Deadline: Applications will be accepted at any time until the position is filled.

With increasingly more stringent requirement for wastewater discharge, many industries such as the fertilizer industry, the tannery industry, wastewater streams from animal industry, landfill, and anaerobic digester are facing the challenge of nitrogen removal. Physical-chemical process such as air stripping for nitrogen removal is costly with poor capability for nitrite and nitrate removal compared with biological process, in which high energy and chemical consumption are still involved through conventional nitrification/denitrification. Ammonium removal with nitrite as electron acceptor by autotrophic Anammox bacteria under strictly anoxic condition is an emerging technology that provides a more environmentally sustainable and cost effective alternative. However, a certain degree of organic carbon source is inevitably present in the real wastewater, which affects the activity of Anammox bacteria and causes a competitive relationship between Anammox bacteria and denitrifying bacteria. 

The objectives of this PhD study are to develop strategies to overcome the technical constraints in terms of efficiency and stability of Anammox cultures and to deepen the understanding of Anammox process for its real application. This project involves i) the enrichment of Anammox bacteria and cultivation of Anammox granular sludge ii) Characterization of granular sludge cultivated under different conditions. iii) Investigation on effect of organic carbon source on activities of autotrophic Anammox bacteria and bacterial community distribution in sludge iv) establishing link between microbiological response from different types of bacteria and process performance by monitoring microbial community structure and metabolites. The results obtained from this project can be used to deepen the understanding of nitrogen removal by both heterotrophic and autotrophic bacteria, improve the nitrogen removal process performance and stability, and guide the nitrogen removal process from real wastewater. 

If you wish to discuss any details of the project informally, please contact Yongqiang Liu, Water and Environmental Engineering research group, Email: Y.Liu<στο>soton.ac.uk, Tel: +44 (0) 2380 592843.

This integrated PhD project will be funded through the Center for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Infrastructure Systems http://cdt-sis.soton.ac.uk. The studentship comprises support from both EPSRChttp://www.epsrc.ac.uk and an industrial sponsor.