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General Introduction
Published in Juan Pablo Silva Vinasco, Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Ecotechnologies for Wastewater Treatment, 2021
Nitrous oxide is an important greenhouse gas contributing to global warming and to the depletion of stratospheric ozone (Tallec et al., 2008; Ravishankara et al., 2009). Worldwide the average atmospheric concentrations of N2O increased by 20% from 270 ppbv in 1750 to 324.2 ppbv in 2011 (Prather et al., 2012). The problem that arises with this increase in atmospheric N2O concentrations is that the atmospheric lifetime for nitrous oxide is about 120 years and its global warming potential is 296 relatives to CO2 over a 100-year time horizon (Sovik and Klove, 2007; Mander et al., 2014). Since 2011, N2O has become the third largest contributor to the radiative force (0.14 to 0.20 W.m-2) (Myhre et al., 2013).
Occupational health, basic toxicology and epidemiology
Published in Sue Reed, Dino Pisaniello, Geza Benke, Kerrie Burton, Principles of Occupational Health & Hygiene, 2020
For example, hospitals use the anaesthetic nitrous oxide. Operating staff are exposed to anaesthetic gas at about 70 ppm when it is exhaled by the patient. Although the exposure standard for nitrous oxide is 25 ppm, concentrations in the workplace can be reduced to 20 ppm by increasing cross-flow ventilation, or to less than 1 ppm by using a proper scavenging mask on the patient. The choice of scavenging masks is good practice, easily achievable, economic and consistent with the ALARP principle.
Agricultural Soils: Nitrous Oxide Emissions
Published in Brian D. Fath, Sven E. Jørgensen, Megan Cole, Managing Soils and Terrestrial Systems, 2020
Because of the intimate connection between the Earth and the atmosphere, much of the nitrous oxide produced enters the atmosphere and affects its chemical and physical properties. Nitrous oxide contributes to the destruction of the stratospheric ozone layer that protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation, and is one of the more potent greenhouse gases that trap part of the thermal radiation from the Earth’s surface. The atmospheric concentration of nitrous oxide is ~313 parts per billion. It is increasing at the rate of ~0.7 parts per billion each year, and its lifetime is ~166 years.[2] It seems that the increased atmospheric concentration results from the increased use of synthetic fertilizer nitrogen, biologically fixed nitrogen, animal manure, crop residues, and human sewage sludge in agriculture to produce food and fiber for the rapidly increasing world population.[3]
Explosion characteristics of H2/CH4/N2O at fuel-lean and stoichiometric conditions
Published in Combustion Science and Technology, 2022
Ting Li, Lu-Qing Wang, Hong-Hao Ma, Jun Pan, Rui Liu, Zhao-Wu Shen, Shi-Yu Feng
Nitrous oxide (N2O) can be used as an oxidizer in industrial production system (Severin 2015) and spacecraft propulsion (Zakirov et al. 2001). Besides, mixture of hydrogen (H2), methane (CH4), and N2O can be formed in the industry production (Kampschreura et al. 2009) and nuclear wastes (Pfahl, Ross, Shepherd 2000). In addition, N2O is the same combustion improver as O2, which can decompose into O2 and N2 at high pressures and temperatures (Javoy, Mevel, Paillard 2009; Parres-Esclapez et al. 2010). Therefore, these mixtures can readily explode and cause huge casualties and property damage (Kuchta 1986). For the safety in aerospace applications(Velthuysen et al. 2018) and handling and storage of nuclear waste, the hazards of the explosion of these gas mixtures cannot be ignored.
Global emissions of NH3, NOx, and N2O from biomass burning and the impact of climate change
Published in Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, 2021
Casey D. Bray, William H. Battye, Viney P. Aneja, William H. Schlesinger
These changes in wildfire activity could potentially lead to an increase in emissions from biomass burning, which would in turn perturb the global nitrogen budget (Crutzen et al. 2016). For example, an increase in nitrogen deposition can lead to ammonification, eutrophication, and a loss of biodiversity (Clark and Tilman 2008; Day et al. 2012; Janssens et al. 2010; Langford et al. 1992; Robarge et al. 2002). Increased concentrations of ammonia can also lead to a decreased resistance to drought and frost damage (Robarge et al. 2002). In addition, nitrous oxide is a major greenhouse gas that contributes to the warming climate and depletion of stratospheric ozone (Bouwman 1996). Changes in nitrogen deposition may also lead to changes in species composition of various ecosystems (Bobbink et al. 2010; Bobbink, Hornung, and Roelofs 1998; van Vuuren et al. 2011b). Furthermore, in areas that become more prone to wildfire activity, the vegetation coverage may change. For example, trees in Australia are being replaced by grasses and shrubs due to more frequent burning (Hoffmann et al. 2019). This could then alter both primary (i.e., directly emitted) and secondary (i.e., formed via atmospheric reactions) emissions from biomass burning.
Establishment of nitrous oxide (N2O) dynamics model based on ASM3 model during biological nitrogen removal via nitrification
Published in Environmental Technology, 2022
Ying Lv, Shoubin Zhang, Kang Xie, Guicai Liu, Liping Qiu, Yutian Liu, Yuanyuan Zhang
As one of the six kinds of greenhouse gas, Nitrous oxide (N2O) contributes greatly to the greenhouse effect. Although N2O belongs to trace gas, the single molecule warming potential is 298 times larger than carbon dioxide (CO2). Because of the long residence times of N2O in the atmosphere, about 114 years, it can be transported to the stratosphere and lead to the destruction of ozone layer and ozone hole [1–4]. Biological nutrient removal in wastewater treatment is considered to be one of the important human-made sources of N2O [5]; therefore, it is necessary to control the discharge of N2O in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs).