Nitrogen mineralisation and greenhouse gas emission from the soil application of sludge from reed bed mineralisation systems

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

A sludge treatment reed bed system (STRB) is a technology used for dewatering and stabilising sewage sludge via assisted biological mineralisation, which creates a sludge residue suitable for use as fertiliser on agricultural land. We evaluated the effect of sludge residue storage time (stabilisation time) for three STRBs on soil N mineralisation and CO2 and N2O emissions in soil. The experiment revealed that the N mineralisation rate and emissions of CO2 and N2O decreased as a function of treatment time in the STRBs. Mixed sludge residue (sludge residue subjected to different treatment times) for the three STRBs resulted in N mineralisation rates similar to the sludge residue subjected to a shorter treatment time but lower N2O emissions similar to the values of the older sludge residue. This finding reveals that combining fresh and more stabilised sludge residue ensures high N availability and reduces N2O emissions when applied to land.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Environmental Management
Volume203
Issue numberPart 1
Pages (from-to)59-67
Number of pages9
ISSN0301-4797
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017

    Research areas

  • Journal Article

ID: 182933076