Evaluating the recovery performance of the ANAMMOX process following inhibition by phenol and sulfide

In this study, the recovery performance of two anaerobic ammonium oxidation (ANAMMOX) reactors (R1, R2) that were previously subjected to phenol and sulfide for nearly 200 days with respective levels of 12.5–50 and 8–40 mg L−1 and then operated in the absence of these suppressors was investigated. High nitrogen removal rates of greater than 36 kg-N m−3 d−1 were achieved through the 81 and 75 days restoration of R1 and R2, respectively. The recovery performance was determined by specific sludge removal rate, heme c contents, specific ANAMMOX activity, settling properties and morphology of ANAMMOX granules. In addition, the modified Boltzmann model, the modified Gompertz model and the modified Logistic model were applied to simulate recovery performance. The modified Boltzmann model was found to be appropriate for predicting recovery performance of the phenol-inhibited reactor, while the modified Logistic model effectively simulated the recovery performance of the sulfide suppressed reactor.