Modelling nitrous and nitric oxide emissions by autotrophic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria.

The emission of greenhouse gases, such as N2O, from wastewater treatment plants is a matter of growing concern. Denitrification by ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) has been identified as the main N2O producing pathway. To estimate N2O emissions during biological nitrogen removal, reliable mathematical models are essential. In this work, a mathematical model for NO (a precursor for N2O formation) and N2O formation by AOB is presented. Based on mechanistic grounds, two possible reaction mechanisms for NO and N2O formation are distinguished, which differ in the origin of the reducing equivalents needed for denitrification by AOB. These two scenarios have been compared in a simulation study, assessing the influence of the aeration/stripping rate and the resulting dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration on the NO and N2O emission from a SHARON partial nitritation reactor. The study of the simulated model behaviour and its comparison with previously published experimental data serves in elucidating the true NO and N2O formation mechanism.

Emission of nitrous oxide and nitric oxide from a full-scale single-stage nitritation-anammox reactor.

At a full-scale single-stage nitritation-anammox reactor, off-gas measurement for nitric oxide (NO) and nitrous oxide (N(2)O) was performed. NO and N(2)O are environmental hazards, imposing the risk of improving water quality at the cost of deteriorating air quality. The emission of NO during normal operation of a single-stage nitritation-anammox process was 0.005% of the nitrogen load while the N(2)O emission was 1.2% of the nitrogen load to the reactor, which is in the same range as reported emission from other full-scale wastewater treatment plants. The emission of both compounds was strongly coupled. The concentration of NO and N(2)O in the off-gas of the single-stage nitritation-anammox reactor was rather dynamic and clearly responded to operational variations. This exemplifies the need for time-dependent measurement of NO and N(2)O emission from bioreactors for reliable emission estimates. Nitrite accumulation clearly resulted in increased NO and N(2)O concentrations in the off-gas, yielding higher emission levels. Oxygen limitation resulted in a decrease in NO and N(2)O emission, which was unexpected as oxygen limitation is generally assumed to cause increased emissions in nitrogen converting systems. Higher aeration flow dramatically increased the NO emission load and also seemed to increase the N(2)O emission, which stresses the importance of efficient aeration control to limit NO and N(2)O emissions.

Role of nitrogen oxides in the metabolism of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria.

Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) can use oxygen and nitrite as electron acceptors. Nitrite reduction by Nitrosomonas is observed under three conditions: (i) hydrogen-dependent denitrification, (ii) anoxic ammonia oxidation with nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)) and (iii) NO(x)-induced aerobic ammonia oxidation. NO(x) molecules play an important role in the conversion of ammonia and nitrite by AOB. Absence of nitric oxide (NO), which is generally detectable during ammonia oxidation, severely impairs ammonia oxidation by AOB. The lag phase of recovery of aerobic ammonia oxidation was significantly reduced by NO(2) addition. Acetylene inhibition tests showed that NO(2)-dependent and oxygen-dependent ammonia oxidation can be distinguished. Addition of NO(x) increased specific activity of ammonia oxidation, growth rate and denitrification capacity. Together, these findings resulted in a hypothetical model on the role of NO(x) in ammonia oxidation: the NO(x) cycle.

Particle related fractionation and characterisation of municipal wastewater.

Several studies show that a more detailed characterisation of the particulate matter in municipal wastewater gives a better understanding and prediction of removal efficiencies of physical-chemical treatment techniques and the application of optimal chemical dosages. Such a characterisation should include the distribution of contaminants over various particle sizes. This article describes a method and results of experimental and full-scale investigations, conducted to determine how contaminants in wastewater are distributed over different particle sizes. For this purpose, particle size fractionations of wastewater influents originating from more than thirteen WWTP were carried out. One of these fractionations (WWTP Venray) is shown and interpreted in this article. First, the wastewaters were fractionated into 5 to 6 particle fractions (45, 5.0, 1.0/1.2, 0.45 and 0.1 microm) after which the fractions were analyzed for various water quality parameters like organic components, nutrients, salts, solids and turbidity. Based on the results the effects of removal of the different size fractions on design of the biological treatment and energy balance of a wastewater treatment plant can be assessed. The method also indicates whether a certain wastewater is efficiently treatable with physical-chemical pre-treatment methods. It is concluded wastewater fractionation on particle size is very useful, but that wastewater characteristics and particle size distributions should not be generalised, but have to be interpreted as indications for a certain average wastewater composition. To give more insight into the distribution of contaminants over particle size and the particle removal potential, a specific wastewater fractionation has to be carried out per WWTP.