Biological Nutrient Removal from Wastewater via Microbial Processes
This community focuses on the biological removal of nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater using engineered microbial systems, primarily to treat municipal and industrial effluents before discharge or reuse.
The work centers on optimizing biological processes such as nitrification, denitrification, and anammox to strip nitrogen compounds, alongside enhanced biological phosphorus removal. Key technologies include activated sludge, aerobic granular sludge, constructed wetlands, and membrane bioreactors. Researchers frequently investigate the role of carbon sources, microbial community dynamics, and specific reactor configurations like sequencing batch reactors. A significant portion of the literature addresses the management of nitrous oxide emissions and the integration of these processes for treating complex streams like landfill leachate. The recurring emphasis is on improving efficiency, stability, and the metabolic interactions within these biofilm and sludge-based systems.
The community is most heavily represented in nitrogen research, accounting for 2.0% of all tracked nitrogen studies, with 11,863 papers. It also holds a 1.2% share of phosphorus research (3,895 papers) and a 0.8% share of sulfur research (2,243 papers).
The community comprises 22,421 papers, published most frequently in Bioresource Technology, Journal of Water Process Engineering, and Water Research.
Recent work continues to focus on scaling anammox processes, integrating sulfur-driven autotrophic denitrification with anammox for landfill leachate, and assessing the impact of emerging stressors like microplastics and nanoparticles on microalgal-bacterial granular sludge systems.