Intermittent aeration reducing N2O emissions from bioreactor landfills with gas–water joint regulation

Abstract

Landfills are important emission sources of atmospheric N2O, especially bioreactor landfills with leachate recirculation. In this study, N2O emissions were characterized in four bioreactor landfills with different ventilation methods, including intermittent (2-h aeration per 12 h or 4 h/d in continuous) and continuous aeration (20 h/d), in comparison to a traditional landfill without aeration. During the experiment, the N2O emissions from the landfill reactors with intermittent aeration were 7.48 and 7.15 mg, accounting for only 20.8% and 19.9% of those with continuous aeration, respectively. Continuous aeration was more favorable for the biodegradation of organic matter than intermittent aeration in the landfilled waste and leachate. Intermittent and continuous aeration could both effectively remove total nitrogen (TN) and NH4+-N with removal efficiencies above 64% in the leachate. In the experimental landfill reactors with gas–water joint regulation, the proportion of N2O-N to TN loss ranged from 0.02% to 0.75%. Luteimonas, Pseudomonas, Thauera, Pusillimonas and Comamonas were the dominant denitrifying bacteria in the landfill reactors. The denitrifying bacterial community in the landfilled waste was closely related to its degree of stabilization and nitrogenous compound concentrations in the landfilled waste and leachate. The NO3–-N and NO2–-N concentrations of leachate were the most important environmental factors affecting the succession of nirS-type and nirK-type denitrifying microbial communities in the landfilled waste. These findings indicated that intermittent aeration was an economical and effective way to accelerate the stabilization of landfilled waste and reduce the pollutants in leachate and N2O emissions during landfill mining and reclamation.