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Analysis of institutional authors

Aguado, DAuthorFerrer, JAuthorSerralta, JAuthor

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Effect of pH and HNO2 concentration on the activity of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in a partial nitritation reactor

Publicated to:Water Science And Technology. 67 (11): 2587-2594 - 2013-01-01 67(11), DOI: 10.2166/wst.2013.132

Authors: Claros, J; Jiménez, E; Aguado, D; Ferrer, J; Seco, A; Serralta, J

Affiliations

Univ Politecn Valencia, Inst Univ Invest Engn Aigua & Medi Ambient, IIAMA - Author
Univ Valencia, Escola Tecn Super Engn, Dept Engn Quim - Author

Abstract

Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) are very sensitive to environmental conditions and wastewater treatment plant operational parameters. One of the most important factors affecting their activity is pH. Its effect is associated with: NH3/NH+3 and HNO2/NO2- chemical equilibriums and biological reaction rates. The aim of this study was to quantify and model the effect of pH and free nitrous acid (FNA) concentration on the activity of AOB present in a lab-scale partial nitritation reactor. For this purpose, two sets of batch experiments were carried out using biomass from this reactor. Fluorescent in situ hybridization analysis showed that Nitrosomona eutropha and Nitrosomona europaea species were dominant in the partial nitritation reactor (> 94%). The experimental results showed that FNA inhibits the AOB activity. This inhibition was properly modelled by the noncompetitive inhibition function and the half inhibition constant value was determined as 1.32 mg HNO2-N L-1. The optimal pH for these AOB was found to be in the range 7.4-7.8. The pH inhibitory effect was stronger at high pH values than at low pH values. Therefore, an asymmetric inhibition function was proposed to represent the pH effect on these bacteria. A combination of two sigmoidal functions was able to reproduce the experimental results obtained.

Keywords

Activated sludgeAmmoniaAmmonia oxidizing bacteriaAmmonia oxidizing bacteriumAobArticleBacteriaBacteriumBiomassBioreactorBioreactorsConcentration (composition)Concentration (parameters)Environmental conditionsEnvironmental temperatureEquilibriumExperimental studyFluorescent in situ hybridizationFree nitrous acidFree nitrous acidsHydrogen-ion concentrationInorganic acidsMetabolismMicrobial activityMicrobiologyNitrateNitratesNitriteNitritesNitrogen removalNitrosomonadalesNitrous acidNitrous oxideNonhumanOxidationOxidation reduction reactionOxidation-reductionOxygen consumptionPartial nitritationPartial nitritation reactorPhPh effectsQuaternary ammonium compoundsQuaternary ammonium derivativeReaction rateReductaseSalinitySewage treatmentSharonSludge digestionStirred reactorWaste water managementWastewater treatment plants

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Water Science And Technology due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2013, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q2 (Segundo Cuartil), in the category Environmental Engineering. Notably, the journal is positioned en el Cuartil Q3 for the agency WoS (JCR) in the category Water Resources.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations from Scopus Elsevier, it yields a value for the Field-Weighted Citation Impact from the Scopus agency: 1, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 3.04 (source consulted: Dimensions Jun 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-06-19, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 29
  • Scopus: 42
  • Europe PMC: 7
  • OpenCitations: 31

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-06-19:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 67.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 66 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 3.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Claros, J) and Last Author (Serralta Sevilla, Joaquín).