[Chinese Mainland] Anammox Penetration Rate Doubles in Three Years to 31%, Becoming a Standard Process for Low-Carbon Advanced Denitrification

Introduction

Anaerobic Ammonium Oxidation (Anammox), a biological denitrification process in which Anammox bacteria directly convert ammonia nitrogen and nitrite nitrogen into nitrogen gas under anoxic conditions, is steadily moving from "laboratory star" to engineering mainstream. The latest industry statistics show that its engineering penetration rate in the fields of sludge digestion liquor and high-ammonia-nitrogen industrial wastewater has climbed from approximately 12% in 2023年 to approximately 31% in 2026年, doubling in three years, and it is widely recognized as one of the standard processes for next-generation low-carbon advanced denitrification. For TIANYI TECH, whose core business is Industrial Park wastewater treatment and Reclaimed Water Reuse, the arrival of this process maturity inflection point means we can add another key piece to our existing low-carbon resource recovery roadmap.

Background

The traditional Nitrification–Denitrification pathway requires substantial aeration for oxygen supply (accounting for a high proportion of electricity consumption) and requires the addition of organic carbon sources such as methanol and sodium acetate to drive Denitrification, which not only drives up the cost of denitrification per ton of water but also brings additional chemical-related carbon emissions. At a time when "synergizing pollution reduction and carbon reduction" has become a hard industry metric, the contradiction between the economic viability of the traditional pathway and carbon constraints is becoming increasingly prominent. Anammox, through the combination of "partial Nitrification + Anammox," allows part of the ammonia nitrogen to first be oxidized to nitrite nitrogen, which is then used by Anammox bacteria as an electron acceptor to directly oxidize the remaining ammonia nitrogen into nitrogen gas, eliminating the large oxygen supply required for full Nitrification and essentially eliminating the need for external carbon sources. Theoretical energy consumption is reduced by approximately 60% compared with the traditional pathway, while sludge production is also significantly reduced.

Core

• Mechanistic breakthrough: Anammox bacteria use nitrite nitrogen as the electron acceptor and ammonia nitrogen as the electron donor, directly converting the two into nitrogen gas, bypassing the two high-energy-consuming stages of full Nitrification and Denitrification, making it one of the most energy-efficient biological denitrification pathways known.
• Penetration rate surge: Public industry statistics show that the engineering penetration rate of this process in scenarios including sludge digestion liquor and high-ammonia-nitrogen industrial wastewater (Landfill Leachate, coal chemical, coking, livestock, food processing, pharmaceutical, etc.) has risen from approximately 12% in 2023年 to approximately 31% in 2026年, doubling in three years, marking its transition from demonstration validation to a scale-up cost-effectiveness inflection point.
• Clear main battlefield: The sludge digestion liquor sidestream, due to its stable water quality and high ammonia nitrogen concentration, has become the earliest scenario for large-scale implementation; Landfill Leachate and refractory high-ammonia-nitrogen wastewater from coal chemical, coking, and other industries, due to rigid discharge constraints, have become the fastest-growing incremental market.
• Engineering key: Process stability is highly dependent on maintaining the nitrite nitrogen accumulation rate, requiring supporting online ammonia nitrogen/nitrite nitrogen instruments and adaptive control (model prediction + feedback adjustment), which naturally aligns with Smart Water capabilities in anomaly prediction and adaptive process control.

Significance: What It Means for Us

TIANYI TECH focuses on Industrial Park wastewater treatment and Reclaimed Water Reuse, and our clients in Industrial Parks—such as coal chemical, food, and pharmaceutical companies—commonly face the challenge of advanced denitrification of high-ammonia-nitrogen wastewater. The rapid increase in Anammox penetration rate directly proves that this process has become an engineering-ready, replicable mature option rather than remaining at the paper stage—this provides us with a ready path to complete our "low-carbon advanced denitrification" capability. Embedding partial Nitrification–Anammox into our existing process packages can achieve dual reductions in aeration energy consumption and carbon source consumption, directly translating into lower operating costs and carbon credit surplus for clients, strengthening the value of our integrated solution of "quantifiable water savings + ESG compliance." For us, it also means that for new construction and retrofit projects in Industrial Parks, we have an additional low-carbon weapon that differentiates us from the high-energy-consumption route of traditional Activated Sludge processes, enabling us to form a differentiated advantage of "same compliance, lower carbon consumption" in bidding and solution comparison.

Industry Perspective: Our Judgment

Our judgment is that the doubling of penetration rate in three years indicates that Anammox has crossed the economic inflection point from technology demonstration, and by the end of 2026年 it is expected to become one of the default advanced denitrification options for new high-ammonia-nitrogen wastewater projects; on the policy side, the synergistic assessment of pollution reduction and carbon reduction (mandatory accounting of aeration energy consumption and carbon emissions, encouragement of participation in carbon trading) will further amplify its economic attractiveness. Our opportunity lies in: Industrial Park clients have unprecedentedly strong dual demands for "low carbon + low cost," and we can package Anammox with Reclaimed Water Reuse systems to form an integrated closed-loop solution of "advanced denitrification + Reclaimed Water Reuse." What we must face squarely is that this process is relatively sensitive to influent water quality fluctuations, and its engineering implementation is highly dependent on intelligent operations and maintenance—which is precisely where our Smart Water system (anomaly prediction, adaptive process control, Digital Twin simulation) can step in and create added value. Next, we plan to evaluate embedding partial Nitrification–Anammox modules into our existing Industrial Park water treatment solution library, prioritizing pilot projects in coal chemical and food Industrial Park Reclaimed Water Reuse projects, and using online instruments + adaptive control to ensure stable nitrite nitrogen accumulation rate, making "low-carbon denitrification" a quantifiable, deliverable TIANYI label.