title: Dinitrogen oxide detection for process failure early warning systems.
abstract: A number of experiments were conducted in order to establish whether the concentration of N2O in the off-gas from an activated sludge pilot plant could be used as a indicator for monitoring the nitrification process and as an early indication of ammonia appearing in the plant effluent. A strong correlation was found between ammonia shock loads and the concentration of N20 in the off-gas from the aeration tank for ammonia shock loads and dissolved oxygen depletion. When subjecting the experimental setup to doses of a nitrification inhibitor (allylthiourea) a similar pattern was seen with a correlation between nitrite build up in the aeration tank and concentration increase of N2O in the off-gas from the aeration tank. The results from this work suggest the concentration and the changes in the concentration of N2O in the exhaust gas from a nitrifying process may be a useful parameter for monitoring nitrifying activated sludge processes.
authors.affiliation: School of Water Sciences, Cranfield University, Bedford, UK.
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Burgess
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Stuetz
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morton
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stephenson
mesh_terms: D000641:Ammonia / Q000032:analysis; D019149:Bioreactors; D017672:Nitrogen Compounds / Q000032:analysis*; D010100:Oxygen / Q000032:analysis; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry*; D013997:Time Factors; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D017672:Nitrogen Compounds; D012722:Sewage; D000641:Ammonia; D010100:Oxygen