Fig. 4: Typical cycles of the partial nitrification + denitrification/anammox system.

a Partial nitrification sequencing batch reactor (PN-SBR) in phase I. b PN-SBR in phase II. c PN-SBR in phase III. d Denitrification/anammox sequencing batch reactor (D-SBR) in phase III. NH4+-N (black solid squares), NO2−-N (pink solid circles), NO3−-N (blue solid triangles), chemical oxygen demand (COD, gray columns), and dissolved oxygen (DO, purple lines). For a–c a at the top of the figure represents the anoxic stage and O represents the aerobic stage.