Aiming at the problems of low sewage temperature, poor nitrogen removal efficiency and weak shock resistance of traditional activated sludge process in the alpine regions of southwest China, a pilot-scale experiment of pure moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) was conducted. The startup characteristics, nitrogen removal performance, and shock resistance mechanism under long-term ultra-low temperature conditions were systematically investigated. The results showed that the pure MBBR was successfully started up within 25days at a water temperature of (6.14±1.06)℃. During a long-term operation of 245days with an average water temperature of (5.45±1.29)℃, superior effluent quality was achieved with an actual hydraulic retention time (HRT) only 20% of that of the activated sludge process in the same WWTP. After a 1-month shutdown, the treatment capacity was fully restored within only 14days. In the pure-membrane MBBR system, the first-stage nitrification zone realized the removal of inhibitors such as chemical oxygen demand (COD) and preliminary nitrification, the second stage served as the main nitrification zone, and the third stage ensured stable effluent quality. A single-stage process was adopted in the denitrification zone, where the reflux ratio was flexibly adjusted according to the residual nitrate nitrogen in the anoxic zone to enhance nitrogen removal. Regarding nitrogen removal potential, when facing influent quality shock, increasing dissolved oxygen (DO) in the aerobic zone to strengthen mass transfer and oxygen supply could further improve the system's nitrification load by more than 25%, while driving the nitrogen removal capacity to increase by more than 10%. The excellent low-temperature resistance of the pure MBBR was attributed to two aspects: on one hand, the biofilm enhanced the enrichment of nitrogen-removing functional bacteria, especially low-temperature-tolerant strains such as Flavobacterium and Dechloromonas; On the other hand, the biofilm's dense structure and complex microbial community supported thermal insulation. For pure MBBR design, enhanced functional bacteria enrichment and high effective biomass should be concurrently considered, thus conferring higher treatment load.
| 科 Family | 属数 Number of genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) | 属 Genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 鹅膏菌科Amanitaceae | 2 | 11 | 5.26 | 鹅膏菌属 Amanita | 10 | 4.78 |
| 小菇科 Mycenaceae | 2 | 12 | 5.74 | 丝盖伞属 Inocybe | 5 | 2.39 |
| 多孔菌科 Polyporaceae | 8 | 14 | 6.70 | 蜡蘑属 Laccaria | 5 | 2.39 |
| 红菇科 Russulaceae | 3 | 23 | 11.00 | 小皮伞属 Marasmius | 6 | 2.87 |
| 小菇属 Mycena | 11 | 5.26 | ||||
| 光柄菇属 Pluteus | 5 | 2.39 | ||||
| 红菇属 Russula | 17 | 8.13 | ||||
| 栓菌属 Trametes | 5 | 2.39 |