Effect of aeration on nitrous oxide (N2O) emission from nitrogen-removing sequencing batch reactors

In this study, nitrous oxide (N(2)O) emission was compared between the operations of two different sequencing batch reactors, conventional sequencing batch reactor (CNVSBR) and simultaneous nitrification and denitrification sequencing batch reactor (SND-SBR), using synthetic wastewater. The CNV-SBR consisted of anoxic (denitrification) and aerobic phases, whereas the SND-SBR consisted of a microaerobic (low dissolved oxygen concentration) phase, which was achieved by intermittent aeration for simultaneous nitrification and denitrification. The CNV-SBR emitted 3.9 mg of N(2)O-N in the denitrification phase and 1.6 mg of N2O-N in the nitrification phase, resulting in a total emission of 5.5 mg from 432 mg of NH(4)(+)-N input. In contrast, the SND-SBR emitted 26.2 mg of N(2)O-N under the microaerobic condition, which was about 5 times higher than the emission obtained with the CNV-SBR at the same NH(4)(+)-N input. From the N(2)O yield based on NH(4)(+)-N input, the microaerobic condition produced the highest yield (6.1%), followed by the anoxic (0.9%) and aerobic (0.4%) conditions. It is thought that an appropriate dissolved oxygen level is critical for reducing N(2)O emission during nitrification and denitrification at wastewater treatment plants.