Estimation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission from wastewater treatment plants and effect of biogas reuse on GHG mitigation

A comprehensive mathematical model was developed for this study to estimate on-site and off-site GHG emissions from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The model was applied to three different hybrid WWTPs (S-WWTP, J-WWTP, and T-WWTP) including anaerobic, anoxic, and aerobic process, located in Seoul City, South Korea. Overall on-site and off-site GHG emissions from S-WWTP, J-WWTP, and T-WWTP were 305,253 kgCO2e/d, 282,682 kgCO2e/d, and 117,942 kgCO2e/d, respectively. WWTP treating higher amounts of wastewater produced more on-site and off-site GHG emissions. On average, the percentage contribution of on-site and off-site emissions was 3.03% and 96.97%. The highest amount of on-site GHG emissions was generated from anoxic process and the primary on-site GHG was nitrous oxide (N2O). Off-site GHG emissions related to electricity consumption for unit operation was much higher than that related to production of chemicals for on-site usage. Recovery and reuse of biogas significantly reduced the total GHG emissions from WWTPs. The results obtained from this study can provide basic knowledge to understand the source and amount of GHG emissions from WWTPs and strategies to establish lower GHG emitting WWTPs.