Abstract
Carbon sources are an important parameter in wastewater treatment processes and are closely related to treatment efficiency and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. In this study, three parallel sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) were processed with acetic acid, propionic acid, and a 1:1 mixture of both acids (calculated in COD) to study the effect of carbon sources on N2O generation and sludge properties (including intracellular polymer content, extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) composition, particle size distribution, settleability, and microbial community structure). The results showed that the highest COD, NH4+-N, and TP removal efficiencies (92.2%, 100%, and 82.3%, respectively) were achieved by the reactor with mixed acid as the carbon source, whereas the reactor using acetic acid had the highest TN removal rate (82.6%) and the lowest N2O–N conversion rate (1.4%, based on TN removal). The reactor with the carbon source of mixed acid produced the highest polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) content, which led to an increase in N2O generation from the aerobic denitrification pathway. The SBR with mixed acid carbon source also had the highest concentration of EPS, which resulted in the largest particle size and the lowest settleability of sludge flocs among the SBRs. Microbial analysis results revealed that the difference in carbon sources resulted in a variation in the microbial community as well as in the relative abundances of functional microbes involved in biological nitrogen removal processes. The mixed acid promoted the development of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), which conducted the primary N2O generation pathway of aerobic denitrification bioreactions. The carbon source of acetic acid promoted the growth of denitrifying bacteria (DNB), which led to the highest TN removal rate. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the effects of carbon sources on N2O generation and sludge properties for WWTPs.
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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files.
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Funding
National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 51408199).
Training Plan of Young Backbone Teachers in Colleges and Universities of Henan Province (2020GGJS066).
Key Scientific Research Projects of Colleges and Universities in Henan Province (21A610007).
Key Project of Science and Technology of Henan Province (grant number 202102310600).
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XY proposed the original idea, wrote, reviewed, and edited the manuscript and administrated the project. JY analyzed the data, performed data visualization, and wrote the original manuscript. DG, JM, and XS conducted the experiments and performed laboratory measurements. JS supervised the project.
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Yan, X., Yang, J., Guo, D. et al. Effect of carbon source on nitrous oxide emission characteristics and sludge properties during anoxic/aerobic wastewater treatment process. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 57557–57568 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14713-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14713-9