Single-stage autotrophic nitrogen removal offers advantages of low energy and carbon consumptions. Based on previous work about a novel composite membrane aerated biofilm (CMAB), two microbial entrapping patterns (mixed and stratified patterns) were evaluated for their applicability to artificially regulate the spatial distribution of distinct microbial aggregates for single-stage autotrophic nitrogen removal. Experimental results showed that the stratified pattern caused little accumulation of NO₂⁻ and NO₃⁻, which leads to a superior nitrogen removal performance compared with the mixed pattern. Candidatus Kuenenia was found to be the major anammox bacterium in the gel film of the mixed pattern and the outer film of the stratified pattern. In contrast, Nitrosomonas, as a representative genus of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, was substantially enriched in the inner film of the stratified pattern and the gel film of the mixed pattern. Finally, modeling results further confirmed the advantages of the stratified pattern with respect to the formation of rational microbial and nutrient profiles in gel films. The ratio of partial nitrification and anammox film thicknesses should remain below 3:2 to obtain a high fraction of anammox bacteria and to avoid NO₂⁻ accumulation. Increasing O₂ surface loading does not affect microbial profiles, but can greatly promote the TN removal performance only in the stratified pattern. Overall, the stratified pattern should be employed to achieve optimal microbial profiles and nitrogen removal efficiency.

单级自养脱氮具有能源和碳消耗低的优点。基于先前关于新型复合膜曝气生物膜 (CMAB) 的工作，评估了两种微生物捕获模式（混合模式和分层模式）在人工调节不同微生物聚集体的空间分布方面的适用性，以实现单级自养脱氮。实验结果表明，分层模式引起的NO ₂ ^-和NO ₃ ^{- 的}积累很少，与混合模式相比，这导致了更好的脱氮性能。候选者发现混合型凝胶膜和分层型外膜中的主要厌氧菌是厌氧氨氧化菌。相比之下，亚硝化单胞菌作为氨氧化细菌的代表性属，在分层模式的内膜和混合模式的凝胶膜中显着富集。最后，建模结果进一步证实了分层模式在凝胶膜中形成合理的微生物和营养成分方面的优势。部分硝化和厌氧氨氧化膜厚度的比率应保持在 3:2 以下，以获得高比例的厌氧氨氧化细菌并避免 NO ₂ ^-积累。增加O ₂表面负载不影响微生物分布，但只能在分层模式中极大地促进 TN 去除性能。总体而言，应采用分层模式来实现最佳微生物分布和脱氮效率。