to describe the effect of pH on nitrite oxidation rate fits the data well (R2 = 0.89) with values for Vmax of 0.372 (mg N/mg VSS-hr), pH* of 7.72, and the inhibition constant Kh of 0.154. Incorporation of HM inhibition into the model provided a good fit to relative nitrite oxidation rate as a function of undissociated HM concentration (R2 = 0.80, Vmax = 0.028 mg N/mg VSS-hr, pH = 7.89, Kh = 0.302, a = 0.195, and Ki= 0.277 mg/L).