All about Denitrator

There has been quite an interest on denitrator recently and by starting this thread, it will provide more info for those who are interested in it.

Let me start by showing what is inside a typical denitrator:

The 1st picture is showing the denitrator with the top removed.

The 2nd is the content of the a matured denitrator. The black coloured ball is just normal bioball. The whitish coloured is the deniball.

The 3rd is the slime collected in a plastic tub.

What is denitrator?
A denitrator is a device using nitrifying bacteria under anaerobic (i.e. without oxygen) conditions to remove nitrates. This process is called biological denitrification.

What is denitrification?
From www.wikipedia.org, it means: Denitrification is the process of reducing nitrate and nitrite, highly oxidised forms of nitrogen available for consumption by many groups of organisms, into gaseous nitrogen, which is far less accessible to life forms but makes up the bulk of our atmosphere. It can be thought of as the opposite of nitrogen fixation, which converts gaseous nitrogen into a more biologically available form. The process is performed by heterotrophic bacteria (such as Paracoccus denitrificans, Thiobacillus denitrificans, and various pseudomonads) from all main proteolytic groups.

OR

Biological Denitrification: a bacteria-mediated (i.e. biological) process in which nitrate is reduced into nitrogen gas by denitrifying bacteria (typically facultative heterotrophes) underanoxic (oxygen-free) conditions. The process requires that an electron donor (typically an organic carbon source) be present for the reaction to go to completion.

Sounds complicated? I think so too and I prefer to coin as:
It is a process to remove nitrogen or nitrogen groups from (a compound).

Equation for denitrifying process:

Nitrate to Nitrite to Nitrogen


Redox equation (I prefer)

NO3 + 2 electrons + H+ <=> NO2 + H2O

NO2 + 3 electrons + 4 H+ 1/2 N2 (nitrogen gas) + 2 H2O

or taken together:

NO3 + 5 electrons + 6 H+ <=> 1/2 N2 + 3 H2O

[nqh71]

Originally Posted by atom

Equation for denitrifying process:

Nitrate to Nitrite to Nitrogen


Redox equation (I prefer)

NO3 + 2 electrons + H+ <=> NO2 + H2O

NO2 + 3 electrons + 4 H+ 1/2 N2 (nitrogen gas) + 2 H2O

or taken together:

NO3 + 5 electrons + 6 H+ <=> 1/2 N2 + 3 H2O

Wow... Looks like my chemistry lessons many many many years ago... Anyway, thanks for the info... But I am still debating whether having a denitrator or just changing water is more feasible or make more economic sense..

[^GeNoME^]

yew... those bacteria slime/biofilm looks disgusting.. haha.. my mum will kill me if she sees me cleaning those things in my bathroom.. lol

can share the purpose of collecting the slime? gonna add back to the denitrator when u restart it again?

any experience with sulphur denitrator? cos i think it will be way more effective den a bacteria denitrator.. gonna try when i get my 12th month bonus.. tank setup too boring after i remove all my DSBs, plants and NR1000..

Originally Posted by nqh71

Wow... Looks like my chemistry lessons many many many years ago... Anyway, thanks for the info... But I am still debating whether having a denitrator or just changing water is more feasible or make more economic sense..

I too find it tough too but the Redox equation explain the working principle and the relationship of the various elements. The final decision is always yours only.

Originally Posted by ^GeNoME^

yew... those bacteria slime/biofilm looks disgusting.. haha.. my mum will kill me if she sees me cleaning those things in my bathroom.. lol

can share the purpose of collecting the slime? gonna add back to the denitrator when u restart it again?

any experience with sulphur denitrator? cos i think it will be way more effective den a bacteria denitrator.. gonna try when i get my 12th month bonus.. tank setup too boring after i remove all my DSBs, plants and NR1000..

It is not so much on the disgusting look n feel, it is the smell! I collected the slime for the sole purpose of showing how it looks like only. After taking pictures, I simply flush them down the toilet bowl. I just rinse all the bio-balls with tap water n restart the whole system. It will take only 2 days to kick back in. Sulphur denitrator will be discuss ....later?

Originally Posted by lorrick

ya... tell us about the sulphur denitrator...

me interested too...

Soon soon but not now.

Denitrator is not just meant for us hobbyist. It is also used in large commercial sewage plant, waste water management and even for portable water (yaks!). High level of nitrate is bad for us and even worse for infants.

In US, with the increasingly difficult prospect of supplying high-quality drinking water in areas contaminated with nitrate, the need for cost-effective nitrate removal solutions is critical. This demand for effective nitrate removal technologies has increased the interest and acceptability of biological denitrification as an attractive treatment solution.

Here is something on sulphur denitrification.

ASD: Autotrophic sulfur denitrification, a type of anaerobic denitrator utilizing elemental Sulfur as a chemical feed source for reducing nitrates, The reaction series (4 NO3 + 3 S = 2 N2 + 3 SO4) involved is acidic. It can be best tied-in with melting down a source of carbonate, thus result in excess sulfates.

[bennkhoo]

Originally Posted by atom

Here is something on sulphur denitrification.

ASD: Autotrophic sulfur denitrification, a type of anaerobic denitrator utilizing elemental Sulfur as a chemical feed source for reducing nitrates, The reaction series (4 NO3 + 3 S = 2 N2 + 3 SO4) involved is acidic. It can be best tied-in with melting down a source of carbonate, thus result in excess sulfates.

Hi atom pls advise I'm using dymax denitrator should I turn on the powerhead or off it.Been running for few months seen it does not work at all.