Effect of copper sulfate addition on nitrous-oxide emission in high speed dentrification process using macro-porous...

Nitrous oxide emission from the immobilized denitrification process was investigated under copper-added and copper-free conditions to realize high-speed denitrification with minimum nitrous oxide emission. Nitrous oxide emission was found to be smaller in culture using immobilized cells acclimatized under copper-added condition. Transient phenomena of nitrous oxide emission, nitrate reduction and nitrite accumulation were then investigated in repeated batch experiments by transferring immobilized cells acclimatized in copper-free conditions into copper-added medium. Nitrous oxide emission obviously decreased, and maximum nitrous oxide concentration of seventh batch culture was about 1/40,000 of that of first batch culture. Nitrate reduction gradually decreased from second batch to fourth batch culture and it turned to increase from fifth batch culture to seventh batch culture. At seventh batch culture, nitrate reduction rate was restored up to 80% of the initial speed. This repeated batch experiment clarified that nitrous oxide emission was repressed by copper sulfate addition. The effect of pH and temperature on nitrous oxide emission were also investigated in a continuous denitrification experiment under copper added conditions. Nitrous oxide emission was increased by lowering pH and lowering temperature. At optimum operating condition (pH8.0, 30 degrees C), nitrogen removal efficiency of 99.9%, nitrous-oxide concentration in the emitted gas of 3.1ppm(v/v) and conversion ratio to nitrous oxide of 0.000316% were obtained when 280mg-Nl(-1) nitrate containing medium was treated at 6 hours of hydraulic retention time.