Greenhouse gas emissions from municipal wastewater treatment

Summary

The overall goal of this doctoral research project is to control methane and nitrous oxide emissions from municipal wastewater treatment plants. This goal will be achieved following three main research lines:

1. Monitoring campaigns at full-scale wastewater treatment plants will be carried out to quantify methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions from the unit processes involved and to relate these emissions to WWTP operation and control.
2. Lab-scale experiments will be conducted to reveal the mechanisms of greenhouse gas formation and to develop and test control strategies for the reduction of these emissions.
3. The acquired knowledge will be translated into mechanistic process models, which will be used for optimal design and operation of wastewater treatment plants towards minimal methane and nitrous oxide emissions.

Keywords

wastewater treatment; greenhouse gasses (N₂O, CH₄), biological nitrogen removal, anaerobic digestion

Project administration

Researcher: Matthijs Daelman

Funding: UGent Special Research Fund (Funding for joint doctorate with TU Delft)

Project duration: 01.02.2012 - 31.07.2013