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Factors controlling nitrous oxide emissions from a full-scale activated sludge system in the tropics

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Abstract

Despite interest in characterizing nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in several parts of the globe, there are few studies in tropical zones. This study focus on the contribution of the scientific knowledge of anthropogenic nitrogen greenhouse gas emissions to climate change in tropical countries, investigating factors controlling N2O emissions in a non-biological nitrogen removal municipal WWTP. In terms of operational parameters, dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations displayed a biphasic impact on N2O production and emission, with the highest emission at DO of 2.0 mg O2 L−1. The low solids retention time of 3 days also played a significant role, leading to nitrite accumulation, which is an important trigger for N2O production during nitrification. Furthermore, other factor especially important for tropical countries, namely, temperature, also had a positive correlation with N2O production. Emission factors estimated for this study were 0.12 (0.02–0.31) % of the influent total nitrogen load and 8.1 (3–17) g N2O person−1 year−1, 2.5 times higher than currently proposed emission factors. Therefore, the highly variability and dependence on operational parameters reinforce the use of a single emission factor is inadequate, especially for developing countries with limited or variable extent of biological wastewater treatment and in regions of the world with widely varying climate patterns.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and the Research Foundation of the State of Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) under grants: (a) 0477 (Strategic Health Research Programme–PAPES V/Fiocruz/CNPq–2008/2011); (b) 301421-2009/9 (PQ); and E-26/112.140/2008. CNPq and FAPERJ (Bolsa Nota 10) provided the Masters Scholarship to Ariane Coelho Brotto.

Compliance with ethical standards

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest: We wish to confirm that there are no known conflicts of interest associated with this publication, and there has been no significant financial support for this work that could have any influence on its outcome.

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We confirm that the manuscript has been read and approved by all named authors and that there are no other persons who satisfied the criteria for authorship but are not listed. We further confirm that the order of authors listed in the manuscript has been approved by all of us.

We further confirm that we did not use either experimental animals or human patients and that we have conducted all this review manuscript accordingly with ethics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Geoquímica, Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, RJ, 24020-141, Brazil

    Ariane C. Brotto, Samara A. Andrade, Renato P. Ribeiro & William Z. de Mello

  2. Departamento de Saneamento e Saúde Ambiental, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21041-210, Brazil

    Débora C. Kligerman & Jaime L. M. Oliveira

  3. Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    Ariane C. Brotto & Kartik Chandran

Authors
  1. Ariane C. Brotto
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  2. Débora C. Kligerman
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  3. Samara A. Andrade
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  4. Renato P. Ribeiro
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  5. Jaime L. M. Oliveira
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  6. Kartik Chandran
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  7. William Z. de Mello
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Débora C. Kligerman.

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Responsible editor: Bingcai Pan

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Brotto, A.C., Kligerman, D.C., Andrade, S.A. et al. Factors controlling nitrous oxide emissions from a full-scale activated sludge system in the tropics. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 11840–11849 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4467-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4467-x

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