Rates of Reaction Rates of denitrification can be described by the Monod equation, but in most cases extra substrate is provided to prevent substrate limitations, and as a result the observed rate is nearly equal to the maximum possible rate. Easily degraded materials such as methanol and acetic acid give the highest rates of denitrification. Raw wastewater does not yield such a high degradation rate, but it is significantly higher than what is observed with non organic carbon sources. These bacteria are relatively rare, and as a result reactions are not usually carried out at such high temperatures despite the expected increases in reaction rate. Click Here to see the effect temperate has on reaction rates for several different substrates.
Oxygen inhibits denitrification by providing a better electron acceptor for metabolism.
When oxygen is present, the microorganisms will use oxygen instead of nitrate. The concentration of oxygen of importance is the concentration at the cell's surface, which may be significantly different than the bulk concentration. At lower pH the generation of N 2 O and NO is increaced.