what is nitrification crash course

by Prof. Jeanie Carroll MD 3 min read

What is the process of nitrification?

Nitrification is the process through which ammonia, a kind of nitrogen found in the soil, is turned into nitrates. Discover the definition of nitrification, the nitrogen cycle's chemical process, and the equation used to summarize this cycle.

What is nitrification and how can it be prevented?

Nitrifying bacteria are slow growing organisms, and nitrification problems usually occur in large reservoirs or low-flow sections in the system. Operational practices that ensure short residence time and circulation within the system can minimize nitrification problems.

What is the maximum temperature for nitrification?

Nitrification reaches a maximum rate at temperaures between 30 and 35°C (86 and 95°F). At temperatures of 40°C (104°F) and higher, nitrification rates fall to near zero. At temperatures below 20°C, nitrification proceeds at a slower rate, but will continue at temperatures of 10°C and less.

What are the negative effects of nitrification?

Nitrification can have the adverse impacts of increasing nitrite and nitrate levels, reducing alkalinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, and chloramine residuals, and promoting bacterial regrowth (Wilczak et al. 1996). Table 1 provides a summary of water quality problems associated with nitrification.

What is nitrogen cycle in simple words?

Nitrogen Cycle is a biogeochemical process through which nitrogen is converted into many forms, consecutively passing from the atmosphere to the soil to organism and back into the atmosphere. It involves several processes such as nitrogen fixation, nitrification, denitrification, decay and putrefaction.

What is the easiest way to learn the nitrogen cycle?

1:153:01Process of Nitrogen Cycle - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipLet's see the steps in the process of making nitrogen usable fixation it is the first step in theMoreLet's see the steps in the process of making nitrogen usable fixation it is the first step in the process of making nitrogen usable by plants here bacteria change nitrogen into the form of ammonium.

What are the 7 steps of the nitrogen cycle?

The seven steps of the nitrogen cycle are nitrogen fixation, assimilation, ammonification, nitrification, denitrification, dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonia, anaerobic ammonia oxidation, and other processes.

What is the nitrogen cycle explanation for kids?

The nitrogen cycle is made up of the processes that move nitrogen between the air, soil, animals, humans and plants. Nitrogen moves from the air to the soil, from the soil to living organisms, and from decomposing living organisms back into the air.

What is nitrification in nitrogen cycle?

Nitrification is the process that converts ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrate and is another important step in the global nitrogen cycle. Most nitrification occurs aerobically and is carried out exclusively by prokaryotes.

How do you introduce the nitrogen cycle to students?

The Nitrogen Cycle. The nitrogen cycle describes how nitrogen moves between plants, animals, bacteria, the atmosphere (the air), and soil in the ground. Nitrogen is an important element to all life on Earth. For Nitrogen to be used by different life forms on Earth, it must change into different states.

What do you mean by nitrification?

Definition of nitrification : the oxidation (as by bacteria) of ammonium salts to nitrites and the further oxidation of nitrites to nitrates.

What are the 5 stages of nitrogen cycle?

There are five stages in the nitrogen cycle, and we will now discuss each of them in turn: fixation or volatilization, mineralization, nitrification, immobilization, and denitrification.

What is nitrification Class 9?

Nitrification is the biological oxidation of ammonia or ammonium to nitrite followed by the oxidation of the nitrite to nitrate. The transformation of ammonia to nitrite is usually the rate limiting step ofnitrification. Nitrification is an important step in the nitrogen cycle in soil. Biology.

How does the nitrogen cycle work step by step?

In general, the nitrogen cycle has five steps:Nitrogen fixation (N2 to NH3/ NH4+ or NO3-)Nitrification (NH3 to NO3-)Assimilation (Incorporation of NH3 and NO3- into biological tissues)Ammonification (organic nitrogen compounds to NH3)Denitrification(NO3- to N2)

What is nitrogen cycle & Why it is important?

The nitrogen cycle can be defined as one of the biogeochemical cycles that converts the unusable inert nitrogen existing in the atmosphere into a more usable form of nitrogen for living organisms. Before further discussing the nitrogen cycle, we must know some facts about nitrogen.

What is the process of nitrification?

Nitrification is the 2-step process of ammonia found in soil being turned into nitrates (NO3-), which are inorganic forms of nitrogen that plants can use. Let's look at this process in further detail. {"error":true,"iframe":true}. You must c C reate an account to continue watching.

What is the second part of nitrification?

The second part of the nitrification process is called nitration . Nitration uses the enzyme nitrite oxidoreductase (NOR) to complete the nitrification process. The chemical equation for this reaction is NO2- + ½ O2 --> NO3.

What is the chemical equation for nitrification?

The chemical equation 2NH3 + 3O2 --> 2NO2 + 2H+ + 2H20 summarizes the entire nitrification process.

What is the process of converting ammonia into nitrates?

In nitrification, ammonia is first converted to nitrites (NO2-) and then to nitrates. The initial step of this process, known as nitritation, involves a type of bacteria called nitrosomonas. During nitritation, nitrosomonas convert NH3 (ammonia) into NO2 (nitrogen dioxide).

How does nitrogen escape the nitrogen cycle?

However, not all of the nitrogen stays in the nitrogen cycle. Some escapes through a process called denitrification. During denitrification , some types of bacteria change nitrates into atmospheric nitrogen. The Earth's atmosphere is approximately 78% nitrogen gas, so a lot of nitrogen is lost to the atmosphere.

Where does NH3 come from?

Ammonia (NH3) is a form of nitrogen found in soil. Nitrogen enters the soil in this organic form from decaying plants, animal waste, and lightning striking the Earth. While in this organic form, nitrogen can't be absorbed by plants. Therefore, it must be converted into a usable inorganic form.

How much nitrogen is lost in the atmosphere?

The Earth's atmosphere is approximately 78% nitrogen gas, so a lot of nitrogen is lost to the atmosphere. But, it's able to reenter the cycle at any time. Volatilization, runoff, and leaching are other ways that nitrogen can leave the cycle. Plants and animals need nitrogen to develop, grow and reproduce.

What is the chemical equation for nitrification?

The chemical equation for the entire nitrification process is given below: 2NH3 + 3O2 –> 2NO2– + 2H+ + 2H20.

What temperature is nitrifying?

Soil Temperature. The optimum range of temperature that favours the growth of nitrifying bacteria lies between 28°C and 36°C. In forest soil, nitrification occurs at the temperature of 0°C due to the predominance of low-temperature-adaptive nitrifying soil fungi.

What pH is needed to fix nitrates?

pH above 6.0 slows down nitrification, and pH below 4.5 inhibits nitrification. Although, few nitrifying heterotrophic fungi can directly fix the organic nitrogen to nitrate without oxidizing ammonia, as they are resistant to the soil’s acidic pH due to slime production.

What is the process of oxidation of nitrogen?

Nitrification. Nitrification is one of the crucial steps in the nitrogen cycle that occurs in soil. It is an aerobic process that involves two successive oxidation reactions, in which the ammonia first oxidizes into nitrites, and then nitrites get oxidized into nitrates. It occurs in the soil and includes members of autotrophic bacteria and archaea.

How does nitrification affect agriculture?

The nitrification process plays a significant role in agriculture (where it can facilitate nitrate leaching and determine the availability of fertilizer nitrogen) and in wastewater treatment systems (where it prevents groundwater contamination by removing excess nitrogen).

What is the optimum soil moisture for nitrification?

Soil Moisture. Nitrification mainly occurs at an optimum soil moisture potential of −0.3 to −1.6 MPa. In waterlogged or saturated conditions, nitrifying bacteria are not feasible to carry out nitrification. During water stress, autotrophic bacteria are more likely affected in comparison to fungal nitrifiers.

What is the first reaction where the nitrosifying or ammonia-oxidizing bacteria catalyzes

Oxidation of ammonia to nitrite: It is the first reaction where the nitrosifying or ammonia-oxidizing bacteria catalyzes the transformation of NH 3 to NO 2–. This reaction is metabolically inefficient, which requires 34 moles of NH 3 to fix 1 mole of CO 2.

What is the process of nitrification?

Nitrification is a biological process mainly carried out by certain autotrophic nitrifying bacterias and involves oxidation of nitrogen compounds, mainly ammonia to nitrite and nitrate , that can be used by living organisms. Nitrification occurs in mainly two steps:

Why is nitrification important?

3. Nitrification plays an important role in agricultural fields to increase the yield of essential crops like rice, wheat and many leguminous plants. 4. Researchers in biotechnology are attempting to transfer nif genes from microorganisms like Pseudomonas to crop plants to get a better yield of crops.

What is meant by nitrification and denitrification?

What is meant by nitrification and denitrification?#N#Ans: Nitrification is a process where ammonia is converted into nitrite and followed by further oxidation of nitrite to nitrate with the help of nitrifying bacteria. Whereas in denitrification a few microorganisms such as Pseudomonas convert nitrates into nitrogen or into some oxides.

Why is the nitrogen cycle important?

This is because it maintains the total amount of nitrogen present in the environment, soil and water. Nitrogen is part of amino acids and proteins, which are the building blocks of life. Atmospheric nitrogen needs to be converted into its usable forms through nitrification, ammonification and denitrification regularly to maintain life on the planet.

What fungi can convert ammonia into nitrate?

Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium are some common fungi, which can also convert ammonia into nitrite. The oxidation of nitrite to nitrate is an essential step as nitrate is the chemical form of nitrogen used by most plants from soil or water.

What is the name of the process of forming nitrate from nitrogen?

1. Ammonification: The formation of Ammonia from nitrogen is called Ammonification. 2. Nitrification: The formation of Nitrate from Ammonia with the help of specialized microorganisms is called Nitrification.

What bacteria convert nitrite to nitrate?

N O 2 – + H 2 O → N O 3 – + 2 H + + 2 e –. Few other genera of bacteria also help in this process. Nitrocystis, Nitrospirae, Nitrospinae are often associated with the conversion of nitrite into nitrate. Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium are some common fungi, which can also convert ammonia into nitrite.

What is the main cause of nitrification?

Excess nitrogen in the form of ammonia in finished water can be the principal cause of nitrification since ammonia serves as the primary substrate in the nitrificaiton process. Ammonia, nitrate and nitrite can typically be found in surface water supplies as a result of natural processes.

What is biological nitrification?

Biological nitrification is the microbe-mediated process of oxidizing ammonia to remove nitrogenous compounds from wastewaters. Domestic sewage typically contains 20 to 40 mg/L of ammonia nitrogen (NH 4- N). Organic matter containing nitrogen, e.g., protein and nucleic acid, also biodegrades to release ammonia.

What is the process of oxidizing ammonia to nitrate?

As shown in the nitrification process , ammonia is first oxidized to nitrite ions, then the nitrite ions are oxidized to nitrate ions. Each oxidation is carried out by a different group of bacteria, the ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and the nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB).

Why is pH important in nitrification?

First, a reduction of total alkalinity may accompany nitrification because a significant amount of bicarbonate is consumed in the conversion of ammonia to nitrite. A model that was developed in 1974 indicates that 8.64 mg/L of bicarbonate (HCO 3) will be utilized for each mg/L of ammonia-nitrogen oxidized. While reduction in alkalinty does not impose a direct public health impact, reductions in alkalinity can cause reductions in buffering capacity, which can impact pH stability and corrosivity of the water toward lead and copper. Secondly, nitrifying bacteria are very sensitive to pH. Nitrosomonas has an optimal pH between approximately 7.0 and 8.0, and the optimum pH range for Nitrobacter is approximately 7.5 to 8.0. Some utilities have reported that an increase in pH (to greater than 9) can be used to reduce the occurrence of nitrification.

What are the operations of nitrifying bacteria?

Operational practices that ensure short residence time and circulation within the system can minimize nitrification problems.

How does ammonia stripping work?

Ammonia stripping is the removal of nitrogen from wastewater when the nitrogen is in gaseous ammonia form . Ammonia is a volatile substance, which means that is has a tendency to leave the wastewater and enter the atmosphere. Ammonia (NH 3) and ammonium (NH 4) exist in equilibrium with each other based on the pH. Most of the ammonia-nitrogen in municipal wastewater is in the ammonium form because of its neutral pH range (between 6 and 8). Therefore, chemicals such as lime or sodium hydroxide must be added to raise the pH to the 10.5 to 11.5 range. This will effectively "convert" the ammonium in the wastewater to ammonia. The stripping effect is achieved by introducing the high pH wastewater into th etop of a tower packed with fixed media (or "packing"). Air is blown into the bottom of the tower and flows in a countercurrent fashion with the incoming wastewater. The intimate contact between wastewater droplets and fresh air encourages the ammonia to volatilize from the wastewater to the exiting air stream.

How do bacteria remove nitrogen from wastewater?

Bacteria remove nitrogen from wastewater by a two step biological processes: nitrification followed by denitrification. Technically, it is a three step process: ammonification precedes nitrification and denitrification.

What is the process of converting ammonia into nitrates?

Nitrification is the process where ammonia is converted to nitrates. If nitrates are present in the anaerobic zone it becomes anoxic. Denitrifying bacteria under anoxic conditions will uptake VFAs, thus decreasing the VFAs available for PAOs.

What is MCRT in biosolids?

Mean cell residence time (MCRT), sometimes called sludge retention time, is another process control calculation used for activated biosolids systems. The mean cell residence time (MCRT) is the amount of time, in days, that solids or bacteria are maintained in the activated sludge process. It can also be defined as the length of time required at the curreent removal rate to remove all the solids in the system. The MCRT is known also as the solids retention time (SRT). To calculate the MCRT, it is necessary to know the amount of suspended solids (pounds) in the activated sludge process and the amount of suspended solids (pounds) leaving the activated sludge process.

How long does it take for a nitrifying tank to grow?

This process normally takes anywhere from 2-6 weeks. At temperatures below 70F, it takes even longer to cycle a tank. In comparison to other types of bacteria, Nitrifying bacteria grow slowly. Under optimal conditions, it takes fully 15 hours for a colony to double in size!

What is the process that converts ammonia into other, relatively harmless nitrogen compounds?

Consider emergency action to reduce the danger (see XXX). (A more detailed discussion of ammonia toxicity can be found here .) The "nitrogen cycle" is the biological process that converts ammonia into other, relatively harmless nitrogen compounds. Fortunately, several species of bacteria do this conversion for us.

Can you speed up the nitrogen cycle?

The nitrogen cycle can be speeded up or "jump started" in a number of ways. Unfortunately, they require access to an established tank, which a beginning aquarist may not have available. The basic idea is to find an established tank, take some of the bacteria out of it and place it in the new tank.

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Reactions Involved in Nitrification Process

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Nitrification is a two-step processmediated by specific groups of soil microorganisms. Nitritation: The initial step involves the oxidation of ammonia into nitrogen dioxide or nitrites. Nitrosomonas are the special group of bacteria that participate in nitritation. This reaction uses an enzyme system, i.e. ammonium m…
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Conversion of Ammonia to Nitrite

Oxidation of Nitrate from Nitrite

Process of Nitrification in The Nitrogen Cycle

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Nitrification is a biological process mainly carried out by certain autotrophic nitrifying bacterias and involves oxidation of nitrogen compounds, main ammonia to nitrite and nitrate, that can be used by living organisms. Nitrification occurs in mainly two steps:
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Microorganisms Involved in Nitrogen Fixation

  • This step is carried forward by ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, also known as nitrifying bacteria, that oxidize ammonia to nitrite. \({\rm{N}}{{\rm{H}}_{\rm{3}}}{\rm{ + }}{{\rm{O}}_{\rm{2}}} \to {\rm{N}}{{\rm{O}}_{{{\rm{2}}^{\rm{ – }}}}}{\rm{ + 3}}{{\rm{H}}^{\rm{ + }}}{\rm{ + 2}}{{\rm{e}}^ – }\) During this reaction, ammonia reacts with intermediate hydroxylamine in the presence of two en…
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Factors Affecting Nitrification Process

  • The nitrite that is formed is oxidised to nitrate with the help of bacterias, mostly Nitrobacter, during this second step. Below is the chemical equation for the reaction that takes place here: \({\rm{NO}}_{\rm{2}}^{\rm{ – }}{\rm{ + }}{{\rm{H}}_{\rm{2}}}{\rm{O}} \to {\rm{NO}}_{\rm{3}}^{\rm{ – }}{\rm{ + 2}}{{\rm{H}}^{\rm{ + }}}{\rm{ + 2}}{{\rm{e}}^ – }\) Few other genera of bacteria also he…
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Functions of Nitrification

  • Nitrogen in the air is mostly present in its elemental form that is chemically inert and cannot be used by the majority of organisms. Hence, it needs to be converted to forms that can be used by plants from soil or water. This conversion is mainly carried out by certain nitrogen-fixing bacteria such as Azotobacter (freely in soil), Rhizobium (found in root nodules of leguminous plants), etc…
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Summary

  • Bacterias play an important role in natural or industrial nitrogen fixation. Nitrogen cycle depends upon at least four different kinds of bacteria known as the decay causer, nitrifiers, denitrifiers and lastly, nitrogen fixers. Microbes, like bacteria, fungus, actinomycetes, cyanobacteria help in the conversion of nitrogen and formation of ammonia. This can be categorised like: 1. Non-symbioti…
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Nitrification

  • Though nitrification is a natural process that occurs regularly in ecosystems, in order to increase plant yield, it is also induced artificially. Factors that lead to a decrease in the rate of nitrification are called nitrification inhibitors. Below are five factors that may influence the rate of nitrification: 1. Water Content in Soil: Increase or decrease in water content reduces the nitrogen fixation in s…
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