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Nitrous Oxide Emissions and Carbon Footprint of Decentralized Urine Fertilizer Production by Nitrification and Distillation
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6178-4759
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2596-8857
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8051-7362
Combining partial nitrification, granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration, and distillation is a well-studied approach to convert urine into a fertilizer. To evaluate the environmental sustainability of a technology, the operational carbon footprint and therefore nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions should be known, but N2O emissions from urine nitrification have not been assessed yet. Therefore, N2O emissions of a decentralized urine nitrification reactor were monitored for 1 month. During nitrification, 0.4–1.2% of the total nitrogen load was emitted as N2O-N with an average N2O emission factor (EFN2O) of 0.7%. Additional N2O was produced during anoxic storage between nitrification and GAC filtration with an estimated EFN2O of 0.8%, resulting in an EFN2O of 1.5% for the treatment chain. N2O emissions during nitrification can be mitigated by 60% by avoiding low dissolved oxygen or anoxic conditions and nitrite concentrations above 5 mg-N L–1. Minimizing the hydraulic retention time between nitrification and GAC filtration can reduce N2O formation during intermediate storage by 100%. Overall, the N2O emissions accounted for 45% of the operational carbon footprint of 14 kg-CO2,equiv kg-N–1 for urine fertilizer production. Using electricity from renewable sources and applying the proposed N2O mitigation strategies could potentially lower the carbon footprint by 85%.
Nitrous Oxide Emissions and Carbon Footprint of Decentralized Urine Fertilizer Production by Nitrification and Distillation
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6178-4759
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2596-8857
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8051-7362
Combining partial nitrification, granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration, and distillation is a well-studied approach to convert urine into a fertilizer. To evaluate the environmental sustainability of a technology, the operational carbon footprint and therefore nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions should be known, but N2O emissions from urine nitrification have not been assessed yet. Therefore, N2O emissions of a decentralized urine nitrification reactor were monitored for 1 month. During nitrification, 0.4–1.2% of the total nitrogen load was emitted as N2O-N with an average N2O emission factor (EFN2O) of 0.7%. Additional N2O was produced during anoxic storage between nitrification and GAC filtration with an estimated EFN2O of 0.8%, resulting in an EFN2O of 1.5% for the treatment chain. N2O emissions during nitrification can be mitigated by 60% by avoiding low dissolved oxygen or anoxic conditions and nitrite concentrations above 5 mg-N L–1. Minimizing the hydraulic retention time between nitrification and GAC filtration can reduce N2O formation during intermediate storage by 100%. Overall, the N2O emissions accounted for 45% of the operational carbon footprint of 14 kg-CO2,equiv kg-N–1 for urine fertilizer production. Using electricity from renewable sources and applying the proposed N2O mitigation strategies could potentially lower the carbon footprint by 85%.
Nitrous Oxide Emissions and Carbon Footprint of Decentralized Urine Fertilizer Production by Nitrification and Distillation
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6178-4759
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2596-8857
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8051-7362
Combining partial nitrification, granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration, and distillation is a well-studied approach to convert urine into a fertilizer. To evaluate the environmental sustainability of a technology, the operational carbon footprint and therefore nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions should be known, but N2O emissions from urine nitrification have not been assessed yet. Therefore, N2O emissions of a decentralized urine nitrification reactor were monitored for 1 month. During nitrification, 0.4–1.2% of the total nitrogen load was emitted as N2O-N with an average N2O emission factor (EFN2O) of 0.7%. Additional N2O was produced during anoxic storage between nitrification and GAC filtration with an estimated EFN2O of 0.8%, resulting in an EFN2O of 1.5% for the treatment chain. N2O emissions during nitrification can be mitigated by 60% by avoiding low dissolved oxygen or anoxic conditions and nitrite concentrations above 5 mg-N L–1. Minimizing the hydraulic retention time between nitrification and GAC filtration can reduce N2O formation during intermediate storage by 100%. Overall, the N2O emissions accounted for 45% of the operational carbon footprint of 14 kg-CO2,equiv kg-N–1 for urine fertilizer production. Using electricity from renewable sources and applying the proposed N2O mitigation strategies could potentially lower the carbon footprint by 85%.
Nitrous Oxide Emissions and Carbon Footprint of Decentralized Urine Fertilizer Production by Nitrification and Distillation
Faust, Valentin (author) / Gruber, Wenzel (author) / Ganigué, Ramon (author) / Vlaeminck, Siegfried E. (author) / Udert, Kai M. (author)
ACS ES&T Engineering ; 2 ; 1745-1755
2022-09-09
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
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