Heterotrophic denitrification strategy for marine recirculating aquaculture wastewater treatment using mariculture solid wastes fermentation liquid as carbon source: Optimization of COD/NO3−-N ratio and hydraulic retention time

Abstract Heterotrophic denitrification using mariculture solid wastes (MSW) fermentation liquid as carbon source is an economically and environmentally sustainable strategy for NO3−-N removal in marine recycling aquaculture systems (RAS). The optimization of COD/NO3−-N ratio (C/N) and hydraulic retention times (HRT) with respect to MSW fermentation liquid driven denitrification for marine RAS wastewater treatment was investigated. The optimum C/N of 8 and HRT of 6 h for heterotrophic denitrification was obtained with NO3−-N removal efficiency of 97.8% and 94.2%, respectively. Using MSW fermentation liquid as carbon source, the utilization of VFAs was more effective than that of carbohydrates and proteins, and effluent COD concentration decreased with an increment in HRT from 4 to 8 h. The results of high-throughput sequencing analysis showed microbial communities were enriched selectively in the reactors by optimizing C/N and HRT, which obviously enhanced the nitrogen removal in respect to MSW fermentation liquid driven denitrification.