Membrane Bioreactor Pilot Plant Research Articles

Carbon footprint reduction by coupling intermittent aeration with submerged MBR: A pilot plant study

To find a possible trade-off between effluent quality, sludge production, energy consumption and GHG emissions, this study monitored the carbon and nutrient removal and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) pilot plant with intermittent aeration (IA). The pilot plant was operated by alternating aerobic and anoxic conditions inside the biological reactor. Up to 98.2 % of carbon and 76.4 % of nitrogen were respectively remove through this MBR pilot plant with IA. The carbon footprint was equal to 2.4 kgCO2eq m−3. Indirect emissions contributed the most to the carbon footprint (55.3 %), mainly due to energy consumption, despite the alterations in aeration during the pilot plant operation. The result of this study provides theoretical guidance for building the wastewater treatment plant in a sustainable way.

Trading-off greenhouse gas emissions and 741/2020 European Union water reuse legislation: An experimental MBR study

A trade-off between greenhouse emissions (direct and indirect) and operational costs in the water treatment sector is of great importance, although only few literature studies exist. The paper presents a comprehensive experimental study on a Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) pilot plant at the Water Resource Recovery Facility of Palermo University (Italy). The MBR pilot plant was aimed at reducing carbon footprint while producing water suitable for water reuse in agriculture. Multiple scenarios were assessed to unveil the best operational variables including the assessment of the reclaimed water quality index for water reuse. Results showed the lowest operational costs for the MBR of 5.05 € cent/m3 with Class B according to 741/2020 European legislation. Results revealed optimised values, in terms of airflow rate and backwash frequency, of 0.8 m3/m2/h and 12 times/h, respectively. The highest N2O emission was measured in correspondence of scenario S5 (airflow rate of 1.6 m3/m2/h) with 0.40 mg N2O-N/m2/h in agreement with previous literature studies. The obtained results could effectively address the operators to find a trade-off between operational costs and water quality.

Kinetic modeling of autotrophic microalgae mainline processes for sewage treatment in phosphorus-replete and -deplete culture conditions

A kinetic model of autotrophic microalgal growth in sewage was developed to determine the biokinetic processes involved, including carbon-, nitrogen- and phosphorus-limited microalgal growth, dependence on light intensity, temperature and pH, light attenuation and gas exchange to the atmosphere. A new feature was the differentiation between two metabolic pathways of phosphorus consumption according to the availability of extracellular phosphorus. Two scenarios were differentiated: phosphorus-replete and -deplete culture conditions. In the former, the microalgae absorbed phosphorus to grow and store polyphosphate. In the latter the microalgae used the stored polyphosphate as a phosphorus source for growth.Calibration and validation were performed with experimental data from a pilot-scale membrane photobioreactor (MPBR) fed with the permeate obtained from an anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) pilot plant fed with real urban wastewater. 12 of the model parameters were calibrated. Despite the dynamics involved in the operating and environmental conditions, the model was able to reproduce the overall process performance with a single set of model parameters values. Four periods of different environmental and operational conditions were accurately simulated. Regarding the former, light and temperature ranged 10–406 μmol·m−2·s−1 and 19.7–32.1 °C, respectively. Concerning the later, the photobioreactors widths were 0.25 and 0.10 m, and the biomass and hydraulic retention times ranged 3–4.5 and 1.5–2.5 days, respectively. The validation of the model resulted in an overall correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.9954. The simulation results showed the potential of the model to predict the dynamics of the different components: the relative proportions of microalgae, nitrogen and phosphorus removal, polyphosphate storage and consumption, and soluble organic matter concentration, as well as the influence of environmental parameters on the microalgae's biokinetic processes. The proposed model could provide an effective tool for the industry to predict microalgae production and comply with the discharge limits in areas declared sensitive to eutrophication.

Transients of micropollutant removal from high-strength wastewaters in PAC-assisted MBR and MBR coupled with high-retention membranes

Removal of micropollutants from wastewaters is crucial to ensure safe water reuse and protect natural watercourses. Although membrane bioreactors (MBRs) yield improved degradation of organic compounds, hydraulic retention times are often too short to satisfy acceptable removal rates of recalcitrant organics. Often, results regarding micropollutant removal in treatment plants are susceptible to uncontrolled feed concentrations, which are concomitant to seasonality and consumer habits. In this work, we investigate the concentration transients of four selected pesticides (carbendazim, diuron, 2,4-D and atrazine), which were constantly dosed to a MBR pilot plant treating high-strength industrial effluents (COD values >4000mg/l). In addition to the regular MBR operation, two feasible means of extending pesticide retention in bioreactors were evaluated: (i) addition of small concentrations of powdered activated carbon (PAC) into the activated sludge and (ii) coupling of the PAC-assisted MBR and a reverse osmosis unit (RO) with recirculation of the retentate. The aim of this work is to provide reliable information on the fate of micropollutants within wastewater treatment plants using different configurations under controlled feed conditions. Results have shown that carbendazim was the only pesticide efficiently (>80%) removed during regular MBR operation, which has been attributed to the presence of electron donating groups attached to its aromatic ring structure. Improved retention of diuron by addition of PAC enhanced its long-term removal, whereas the effect of PAC addition on the removal of 2,4-D and atrazine was only temporary, thus being mainly attributed to an adsorption effect. Additionally, the function of PAC as platform for biofloc formation limited sludge production and slowed down membrane fouling, further improving the general performance of the MBR. The MBR-RO hybrid process was the most effective one in increasing the residence time of pesticides in the bioreactor, regardless of their functional groups and properties, thus facilitating a generalized removal of micropollutants.

Heterotrophic Kinetic Study and Nitrogen Removal of a Membrane Bioreactor System Treating Real Urban Wastewater under a Pharmaceutical Compounds Shock: Effect of the Operative Variables

Numerous studies have analyzed the viability of the biodegradation and removal of different compounds of emerging concern in biological systems for wastewater treatment. However, the effect on the heterotrophic biomass of organic matter removal is sometimes missed. The aim of the present research was to study the effect of the addition of a mix of three pharmaceuticals (carbamazepine, ciprofloxacin, and ibuprofen) on the behavior of the biomass in two different membrane-based biological systems treating urban wastewater. The present research studied a membrane bioreactor (MBR) pilot plant operating at a similar mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentration (about 5.5 g/L). This system works as an MBR and is combined with a moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR-MBR) to treat real urban wastewater at 6 and 10 h of hydraulic retention time (HRT) under three different shocks of pharmaceuticals with increasing concentrations. In all cases, the organic matter removal was, in average terms, higher than about 92% of biochemical oxygen demand on the fifth day (BOD5), 79% of chemical oxygen demand (COD), and 85% of total organic carbon (TOC). Nevertheless, the removal is higher in the MBBR-MBR technology under the same HRT and the MLSS is similar. Moreover, the removal increased during the shock of pharmaceutical compounds, especially in the MBR technology. From a kinetic perspective, MBBR-MBR is more suitable for low HRT (6 h) and MBR is more effective for high HRT (10 h). This could be due to the fact that biofilm systems are less sensitive to hostile environments than the MBR systems. The removal of N-NH4+ decreased considerably when the pharmaceutical compounds mix was introduced into the system until no removal was detected in cycle 1, even when biofilm was present.

Design and testing of a pilot-scale submerged membrane bioreactor (MBR) for textile wastewater treatment

The objective of this paper is to deal with the design of a pilot-scale submerged membrane bioreactor (MBR) and a short-term functionality test to be performed with textile wastewater. The design calculations were done based on the design parameters analysed from local textile wastewater and typical values of activated sludge kinetic coefficients. Other process parameters like bioreactor volume (tank size), hydraulic residence time (HRT), biomass loading (F/M ratio), oxygen demand, etc., were calculated depending on the real textile wastewater characteristics. Taking the design basis into consideration, a pilot-scale MBR was constructed equipped with LabVIEW programme- and sensors-controlled computer system. Based on the theoretical calculations, the hydraulic volume of the MBR reactor was around 56.6 L with flat sheet membranes (3 sheets, with 25 cm × 25 cm dimensions of each sheet) with HRT of 16.9 h. Finally, performance tests for 6 weeks were carried out in a local (Darmstadt, Germany) laundry textile wastewater to test the functionality of MBR pilot plant. Under the operating conditions of 250 mbar suction pressure and 12 g/L of MLSS, the COD removal efficiency was around 90% for 800–3500 mg/L inlet COD fed to the membrane bioreactor.

Assessment and characterization of the bacterial community structure in advanced activated sludge systems

The present study is aimed to assess and characterize the structure of bacterial community in advanced activated sludge systems. In particular, activated sludge samples were collected from an Integrated Fixed-film Activated Sludge – Membrane Bioreactor pilot plant under a University of Cape Town configuration with in-series anaerobic (Noair)/anoxic (Anox)/aerobic (Oxy) reactors – and further analyzed. The achieved results – based on Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) of 16S rDNA amplicons – revealed that the bacterial biofilm (bf) communities on plastic carriers of Oxy and Anox reactors had a greater diversity compared to suspended (sp) bacterial flocs of Oxy, Anox and Noair. Indeed, the Shannon diversity indices of both biofilm communities were higher than those of suspended growth samples (Oxy-bf = 4.1 and Anox-bf = 4.2 vs. Oxy-sp = 3.4, Anox-sp = 3.5 and Noair-sp = 3.4). The most striking differences have been reported in Rhodobacteraceae being more abundant in biofilm specimens than in suspended biomass samples. The vast majority of the identified bacteria differs from those obtained by culture dependent method, thus suggesting that NGS-based method is really suitable to analyze the bacterial community composition, even in advanced systems for wastewater treatment.

Pilot-scale study to investigate the impact of rotating belt filter upstream of a MBR for nitrogen removal.

The goal of this study was to investigate what kind of impact the removal of particulate organic matter with 33μm rotating belt filter (RBF) (as a primary treatment) will have on the membrane bioreactor (MBR) performance. Two small MBR pilot plants were operated in parallel, where one train treated 2mm screened municipal wastewater (Train A) and the other train treated wastewater that had passed through a RBF with a 33μm filter cloth (Train B). The RBF was operated without a filter mat on the belt. About one third of the organic matter was removed by the fine mesh filter. The assessment of the overall performance showed that the two pilot plants achieved approximately the same removal efficiencies with regard to total suspended solids (TSS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total phosphorus and total nitrogen. It was also observed that the system with 33μm RBF as a primary treatment produced more sludge, which could be used for biogas production, and required about 30% less aeration downstream. Transmembrane pressure was significantly lower for the train receiving 33μm primary treated wastewater compared to the control receiving 2mm screened wastewater.

Effect of a co-substrate supply in a MBR treating shipboard slop: Analysis of hydrocarbon removal, biomass activity and membrane fouling tendency

The paper reports the main results of an experiment carried out on a membrane bioreactor (MBR) plant designed for the treatment of shipboard slops. With a view of a co-treatment process of the slop with other wastewaters, sodium acetate, as external co-substrate, was supplied (high dosage – Period 1, low dosage – Period 2) to evaluate its effects on hydrocarbons removal. The MBR pilot plant enabled approximately 99% of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) removal during the entire experiment, confirming the robustness of the MBR technology for the treatment of slops. The chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis showed that the removal efficiency for each alkane was close to the value observed for total mixture removal (>99%) and the hydrocarbons removal was mostly due to the microorganism-mediated biodegradation. The biological contribution to TPH removal increased from approximately 85% to 98% when the co-substrate was decreased. Biomass kinetics revealed that a lower co-substrate dosage enhanced the growth of bacterial groups able to use hydrocarbons as primary substrate. A clear predominance of Microthrix Parvicella under low co-substrate dosage was observed. However, the lower co-substrate addition caused a significant worsening in the physical properties of the activated sludge, which resulted enriched in soluble exopolymers (>70%), more hydrophobic (>90%) and with small and dispersed flocs (<30 μm). Consequently, the membrane permeability reduced because of the irreversible fouling increase.

Microalgae population dynamics growth with AnMBR effluent: effect of light and phosphorus concentration.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of light intensity and phosphorus concentration on biomass growth and nutrient removal in a microalgae culture and their effect on their competition. The photobioreactor was continuously fed with the effluent from an anaerobic membrane bioreactor pilot plant treating real wastewater. Four experimental periods were carried out at different light intensities (36 and 52 μmol s-1 m-2) and phosphorus concentrations (around 6 and 15 mgP L-1). Four green algae - Scenedesmus, Chlorella, Monoraphidium and Chlamydomonas- and cyanobacterium were detected and quantified along whole experimental period. Chlorella was the dominant species when light intensity was at the lower level tested, and was competitively displaced by a mixed culture of Scenedesmus and Monoraphidium when light was increased. When phosphorus concentration in the photobioreactor was raised up to 15 mgP L-1, a growth of cyanobacterium became the dominant species in the culture. The highest nutrient removal efficiency (around 58.4 ± 15.8% and 96.1 ± 16.5% of nitrogen and phosphorus, respectively) was achieved at 52 μmol s-1 m-2 of light intensity and 6.02 mgP L-1 of phosphorus concentration, reaching about 674 ± 86 mg L-1 of volatile suspended solids. The results obtained reveal how the light intensity supplied and the phosphorus concentration available are relevant operational factors that determine the microalgae species that is able to predominate in a culture. Moreover, changes in microalgae predominance can be induced by changes in the growth medium produced by the own predominant species.

The influence of solid retention time on IFAS-MBR systems: analysis of system behavior

ABSTRACTA University of Cape Town Integrated Fixed-Film Activated Sludge Membrane Bioreactor (UCT-IFAS-MBR) pilot plant was operated at different values of the sludge retention time (SRT). Three SRTs were investigated at different durations: indefinitely, 30 and 15 days. The organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus removal, kinetic/stoichiometric parameters, membrane fouling tendency and sludge filtration properties were assessed. The findings showed that by decreasing the SRT, the pilot plant could maintain excellent carbon removal efficiencies throughout the experiments. In contrast, the biological carbon removal showed a slight nitrification and was slightly affected by the decrease of the SRT, showing high performance (approximately 91%, on average). Thus, the biofilm might have helped sustain the nitrification throughout the experiments. The average phosphorus removal performance increased slightly with a decrease in SRT, achieving the maximum efficiency (61.5%) at a SRT of 15 days. After a 30-day SRT, an increase in resistance due to pore blocking and a general worsening of the membrane filtration properties occurred.

Understanding the performance of an AnMBR treating urban wastewater and food waste via model simulation and characterization of the microbial population dynamics

Abstract An anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) pilot plant treating kitchen food waste (FW) jointly with urban wastewater was run for 536 days. Different operational conditions were tested varying the sludge retention time (SRT), the hydraulic retention time (HRT) and the penetration factor (PF) of food waste disposers. COD removal efficiency exceeded 90% in all tested conditions. The joint treatment resulted in an almost 3-fold increase in methane production (at 70 days of SRT, 24 h HRT and 80% PF) in comparison with the treatment of urban wastewater only. Mathematical model simulations and Illumina technology were used to obtain in-depth information of this outstanding process performance. Both the PF and SRT factors increased influent biodegradability. The experimental results were accurately reproduced via model simulations modifying only the influent biodegradability. The high SRT and the presence of ground FW in the influent resulted in higher hydrolytic activity. Not only did the Archaea population increase 3-fold but Levilinea genera was also significantly raised. Three new genera characterised by anaerobic fermentation of amino acids (Leptolinea, Aminomonas and Aminobacterium) were among the ten most abundant of the total sequences identified during the joint treatment, indicating an improvement in the hydrolysis step of anaerobic degradation. Influent biodegradability remained at high values when FW addition stopped.

A comprehensive integrated membrane bioreactor model for greenhouse gas emissions

A comprehensive integrated membrane bioreactor (MBR) model for wastewater treatment is here proposed. The model quantifies the main biological and physical processes. The model describes the biological removal of organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus including greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, CO2 and nitrous oxide, N2O). The model takes into account the following main innovative aspects jointly: i. Two-step nitrification process; ii. N2O formation due to ammonia-oxidizing bacteria as a product of the hydroxylamine oxidation (NH2OH) and of the nitrite (NO2−) reduction; iii. Soluble microbial product (SMP) formation/degradation due to microbial growth and endogenous respiration; iv. Interlink between SMP and membrane fouling. The model was calibrated by employing a detailed calibration protocol and data from a University Cape Town (UCT) – MBR pilot plant. The key processes contributing to the N2O formation were properly described (total efficiency related to the calibrated model equal to 0.55). Results suggested that the incomplete hydroxylamine oxidation and the heterotrophic denitrification were the predominant processes influencing the N2O production. The model was able to describe the membrane fouling as demonstrated by the high efficiency (0.92) for the resistance state variable. This result confirms the importance in the modelling approach of considering both biological and physical processes jointly.

Nitrous oxide from integrated fixed-film activated sludge membrane bioreactor: Assessing the influence of operational variables

The influence of the main operational variables on N2O emissions from an Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge University of Cape Town membrane Bioreactor pilot plant was studied. Nine operational cycles (total duration: 340days) were investigated by varying the value of the mixed liquor sludge retention time (SRT) (Cycles 1–3), the feeding ratio between carbon and nitrogen (C/N) (Cycles 4–6) and simultaneously the hydraulic retention time (HRT) and the SRT (Cycles 7–9). Results show a huge variability of the N2O concentration in liquid and off-gas samples (ranged from 10−1μgN2O-NL−1 to 103μgN2O-NL−1). The maximum N2O concentration (1228μgN2O-NL−1) in the off-gas samples occurred in the anoxic reactor at the lowest C/N value confirming that unbalanced C/N promotes the N2O emission during denitrification. The aerated reactors (aerobic and MBR) have been the major N2O emitters during all the three Phases.

The influence of solid retention time on IFAS-MBR systems: Assessment of nitrous oxide emission

The aim of the present study was to investigate the nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from a moving bed based Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge (IFAS) - membrane bioreactor (MBR) pilot plant, designed according to the University of Cape Town (UCT) layout. The experimental campaign had a duration of 110 days and was characterized by three different sludge retention time (SRT) values (∞, 30 d and 15 d). Results highlighted that N2O concentrations decreased when the biofilm concentrations increased within the aerobic reactor. Results have shown an increase of N2O with the decrease of SRT. Specifically, an increase of N2O-N emission factor occurred with the decrease of the SRT (0.13%, 0.21% and 0.76% of influent nitrogen for SRT = ∞, SRT = 30 d and SRT = 15 d, respectively). Moreover, the MBR tank resulted the key emission source (up to 70% of the total N2O emission during SRT = ∞ period) whereas the highest N2O production occurred in the anoxic reactor. Moreover, N2O concentrations measured in the permeate flow were not negligible, thus highlighting its potential detrimental contribution for the receiving water body. The role of each plant reactor as N2O-N producer/consumer varies with the SRT variation, indeed the aerobic reactor was a N2O consumer at SRT = ∞ and a producer at SRT = 30 d.

Moving bed membrane bioreactors for carbon and nutrient removal: The effect of C/N variation

In this paper, an experimental campaign was carried out on a University of Cape Town Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge Membrane Bioreactor (UCT-IFAS-MBR) pilot plant. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of the influent C/N ratio on the system performance in terms of organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus removal, biomass viability (through respirometry), activated sludge features and membrane filtration properties. The experiments were organized into three phases, characterized by a variation of the C/N ratio (namely, Phase I: C/N=5, Phase II: C/N=10; Phase III: C/N=2). The results highlighted that the system performance was significantly affected by C/N ratio. The removal efficiencies were satisfactory for C/N ratio equal to 10 and 5, with average removal in Phases I and II of 98–98%, 53–69% and 67–87% for COD, nitrogen and phosphorus, respectively. Conversely, with a C/N ratio of 2, a significant worsening of the pilot plant performance was observed, with average COD, nitrogen and phosphorus removal equal to 70%, 44% and 26%, respectively, much lower compared to the previous phases. Respirometry highlighted a significant decrease of bacterial activity when the C/N was reduced to 2, even if the biofilm seemed to be more resilient in terms of activity compared to the activated sludge.

Greenhouse gas emissions and the links to plant performance in a fixed-film activated sludge membrane bioreactor – Pilot plant experimental evidence

The present study explores the interlinkages among the operational variables of a University of Cape Town (UCT) Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge (IFAS) membrane bioreactor (MBR) pilot plant. Specifically, dedicated experimental tests were carried out with the final aim to find-out a constitutive relationship among operational costs (OCs), effluent quality index (EQI), effluent fines (EF). Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were also included in the study. Results showed that the EQI increases at low flow rate likely due to the dissolved oxygen (DO) limitation in the biological processes. Direct GHGs increase with the increasing of the air flow due to the anoxic N2O contribution. Irreversible membrane fouling reduce from 98% to 85% at the air flow rate of 0.57m3h−1 and 2.56m3h−1, respectively. However, the increase of the air flow rate leads to the increase of the N2O–N flux emitted from the MBR (from 40% to 80%).

Bacterial community structure and removal performances in IFAS-MBRs: A pilot plant case study

The paper reports the results of an experimental campaign carried out on a University of Cape Town (UCT) integrated fixed-film activated sludge (IFAS) membrane bioreactor (MBR) pilot plant. The pilot plant was analysed in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and nutrients removal, kinetic/stoichiometric parameters, membrane fouling and sludge dewaterability. Moreover, the cultivable bacterial community structure was also analysed.The pilot plant showed excellent COD removal efficiency throughout experiments, with average value higher than 98%, despite the slight variations of the influent wastewater. The achieved nitrification efficiency was close to 98% for most of the experiments, suggesting that the biofilm in the aerobic compartment might have sustained the complete nitrification of the influent ammonia, even for concentrations higher than 100 mg L−1. The irreversible resistance due to superficial cake deposition was the mechanism that mostly affected the membrane fouling. Moreover, it was noticed an increase of the resistance due pore blocking likely due to the increase of the EPSBound fraction that could derive by biofilm detachment.The bacterial strains isolated from aerobic tank are wastewater bacteria known for exhibiting efficient heterotrophic nitrification–aerobic denitrification and producing biofilm.

Nitrous oxide emission in a University of Cape Town membrane bioreactor: The effect of carbon to nitrogen ratio

The effect of the carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio in the influent on the nitrous oxide (N2O) emission from a University of Cape Town Membrane BioReactor pilot plant was investigated. The membrane was located in a separate tank to single out the production of N2O due to the biological processes from N2O stripping as a result of the extra aeration needed for the mitigation of membrane fouling. The experimental campaign was divided into two phases, each characterized by a different C/N ratio (namely, 10 and 5 mgCOD/mgTN, Phase I and Phase II, respectively). The decrease of the C/N ratio promoted the increase of N2O emissions in both gaseous and dissolved phases, mainly due to a decreased nitrification/denitrification capacity of the system. The highest N2O concentration in the dissolved phase was found in the permeate. This result suggests that the dissolved N2O in the permeate stream discharged from a MBR cannot be neglected. The total N2O emission was approximately of 0.01% and 0.1% of the total influent nitrogen load for the Phase I and Phase II, respectively. The findings suggest that the C/N ratio represents an indirect cause of N2O emission; the low C/N value (Phase II) led to the increase of pH and free ammonia causing a stress effect on the growth of nitrifying species increasing the N2O emission.

Nitrous oxide from moving bed based integrated fixed film activated sludge membrane bioreactors

The present paper reports the results of a nitrous oxide (N2O) production investigation in a moving bed based integrated fixed film activated sludge (IFAS) membrane bioreactor (MBR) pilot plant designed in accordance with the University of Cape Town layout for biological phosphorous removal. Gaseous and liquid samples were collected in order to measure the gaseous as well as the dissolved concentration of N2O. Furthermore, the gas flow rate from each reactor was measured and the gas flux was estimated. The results confirmed that the anoxic reactor represents the main source of nitrous oxide production. A significant production of N2O was, however, also found in the anaerobic reactor, thus indicating a probable occurrence of the denitrifying phosphate accumulating organism activity. The highest N2O fluxes were emitted from the aerated reactors (3.09 g N2ON m−2 h−1 and 9.87 g N2ON m−2 h−1, aerobic and MBR tank, respectively). The emission factor highlighted that only 1% of the total treated nitrogen was emitted from the pilot plant. Furthermore, the measured N2O concentrations in the permeate flow were comparable with other reactors. Nitrous oxide mass balances outlined a moderate production also in the MBR reactor despite the low hydraulic retention time. On the other hand, the mass balance showed that in the aerobic reactor a constant consumption of nitrous oxide (up to almost 15 mg N2O h−1) took place, due to the high amount of stripped gas.