Nitrous oxide emission in the biological nitrogen removal process

The nitrous oxide (N2O) has a high striking power in environmental. It's one of the three most important greenhouse gases, when considered the greenhouse potential and emissions to the atmosphere. The concern in the two last decades with the N2O generation in wastewater treatment has grown. Many studies have been conducted with the objective of evaluate the conditions of N2O generation and emission in the nitrification and denitrification process, in biological nitrogen removal of wastewater treatment, both lab scale and wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). These studies show that under certain conditions, both processes can generate and emit large amounts of N2O to the atmosphere, what demonstrates the importance of conducting further investigations to determine specific conditions that minimize N2O production and emission.