Full-scale partial nitritation and anammox (PN/A) application in removing nitrogen from industrial wastewater: Performance and life cycle assessment

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) is an innovative nitrogen removal process that is widely used in wastewater treatment due to its energy-saving potential and ability to reduce carbon emissions. However, research on the application of anammox in full-scale industrial wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is limited, and its environmental impacts are yet to be fully understood. This study evaluates the performance and environmental burdens of one-stage partial nitritation and anammox (PN/A) in a full-scale WWTP treating coal chemical wastewater, with different demonstration periods. Compared with conventional nitrification–denitrification, the energy footprint and carbon footprint of the PN/A process were significantly lower and effluent quality was improved. Based on the four-quadrant clustering method, the overall performance of the studied WWTP achieved the greatest synergy during the stable operation period. Life cycle assessment has shown that the PN/A process significantly reduces the system's contribution to environmental indicators. According to the sensitivity analysis, the fluctuations in energy consumption and chemical usage have significant environmental impacts, with differential sensitivity in the environmental impacts of two demonstration periods. Therefore, considering the specific situation of the WWTPs, optimizing the parameters/indicators most sensitive to environmental impact is essential to reducing environmental loads. Importantly, this work demonstrated that PN/A can improve the operational performance of full-scale industrial WWTPs with lower environmental burdens, providing valuable guidance for the development of sustainable wastewater treatment processes.