Aerobic granular sludge (AGS) at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are known to produce nitrous oxide (N2O), a greenhouse gas which has a ∼300 times higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide. In this research, we studied N2O emissions from different sizes of AGS developed at a dissolved oxygen (DO) level of 2 mgO2/L while exposing them to disturbances at various DO concentrations ranging from 1 to 4 mgO2/L. Five different AGS size classes were studied: 212-600 µm, 600-1000 µm, 1000-1400 µm, 1400-2000 µm, and > 2000 µm. Metagenomic data showed N2O reductase genes (nosZ) were more abundant in the smaller AGS sizes which aligned with the observation of higher N2O reduction rates in small AGS under anaerobic conditions. However, when oxygen was present, the activity measurements of N2O emission showed an opposite trend compared to metagenomic data, smaller AGS (212 to 1000 µm) emitted significantly higher N2O (p < 0.05) than larger AGS (1000 µm to >2000 µm) at DO of 2, 3, and 4 mgO2/L. The N2O emission rate showed positive correlation with both oxygen levels and nitrification rate. This pattern indicates a connection between N2O emission and nitrification. In addition, the data suggested the penetration of oxygen into the anoxic zone of granules might have hindered nitrous oxide reduction, resulting in incomplete denitrification stopping at N2O and consequently contributing to an increase in N2O emissions. This work sets the stage to better understand the impacts of AGS size on N2O emissions in WWTPs under different disturbance of DO conditions, and thus ensure that wastewater treatment will comply with possible future regulations demanding lowering greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to combat climate change.
Keywords: Aerobic granular sludge; Aggregate size fraction; Denitrification; Dissolved oxygen concentration; N(2)O gas emission; Wastewater treatment.
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