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Nitrous oxide generation in denitrifying phosphorus removal process: main causes and control measures

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Abstract

Despite the many benefits of denitrifying phosphorus removal process, the significant generation of nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas, remains a problem for this innovative and promising process. To better understand and more effectively control N2O generation in denitrifying phosphorus removal process, batch experiments were carried out to investigate the main causes of N2O generation, based on which the control measures were subsequently proposed. The results showed that N2O generation accounted for 0.41 % of the total nitrogen removal in denitrifying phosphorus removal process, whereas, in contrast, almost no N2O was generated in conventional denitrification process. It was further demonstrated that the weak competition of N2O reductase for electrons and the high nitrite accumulation were the two main causes for N2O generation, evidenced by N2O production and reduction rates under different conditions. Accordingly, the reduction of N2O generation was successfully achieved via two control measures: (1) the use of continuous nitrate addition reducing N2O generation by around 91.4 % and (2) the use of propionate as the carbon source reducing N2O generation by around 69.8 %.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Natural Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars of Shandong province (number JQ201216), National Natural Science Foundation of China (numbers 21177075, 21007032, and 50908133), Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (number NCET-10-0554).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, 250100, Shandong, China

    Cong Li, Jian Zhang, Shuang Liang & Yina Zou

  2. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Broadway, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia

    Huu Hao Ngo & Wenshan Guo

  3. Melbourne School of Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia

    Yingying Zhang

Authors
  1. Cong Li
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  2. Jian Zhang
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  3. Shuang Liang
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  4. Huu Hao Ngo
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  5. Wenshan Guo
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  6. Yingying Zhang
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  7. Yina Zou
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Correspondence to Shuang Liang.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

C. Li and J. Zhang contributed equally to this work.

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Li, C., Zhang, J., Liang, S. et al. Nitrous oxide generation in denitrifying phosphorus removal process: main causes and control measures. Environ Sci Pollut Res 20, 5353–5360 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-1530-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-1530-3

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