Name: Feasibility and Limitations of Anammox Integration in Biological Treatment of Amine-rich Carbon Capture Wastewater
Start: 2026-09-17T10:00:00-0600
End: 2026-09-17T10:30:00-0600

Feasibility and Limitations of Anammox Integration in Biological Treatment of Amine-rich Carbon Capture Wastewater

Thursday September 17, 2026 10:00am - 10:30am MDT

Lombardy

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a critical strategy for mitigating CO₂ emissions from carbon-intensive industries, with amine-based post-combustion capture (PCC) being the most widely applied technology. However, PCC generates amine-rich wastewater containing ammonia, amines, nitrosamines, and sulfate, posing significant environmental and health risks and requiring effective treatment before discharge. This study experimentally compared two biological treatment configurations for synthetic PCC wastewater: pre-denitrification–nitrification and pre-denitrification–anammox, to evaluate the feasibility of replacing conventional nitrification with anammox. The pre-denitrification–nitrification system was operated in sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) at a 2-day hydraulic retention time (HRT) under low organic loading (COD/N ≈ 3.5) without nutrient adjustment. Influent monoethanolamine (MEA) and diethanolamine (DEA) concentrations were gradually increased up to 3000 mg/L. The system achieved effective amine biodegradation in the anoxic stage and high ammonium and COD removal. However, the introduction of a diluted pilot-scale MEA-rich stream (~10,000 mg/L total amines) resulted in incomplete amine degradation, nitrite accumulation, and inhibition of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria. In parallel, mature anammox granules were stabilized for over 180 days, achieving 87.4% ammonium removal and a nitrogen removal rate of 187 mg N L⁻¹ d⁻¹. Although batch tests showed partial MEA and DEA degradation by heterotrophic denitrifiers, the integrated pre-denitrification–anammox system failed after coupling due to rapid loss of anammox activity under continuous exposure to residual COD and amines. Overall, the results indicate that pre-denitrification–anammox is unsuitable for amine-rich PCC wastewater without effective pretreatment, and alternative configurations such as partial denitrification–anammox or simultaneous nitritation, denitrification, and anammox (SNAD) are recommended.

Speakers

Sepideh Hashemi Safaei

PhD candidate, University of Regina

My name is Sepideh, and I am a PhD candidate in Environmental Systems Engineering at the University of Regina under the supervision of Dr. Stephanie Young. My research focuses on the biological treatment of wastewater generated from carbon capture plants.

Thursday September 17, 2026 10:00am - 10:30am MDT
Lombardy 2nf Floor, Delta Hotel

Wastewater Treatment, Carbon Capture

global Y

WCW26

Sepideh Hashemi Safaei

Get help with the event

WCW26

Sepideh Hashemi Safaei

Sign up or log in to save this to your schedule, view media, leave feedback and see who's attending!

Get help with the event