a b s t r a c t
This study proposes a simplified method for the quantification of N2O emission from a biological nutrient
removal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The method incorporates a laboratory-scale batch reactor
which had almost the same operational (wastewater and sludge flow rates) condition of a unit operation/
process of the WWTP. Cumulative N2O emissions from the batch reactor at the corresponding hydraulic
retention times of the full-scale units (primary and secondary clarifiers, pre-anoxic, anaerobic, anoxic and
aerobic basins) were used for the quantification of N2O emission. The analysis showed that the aerobic
basin emitted 95% of the total emission and the emission factor (yield) reached 0.8% based on the influent
nitrogen load. The method successfully estimated N2O emission from the WWTP and it has shown
advantages in measurement time and cost over the direct field measurement (floating chamber) method.
2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction