The Sensitivity of a Specific Denitrification Rate under the Dissolved Oxygen Pressure.

The biological denitrification process is extensively discussed in scientific literature. The process requires anoxic conditions, but the influence of residual dissolved oxygen () on the efficiency is not yet adequately documented. The present research aims to fill this gap by highlighting the effects of on the specific denitrification rate () and consequently on the efficiency of the process. at a temperature of 20 °C () is the parameter normally used for the sizing of the denitrification reactor in biological-activated sludge processes. A sensitivity analysis of to variations is developed. For this purpose, two of the main empirical models illustrated in the scientific literature are taken into consideration, with the addition of a deterministic third model proposed by the authors and validated by recent experimentations on several full-scale plants. In the first two models, is expressed as a function of the only variable food:microrganism ratio in denitrification (), while in the third one, the dependence on is made explicit. The sensitivity analysis highlights all the significant dependence of on characterized by a logarithmic decrease with a very pronounced gradient in correspondence with low concentrations. Moreover, the analysis demonstrates the relatively small influence of on the and on the correlation between and . The results confirm the great importance of minimizing and limiting, as much as possible, the transport of oxygen in the denitrification reactor through the incoming flows and mainly the mixed liquor recycle. Solutions to achieve this result in full-scale plants are reported.