New method for efficient control of hydrogen sulfide and methane in gravity sewers: Combination of NaOH and nitrite

Highlight

• The combination of NaOH and nitrite was used to control harmful gas in sewers.

• Hydrogen sulfide and methane in airspace were reduced by 96.01% and 91.49%.

• Changes in sewage quality and greenhouse effect by chemical dosing were negligible.

• The strong destructive effects on biofilm slowed down the recovery of harmful gases.

• The cost of the method was only 3.92 × 10⁻³ $/m³.

Abstract

An innovative treatment method by the combination of NaOH and nitrite is proposed for controlling hydrogen sulfide and methane in gravity sewers and overcome the drawbacks of the conventional single chemical treatment. Four reactors simulating gravity sewers were set up to assess the effectiveness of the proposed method. Findings demonstrated hydrogen sulfide and methane reductions of about 96.01% and 91.49%, respectively, by the combined addition of NaOH and nitrite. The consumption of NaNO₂ decreased by 42.90%, and the consumption rate of NaOH also showed a downward trend. Compared with a single application of NaNO₂, the C/N ratio of wastewater was increased to about 0.61 mg COD/mg N. The greenhouse effect of intermediate N₂O and residual methane was about 48.80 gCO₂/m³, which is far lower than that of methane without control (260 gCO₂/m³). Biofilm was destroyed to prevent it from entering the sewage by the chemical additives, which reduced the biomass and inhibited the recovery of biofilm activity to prolong the control time. The sulfide production rate and sulfate reduction rate were reduced by 92.32% and 85.28%, respectively. Compared with conventional control methods, the cost of this new method was only 3.92 × 10⁻³ $/m³, which is potentially a cost-effective strategy for sulfide and methane control in gravity sewers.

Keywords

Sewer corrosion / Sulfide control / Combination treatment / NaOH / Nitrite

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51778523 amd 52000146), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2020M673351), and the Key Research and Development Program of Shaanxi Province (grant no. 2019ZDLSF06-04).

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-021-1509-0 and is accessible for authorized users.

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