Immobilized nitrifier bead in airlift bioreactor were used to remove high levels of ammonia nitrogen from synthetic wastewater. Polyvinylalcohol (PVA) bead for immmobilization of nitrifier consortium were prepared by PVA-boric acid method by varying concentration of PVA and nitrifier consortium. By determining viscosity, sphercity and tailing, the characteristics of prepared beads were investigated and the continous immobilization process was developed.
Synthetic wastewater containg 25g/㎥ of ammonia nitrogen could be treated within 0.5 hour and the highest removal rate of ammonia nitrogen was 934.2g/㎥ ·day.