Minimization of nitrous oxide emission from anoxic–oxic biological nitrogen removal process: Effect of influent COD/NH4+ ratio and feeding strategy

The performance, mechanism and greenhouse gas emission potential of nitrogen removal technology for low carbon source wastewater

Excessive nitrogen can lead to eutrophication of water bodies. However, the removal of nitrogen from low carbon source wastewater has always been challenging due to the limited availability of carbon sources as electron donors. Biological nitrogen removal technology can be classified into three categories: heterotrophic biological technology (HBT) that utilizes organic matter as electron donors, autotrophic biological technology (ABT) that relies on inorganic electrons as electron donors, and heterotrophic-autotrophic coupling technology (CBT) that combines multiple electron donors. This work reviews the research progress, microbial mechanism, greenhouse gas emission potential, and challenges of the three technologies. In summary, compared to HBT and ABT, CBT shows greater application potential, although pilot-scale implementation is yet to be achieved. The composition of nitrogen removal microorganisms is different, mainly driven by electron donors. ABT and CBT exhibit the lowest potential for greenhouse gas emissions compared to HBT. N2O, CH4, and CO2 emissions can be controlled by optimizing conditions and adding constructed wetlands. Furthermore, these technologies need further improvement to meet increasingly stringent emission standards and address emerging pollutants. Common measures include bioaugmentation in HBT, the development of novel materials to promote mass transfer efficiency of ABT, and the construction of BES-enhanced multi-electron donor systems to achieve pollutant prevention and removal. This work serves as a valuable reference for the development of clean and sustainable low carbon source wastewater treatment technology, as well as for addressing the challenges posed by global warming.

Pathways and biological mechanisms of N2O emission reduction by adding biochar in the constructed wetland based on 15N stable isotope tracing

Constructed wetlands (CWs) added with biochar were built to study pollutant removal efficiencies, nitrous oxide (N₂O) emission characteristics, and biological mechanisms in nitrogen transformation. The results showed that biochar addition enhanced the average removal rates of ammonium (NH₄⁺-N), total nitrogen, and chemical oxygen demand by 4.03-18.5%, 2.90-4.99%, and 2.87-5.20% respectively while reducing N₂O emissions by 25.85-83.41%. Based on ¹⁵N stable isotope tracing, it was found that nitrification, denitrification, and simultaneous nitrification and denitrification were the main processes contributing to N₂O emission. The addition of biochar resulted in maximum reduction rates of 71.50%, 80.66%, and 73.09% for these three processes, respectively. The relative abundance of nitrogen-transforming microbes, such as Nitrospira, Dechloromonas, and Denitratisoma, increased after the addition of biochar, promoting nitrogen removal and reducing N₂O emissions. Adding biochar could increase the functional gene copy number and enzyme activity responsible for nitrogen conversion, which helped achieve efficient NH₄⁺-N oxidation and eliminate nitrite accumulation, thereby reducing N₂O emissions.

Automatic control and optimal operation for greenhouse gas mitigation in sustainable wastewater treatment plants: A review

In order to promote low-carbon sustainable operational management of the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), automatic control and optimal operation technologies, which devote to improving effluent quality, operational costs and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, have flourished in recent years. There is no consensus on the design procedure for optimal control/operation of sustainable WWTPs. In this review, we summarize recent researches on developing control and optimization strategies for GHG mitigation in WWTPs. Faced with the fact that direct carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions (considered biological origin) are generally not included in the carbon footprint of WWTPs, direct emissions (nitrous oxide (N₂O), methane (CH₄)) and indirect emissions are paid much attention. Firstly, the plant-wide models with GHG dynamic simulation, which are employed to design and evaluate the automatic control schemes as well as representative studies on identifying key factors affecting GHG emissions or comprehensive performance are outlined. Then, both traditional and advanced control methods commonly used in GHG mitigation are reviewed in detail, followed by the multi-objective optimization practices of control/operational parameters. Based on the mentioned control and (or) optimization strategies, a novel design framework for the optimal control/operation of sustainable WWTPs is proposed. The findings and design framework proposed in the paper will provide guidance for GHG mitigation and sustainable operation in WWTPs. It is foreseeable that more accurate and appropriate plant-wide models together with flexible control methods and intelligent optimization strategies will be developed to satisfy the upgrading requirements of WWTPs in the future.

Denitrification for acidic wastewater treatment: Long-term performance, microbial communities, and nitrous oxide emissions

Acidic nitrogenous wastewater often requires alkali pretreatment before biological treatment, which results in increased system complexity and operating costs. The demonstration of denitrification under acidic conditions would provide a theoretical basis for the direct treatment of such wastewater. In this study, the denitrification performance, microbial community, and nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions under acidic conditions were investigated using a sequencing batch reactor. When the influent pH decreased from 5.5 to 4.5, the sequencing batch reactor removed 99.8 ± 0.2% of the nitrate and 92.5 ± 1.6% (n = 171) of the chemical oxygen demand, and the production efficiency of N₂O increased significantly to 11.45%. This was 2.6-fold higher than that observed at pH 5.5. The long-term denitrification treatment of acidic wastewater (pH 4.5) led to the formation of granular sludge, and Thauera, Allorhizobium-Neorhizobium-Parararhizobium-Rhizobium, and Diaphorobacter became the dominant microbes with a collective abundance of 81.3%. More importantly, only 0.25% of the nitrate was denitrified as N₂O, and the batch test revealed that the emissions of N₂O decreased with the increase in sludge size. These results indicate that denitrifying granular sludge formed under acidic conditions and denitrifying bacteria capable of N₂O reduction proliferated, which both resulted in a significant reduction in the release of N₂O.

Tracing N2O formation in full-scale wastewater treatment with natural abundance isotopes indicates control by organic substrate and process settings

Nitrous oxide (N₂O) dominates greenhouse gas emissions in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Formation of N₂O occurs during biological nitrogen removal, involves multiple microbial pathways, and is typically very dynamic. Consequently, N₂O mitigation strategies require an improved understanding of nitrogen transformation pathways and their modulating controls. Analyses of the nitrogen (N) and oxygen (O) isotopic composition of N₂O and its substrates at natural abundance have been shown to provide valuable information on formation and reduction pathways in laboratory settings, but have rarely been applied to full-scale WWTPs. Here we show that N-species isotope ratio measurements at natural abundance level, combined with long-term N₂O monitoring, allow identification of the N₂O production pathways in a full-scale plug-flow WWTP (Hofen, Switzerland). Heterotrophic denitrification appears as the main N₂O production pathway under all tested process conditions (0-2 mgO₂/l, high and low loading conditions), while nitrifier denitrification was less important, and more variable. N₂O production by hydroxylamine oxidation was not observed. Fractional N₂O elimination by reduction to dinitrogen (N₂) during anoxic conditions was clearly indicated by a concomitant increase in site preference, δ¹⁸O(N₂O) and δ¹⁵N(N₂O). N₂O reduction increased with decreasing availability of dissolved inorganic N and organic substrates, which represents the link between diurnal N₂O emission dynamics and organic substrate fluctuations. Consequently, dosing ammonium-rich reject water under low-organic-substrate conditions is unfavorable, as it is very likely to cause high net N₂O emissions. Our results demonstrate that monitoring of the N₂O isotopic composition holds a high potential to disentangle N₂O formation mechanisms in engineered systems, such as full-scale WWTP. Our study serves as a starting point for advanced campaigns in the future combining isotopic technologies in WWTP with complementary approaches, such as mathematical modeling of N₂O formation or microbial assays to develop efficient N₂O mitigation strategies.

Exploring the role of heterotrophs in partial nitritation-anammox process treating thermal hydrolysis process - anaerobic digestion reject water

Heterotrophic bacteria (HB) are generally prevalent in anammox-based processes, but their functional and ecological roles in partial nitritation-anammox (PN/A) process treating high-organics wastewater remained unclear. This study aimed to elucidate HB activities and microbial interactions in a one-stage PN/A treating thermal hydrolysis process (THP) - anaerobic digestion (AD) reject water. The PN/A reactor achieved a satisfactory nitrogen removal rate of 0.58 ± 0.06 g N/(L·d), and around 12% of COD in the THP-AD reject water was removed. N₂O emission factors of the PN/A reactor were 1.15% ± 0.18% treating synthetic wastewater, and 0.95% ± 0.06% treating reject water. A balanced symbiotic relationship was maintained between HB and functional groups (i.e., anammox bacteria and aerobic-ammonia-oxidizing bacteria) over the reactor operation. The relative abundances of Anaerolineae spp. clearly increased, while Denitratisoma, capable of denitrification, slightly decreased when treating THP-AD reject water. The preference for electron donors of heterotrophs explained discrepant growth trends.

Insights into Nitrous Oxide Mitigation Strategies in Wastewater Treatment and Challenges for Wider Implementation

Nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions account for the majority of the carbon footprint of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Many N₂O mitigation strategies have since been developed while a holistic view is still missing. This article reviews the state-of-the-art of N₂O mitigation studies in wastewater treatment. Through analyzing existing studies, this article presents the essential knowledge to guide N₂O mitigations, and the logics behind mitigation strategies. In practice, mitigations are mainly carried out by aeration control, feed scheme optimization, and process optimization. Despite increasingly more studies, real implementation remains rare, which is a combined result of unclear climate change policies/incentives, as well as technical challenges. Five critical technical challenges, as well as opportunities, of N₂O mitigations were identified. It is proposed that (i) quantification methods for overall N₂O emissions and pathway contributions need improvement; (ii) a reliable while straightforward mathematical model is required to quantify benefits and compare mitigation strategies; (iii) tailored risk assessment needs to be conducted for WWTPs, in which more long-term full-scale trials of N₂O mitigation are urgently needed to enable robust assessments of the resulting operational costs and impact on nutrient removal performance; (iv) current mitigation strategies focus on centralized WWTPs, more investigations are warranted for decentralised systems, especially decentralized activated sludge WWTPs; and (v) N₂O may be mitigated by adopting novel strategies promoting N₂O reduction denitrification or microorganisms that emit less N₂O. Overall, we conclude N₂O mitigation research is reaching a maturity while challenges still exist for a wider implementation, especially in relation to the reliability of N₂O mitigation strategies and potential risks to nutrient removal performances of WWTPs.

Influence of chlortetracycline as an antibiotic residue on nitrous oxide emissions from wastewater treatment

Strengthening the removal of antibiotics in wastewater treatment plants is a research focus, but whether antibiotics affect nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions from wastewater treatment remains to be determined. In this study, the effect of chlortetracycline (CTC) on N₂O emissions in anaerobic/oxic/anoxic sequential batch reactors was investigated. Experimental results show that CTC promotes N₂O emissions during biological nutrient removal. The addition of 0.1 mg/L CTC increased the N₂O emission factor by 41.4% compared to the control. Mechanism exploration shows that CTC stimulates the release of extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) and binds to it, the generated EPS-CTC conjugates hinder or expand the mass transfer channel, which intensifies the electronic competition between oxidoreductases and the substrate competition between microorganisms, resulting in incomplete denitrification and nitrite accumulation, thereby increasing N₂O emissions.

Effect of anoxic to aerobic duration ratios on nitrogen removal and nitrous oxide emission in the multiple anoxic/aerobic process

Characteristics of nitrogen removal and nitrous oxide (N₂O) emission in the multiple anoxic/aerobic (AO) process were examined in three sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) with different anoxic durations (50 min, SBR_H; 40 min, SBR_M; 30 min, SBR_L) and a fixed aerobic duration of 30 min. The highest total inorganic nitrogen removal percentage of 85.8% was obtained in SBR_H, while a minimum N₂O emission factor of 1.9% was obtained in SBR_L. During nitrification batch experiments, the N₂O emission factor and emission rate were both lower in SBR_H than SBR_L. More N₂O production was obtained during denitrification in SBR_H when denitrifiers utilized intracellular organic carbon. Nitrite reduction by heterotrophs was the main N₂O production pathway during simultaneous nitrification and denitrification in SBR_H and SBR_L, with the N₂O emission factor of 31.3% and 36.3%, respectively. Adequate anoxic duration and lowering aerobic nitrite concentrations could be adopted to mitigate N₂O emission in the multiple AO process. The dominant microorganisms at the phylum level in all reactors were Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes, while the abundance of Nitrospira was the highest in SBR_H with relatively lowest dissolved oxygen concentrations.

Effects of free nitrous acid treatment conditions on the nitrite pathway performance in mainstream wastewater treatment

Inline sludge treatment using free nitrous acid (FNA) was recently shown to be effective in establishing the nitrite pathway in a biological nitrogen removal system. However, the effects of FNA treatment conditions on the nitrite pathway performance remained to be investigated. In this study, three different FNA treatment frequencies (daily sludge treatment ratios of 0.22, 0.31 and 0.38, respectively), two FNA concentrations (1.35 mgN/L and 4.23 mgN/L, respectively) and two influent feeding regimes (one- and two-step feeding) were investigated in four laboratory-scale sequencing batch reactors. The nitrite accumulation ratio was positively correlated to the FNA treatment frequency. However, when a high treatment frequency was used e.g., daily sludge treatment ratio of 0.38, a significant reduction in ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) activity occurred, leading to poor ammonium oxidation. AOB were able to acclimatise to FNA concentrations up to of 4.23 mgN/L, whereas nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) were limited by an FNA concentration of 1.35 mgN/L over the duration of the study (up to 120 days). This difference in sensitivity to FNA could be used to further enhance nitrite accumulation, with 90% accumulation achieved at an FNA concentration of 4.23 mgN/L and a daily sludge treatment ratio of 0.31 in this study. However, this high level of nitrite accumulation led to increased N₂O emission, with emission factors of up to 3.9% observed. The N₂O emission was mitigated (reduced to 1.3%) by applying two-step feeding resulting in a nitrite accumulation ratio of 45.1%. Economic analysis showed that choosing the optimal FNA treatment conditions depends on a combination of the wastewater characteristics, the nitrogen discharge standards, and the operational costs. This study provides important information for the optimisation and practical application of FNA-based sludge treatment technology for achieving the mainstream stable nitrite pathway.

Key operating parameters affecting nitrogen removal rate in single-stage deammonification

The key operating parameters for improving the nitrogen removal rate (NRR) in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) for deammonification were investigated. The major operating strategies were the coexistence between deammonification and denitrification with a carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio of 0.5 and the control of the number of sub-cycles based on substrate concentration for anaerobic ammonium oxidation (ANAMMOX) and ammonium oxidizing bacteria (AOB). In the study, denitrification with the addition of an organic source was beneficial for improving the NRR from 0.5 ± 0.01 kg N m^-3 d^-1 to 0.53 ± 0.01 kg N m^-3 d^-1 by removing the nitrate produced as a by-product of ANAMMOX. Unlike the gradual increase of the specific activity for AOB, the specific ANAMMOX activity (SAA) was maximized when an ammonium concentration supplied after sub-feeding phase was increased from 20 to 100 mg L^-1, which increased the NRR from 0.53 ± 0.01 kg N m^-3 d^-1 to 0.79 ± 0.01 kg N m^-3 d^-1. This result suggested that the SAA is more important than the specific activity for AOB as a parameter for controlling the NRR in the single-stage deammonification. In the whole experimental period, the granule size smaller than 100 μm accounted for 52.5 ± 0.9%, making the largest contribution to the activity for AOB and denitrifiers. However, the granule size larger than 100 μm made the greatest contribution (83.8 ± 0.5%) to SAA. The feasibility of using the derivate of pH and OPR as indirect parameters to control the NRR was verified.

Nitrogen removal and nitrous oxide emission from a step-feeding multiple anoxic and aerobic process

The multiple anoxic and aerobic (AO) process is an advanced biological nitrogen-removal process, and nitrous oxide (N₂O) emission might affect its sustainable application. Nitrogen removal and N₂O emission in a step-feeding multiple AO sequencing batch reactor (SBR_S) was examined, in comparison with a one-feeding sequencing batch reactor (SBR_O). Nitrogen removal was enhanced by 12.6% in SBR_S compared to the removal percentage of 75.8% in SBR_O. Activated sludge in SBRs possessed a higher N₂O emission factor during nitrification, denitrification and simultaneous nitrification and denitrification (SND) than in SBR_O. A high N₂O emission factor was observed during SND in both reactors, with the emission factor of 4.38% in SBR_S and 4.66% in SBR_O. More N₂O emission occurred in the presence of nitrite. Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria dominated in both SBR_S and SBR_O. A similar abundance of Thauera, Dechloromonas and Zoogloea possible for denitrification was observed in SBR_S and SBR_O. Moreover, nosZ from Proteobacteria dominated in both SBR_S and SBR_O, with dominating genus of Acidovorax, Ralstonia, Thauera and Marinobacter.

N2O emissions from an intermittently aerated semi-aerobic aged refuse bioreactor: Combined effect of COD and NH4+-N in influent leachate

The carbon-nitrogen ratio (COD/NH₄⁺-N) is an important factor affecting nitrification and denitrification in wastewater treatment; this factor also influences nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions. This study investigated two simulated intermittently aerated semi-aerobic aged refuse bioreactors (SAARB) filled with 8-year old aged refuse (AR). The research analyzed how differences in and the combination of influent COD and NH₄⁺-N impact N₂O emissions in leachate treatment. Experimental results showed that N₂O emissions increased as the influent COD/NH₄⁺-N decreased. The influent COD had a greater effect on N₂O emissions than NH₄⁺-N at the same influent ratios of COD/NH₄⁺-N (2.7 and 8.0, respectively). The maximum N₂O emission accounted for 8.82±2.65% of the total nitrogen removed from the influent leachate; the maximum level occurred when the COD was 2000mg/L. An analysis of differences in influent carbon sources at the same COD/NH₄⁺-N ratios concluded that the availability of biodegradable carbon substrates (i.e. glucose) is an important factor affecting N₂O emissions. At a low influent COD/NH₄⁺-N ratio (2.7), the N₂O conversion rate was greater when there were more biodegradable carbon substrates. Although the SAARB included the N₂O generation and reduction processes, N₂O reduction mainly occurred later in the process, after leachate recirculation. The maximum N₂O emission rate occurred in the first hour of single-period (24h) experiments, as leachate contacted the surface AR. In practical SAARB applications, N₂O emissions may be reduced by measures such as reducing the initial recirculation loading of NH₄⁺-N substrates, adding a later supplement of biodegradable carbon substrates, and/or prolonging hydraulic retention time (HRT) of influent leachate.

Effect of influent C/N ratio on N2O emissions from anaerobic/anoxic/oxic biological nitrogen removal processes

The problem of producing strong greenhouse gas of nitrous oxide (N₂O) from biological nitrogen removal (BNR) process in wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) has elicited great concern from various sectors. In this study, three laboratory-scale wastewater treatment systems, with influent C/N ratios of 3.4, 5.4, and 7.5, were set up to study the effect of influent C/N ratio on N₂O generation in anaerobic/anoxic/oxic (A²O) process. Results showed, with the increased influent C/N ratio, N₂O generation from both nitrification and denitrification process was decreased, and the N₂O-N conversion ratio of the process was obviously reduced from 2.23 to 0.05%. Nitrification rate in oxic section was reduced, while denitrification rate in anaerobic and anoxic section was elevated and the removal efficiency of COD, NH₄⁺-N, TN, and TP was enhanced in different extent. As the C/N ratio increased from 3.4 to 7.5, activities of three key denitrifying enzymes of nitrate reductase, nitrite reductase, and nitrous oxide reductase were increased. Moreover, microorganism analysis indicated that the relative abundance of ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) were positively correlated with N₂O generation, which was reduced from (8.42 ± 3.65) to (3.61 ± 1.66)% and (10.38 ± 4.12) to (4.67 ± 1.62)%, respectively. NosZ gene copy numbers of the A²O system were increased from (1.19 ± 0.49) × 10⁷ to (2.84 ± 0.54) × 10⁸ copies/g MLSS with the influent C/N ratio elevated from 3.4 to 7.5. Hence, appropriate influent C/N condition of A²O process could optimize the microbial community structure that simultaneously improve treatment efficiency and decrease the N₂O generation.

Microbial nitrification, denitrification and respiration in the leached cinnamon soil of the upper basin of Miyun Reservoir

Leached cinnamon soil is the main agricultural soil distributed in the North China Plain. In this research, leached cinnamon soil samples were collected in the upper basin of Miyun Reservoir (northeast of Beijing, China). The BaPS method (Barometric Process Separation) was applied to measure nitrification, denitrification and respiration rates. The rates of nitrification, denitrification and respiration were 0–120.35 μg N/kg SDW h, 0–246.86 μg N/kg SDW h and 0.17–225.85 μg C/kg SDW h (Soil Dry Weight, SDW), respectively. The emission rates of CO₂ and N_xO_y through nitrification, denitrification and respiration were 1.00–547.80 and 6.00–4850.65 μmol/h, respectively. The analysis of relationships between nitrification, denitrification and respiration rates indicated that these three microbial processes were interacted, which posed impacts on soil nitrogen availability. As indicated by the results, C:N ratio coupled with content could be taken as the indicators of content, which is usually the predominant form of N available to plants growing in soil. Results showed that content was the highest (i.e., >62.4 mg/kg) when C:N ratio was 5.30–8.40, meanwhile content was 3.71–4.39 mg/kg. Nevertheless, content was the lowest (i.e., <6.40 mg/kg) when C:N ratio was 9.2–12.10, meanwhile content was 3.41–4.35 mg/kg.

Nutrients removal and nitrous oxide emission during simultaneous nitrification, denitrification, and phosphorus removal process: effect of iron

The short- and long-term influences of ferric iron (Fe(III)) on nutrients removal and nitrous oxide (N2O) emission during SNDPR process were evaluated. According to the continuous cycle experiments, it was concluded that the addition of Fe(III) could lower the nitrogen removal of the following cycle during SNDPR process, which was mainly induced by the chemical removal of phosphorus. However, the impacts were transitory, and simultaneous nitrogen and phosphorus removal would recover from the inhibition of Fe(III) after running certain cycles. Moreover, the addition of Fe(III) could stimulate N2O emission transitorily during SNDPR process. However, if Fe(III) was added into reactor continuously, the nitrogen removal would be improved, especially at low Fe load condition. It was because that the activity of NO reductase was enhanced by the addition of Fe. However, the low Fe load in reactor would induce more N2O emission. When Fe(III) load was 40 mg/L in the reactor, the N2O yield was 10 % higher than control. The TN removal was weakened when Fe(III) load reached to 60 mg/L, and the N2O yield was lower than control, due to the inhibition of the high Fe load on denitrification enzymes.

Trade-off between carbon emission and effluent quality of activated sludge processes under seasonal variations of wastewater temperature and mean cell retention time

Over the seasonal cycles, the mean cell retention time (MCRT) of the activated sludge process is varied to compensate the wastewater temperature variations. The effects of these variations on the carbon footprint (CFP) and effluent quality index (EQI) of a conventional activated sludge (CAS) process and a nitrification/denitrification (NDN) process were quantified. The carbon emission included both biogenic and non-biogenic carbon. Carbon emissions of wasted biosolids management were also addressed. Our results confirmed that the effluent quality indicated by EQI was not necessarily improved by increasing MCRT. Higher MCRT increased the carbon emission and reduced excess sludge production, which decreased the potential for biogas energy recovery. The NDN process was preferable to the CAS process from the perspective of effluent quality. This consideration extended to the whole plant CFP if the N2O emitted during NDN was limited ([N2O]<1% [NH4(+)]removed) as the carbon emission per unit effluent quality achieved by NDN process is less than that of the CAS process. By putting forward carbon emission intensity (γ) derived from CFP and EQI, our work provides a quantitative tool for decision makers evaluating process alternatives when there is a trade-off between carbon emission and effluent quality.

Direct emissions of N2O, CO 2, and CH 4 from A/A/O bioreactor systems: impact of influent C/N ratio

Direct emissions of N2O, CO2, and CH4, three important greenhouse gases (GHGs), from biological sewage treatment process have attracted increasing attention worldwide, due to the increasing concern about climate change. Despite the tremendous efforts devoted to understanding GHG emission from biological sewage treatment process, the impact of influent C/N ratios, in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD)/total nitrogen (TN), on an anaerobic/anoxic/oxic (A/A/O) bioreactor system has not been investigated. In this work, the direct GHG emission from A/A/O bioreactor systems fed with actual sewage was analyzed under different influent C/N ratios over a 6-month period. The results showed that the variation in influent carbon (160 to 500 mg/L) and nitrogen load (35 to 95 mg/L) dramatically influenced pollutant removal efficiency and GHG production from this process. In the A/A/O bioreactor systems, the GHG production increased from 26-39 to 112-173 g CO2-equivalent as influent C/N ratios decreased from 10.3/10.7 to 3.5/3.8. Taking consideration of pollutant removal efficiency and direct biogenic GHG (N2O, CO2, and CH4) production, the optimum influent C/N ratio was determined to be 7.1/7.5, at which a relatively high pollutant removal efficiency and meanwhile a low level of GHG production (30.4 g CO2-equivalent) can be achieved. Besides, mechanical aeration turned out to be the most significant factor influencing GHG emission from the A/A/O bioreactor systems.

Effect of carbon sources on nitrous oxide emission in a modified Ludzak Ettinger process

Effect of methanol and glycerol on nitrous oxide (N2O) emission in two laboratory-scale modified Ludzak Ettinger (MLE) processes was investigated during three distinct periods: dissolved oxygen (DO) control by intermittent aeration with a DO controller, and high and low aeration rates. N2O consumption rate in an anoxic tank and aeration mode influenced N2O emission rates from the MLE processes. In the DO control period, N2O emission rate from the glycerol-fed MLE process was higher than the methanol-fed counterpart, likely caused by a higher N2O consumption rate in an anoxic tank of the methanol-fed process. During the period of a higher aeration rate, N2O emission rates from both processes were comparable. In contrast, during the period of a lower aeration rate, N2O emission rate from the methanol-fed MLE process was higher than that from the glycerol-fed counterpart likely because of a higher degree of nitrite accumulation, corroborated by statistical analysis. N2O consumption activities of biomasses fed with the different carbon sources were distinct. However, the high activity did not necessarily result in a decrease in N2O emission rate from an aerobic tank and the effect of nitrite on the emission was stronger under the tested conditions.

Effect of aeration regime on N₂O emission from partial nitritation-anammox in a full-scale granular sludge reactor

N₂O emission from wastewater treatment plants is high of concern due to the strong environmental impact of this greenhouse gas. Good understanding of the factors affecting the emission and formation of this gas is crucial to minimize its impact. This study addressed the investigation of the N₂O emission dynamics in a full-scale one-stage granular sludge reactor performing partial nitritation-anammox (PNA) operated at a N-loading of 1.75 kg NH₄⁺-N m⁻³ d⁻¹. A monitoring campaign was conducted, gathering on-line data of the N₂O concentration in the off-gas of the reactor as well as of the ammonium and nitrite concentrations in the liquid phase. The N₂O formation rate and the liquid N₂O concentration profile were calculated from the gas phase measurements. The mean (gaseous) N₂O-N emission obtained was 2.0% of the total incoming nitrogen during normal reactor operation. During normal operation of the reactor under variable aeration rate, intense aeration resulted in higher N₂O emission and formation than during low aeration periods (mean N₂O formation rate of 0.050 kg N m⁻³ d⁻¹ for high aeration and 0.029 kg N m⁻³ d⁻¹ for low aeration). Accumulation of N₂O in the liquid phase was detected during low aeration periods and was accompanied by a relatively lower ammonium conversion rate, while N₂O stripping was observed once the aeration was increased. During a dedicated experiment, gas recirculation without fresh air addition into the reactor led to the consumption of N₂O, while accumulation of N₂O was not detected. The transition from a prolonged period without fresh air addition and with little recirculation to enhanced aeration with fresh air addition resulted in the highest N₂O formation (0.064 kg N m⁻³ d⁻¹). The results indicate that adequate aeration control may be used to minimize N₂O emissions from PNA reactors.

Mitigation of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from denitrifying fluidized bed bioreactors (DFBBRs) using calcium

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a significant anthropogenic greenhouse gases (AnGHGs) emitted from biological nutrient removal (BNR) processes. In this study, N2O production from denitrifying fluidized bed bioreactors (DFBBR) was reduced using calcium (Ca2+) dosage. The DFBBRs were operated on a synthetic municipal wastewater at four different calcium concentrations ranging from the typical municipal wastewater Ca2+ concentration (60 mg Ca2+/L) to 240 mg Ca2+/L at two different COD/N ratios. N2O emission rates, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), water quality parameters, and microscopic images were monitored regularly in both phases. Calcium concentrations played a significant role in biofilm morphology with the detachment rates for R120Ca, R180Ca, and R240Ca 75% lower than for R60Ca, respectively. The N2O conversion rate at the typical municipal wastewater Ca2+ concentration (R60Ca) was about 0.53% of the influent nitrogen loading as compared with 0.34%, 0.42%, and 0.41% for R120Ca, R180Ca, and R240Ca, respectively corresponding to 21-36% reduction.

Influence of carbohydrate addition on nitrogen transformations and greenhouse gas emissions of intensive aquaculture system

Aquaculture is one of the fastest-growing segments of the food economy in modern times. It is also being considered as an important source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To date, limited studies have been conducted on GHG emissions from aquaculture system. In this study, daily addition of fish feed and soluble starch at a carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio of 16:1 (w/w) was used to examine the effects of carbohydrate addition on nitrogen transformations and GHG emissions in a zero-water exchange intensive aquaculture system. The addition of soluble starch stimulated heterotrophic bacterial growth and denitrification, which led to lower total ammonia nitrogen, nitrite and nitrate concentrations in aqueous phase. About 76.2% of the nitrogen output was emitted in the form of gaseous nitrogen (i.e., N2 and N2O) in the treatment tank (i.e., aquaculture tank with soluble starch addition), while gaseous nitrogen accounted for 33.3% of the nitrogen output in the control tank (i.e., aquaculture tank without soluble starch addition). Although soluble starch addition reduced daily N2O emissions by 83.4%, it resulted in an increase of daily carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 91.1%. Overall, starch addition did not contribute to controlling the GHG emissions from the aquaculture system.

Effects of step-feed on long-term performances and N2O emissions of partial nitrifying granules

This study used two anoxic/oxic sequencing batch reactors (A/O SBRs) respectively with pulse-feed (PF-SBR) and step-feed (SF-SBR) to investigate the effects of step-feed on partial nitrifying granules. The stable partial nitrification lasted 111 and 139 days in PF-SBR and SF-SBR, and then gradually switched to full nitrification. Granules in both reactors showed similar physical properties and excellent ammonia removal performances throughout 253 days operations. The SF-SBR had significantly higher total nitrogen (TN) removal efficiency than the PF-SBR. Based on long-term monitoring, the N2O emissions in SF-SBR decreased 53.8% and 61.6% during partial and full nitrification as compared with that in PF-SBR. Although the removed TN was very limited, most of the N2O was emitted during oxic phases. The percentage of N2O emission to TN removed during oxic phases was 90.75% and 47.21% for PF-SBR, 55.09% and 29.55% for SF-SBR, respectively under partial and full nitrification modes.