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A comprehensive model of N2O emissions in an anaerobic/oxygen-limited aerobic process under dynamic conditions

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Abstract

A comprehensive model for nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions in an anaerobic/oxygen-limited aerobic (A/OLA) process is proposed here. This paper includes the following main innovations: (i) adding the phosphorus-accumulating organism (XPAO) denitrification pathway to the contribution of N2O emissions; (ii) considering the biological removal of organic matter and phosphorus and predicting the effect of influent phosphorus concentration on N2O emissions via an increase in the influent phosphorus concentration; and (iii) determining the effect of XPAO on N2O production in a simultaneous nitrification, denitrification and phosphorus removal (SNDPR) system by sensitivity analysis. The results suggested that the simulated data matched the measured data well. The predominant pathways of N2O emissions in the process of A/OLA were the ammonium-oxidizing bacterium (XAOB) denitrification pathway and the heterotrophic bacterium (XH) denitrification pathway, while the incomplete hydroxylamine (NH2OH) oxidation pathway and the XPAO denitrification pathway contributed less to N2O emissions. The metabolic activity of XPAO had a significant effect on N2O emissions, and increasing the influent phosphorus concentration was beneficial for reducing the release of N2O. This study is expected to provide a meaningful reference for reducing N2O emissions in wastewater treatment engineering.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China [Nos. 31570568 and 31670585], Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangzhou city, China [Nos. 201607010079, 20160 7020007], Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province, China [Nos. 2016A020221005, 2017A040405022], National Key Research and Development Project [No. 2018YFE0110400], and the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Nos. 21978102 and 31670585]. The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, 382 Zhonghuan Road East, Panyu District, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Centre, Guangzhou, 510006, People’s Republic of China

    Zhen Li, Jinquan Wan, Yongwen Ma, Yan Wang, Yifeng Huang & Huimin Fan

  2. Sino-Singapore International Joint Research Institute, Guangzhou, 510006, China

    Jinquan Wan & Yongwen Ma

  3. Guangdong Plant Fiber High-Valued Cleaning Utilization Engineering Technology Research Center, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Jinquan Wan, Yongwen Ma & Yan Wang

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  1. Zhen Li
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Correspondence to Jinquan Wan.

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Li, Z., Wan, J., Ma, Y. et al. A comprehensive model of N2O emissions in an anaerobic/oxygen-limited aerobic process under dynamic conditions. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 43, 1093–1104 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-020-02307-7

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