Aerobic N2O emission for activated sludge acclimated under different aeration rates in the multiple anoxic and aerobic process

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas that can be emitted during biological nitrogen removal. N2O emission was examined in a multiple anoxic and aerobic process at the aeration rates of 600 mL/min sequencing batch reactor (SBRL) and 1200 mL/min (SBRH). The nitrogen removal percentage was 89% in SBRL and 71% in SBRH, respectively. N2O emission mainly occurred during the aerobic phase, and the N2O emission factor was 10.1% in SBRL and 2.3% in SBRH, respectively. In all batch experiments, the N2O emission potential was high in SBRL compared with SBRH. In SBRL, with increasing aeration rates, the N2O emission factor decreased during nitrification, while it increased during denitrification and simultaneous nitrification and denitrification (SND). By contrast, in SBRH the N2O emission factor during nitrification, denitrification and SND was relatively low and changed little with increasing aeration rates. The microbial competition affected the N2O emission during biological nitrogen removal. (C) 2015 The Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V.