New formula for combating the greenhouse gas nit...(r it was discovered. The main reason for...)

Date:4/2/2008

r it was discovered. The main reason for this is that the end product of the anammox process under investigation (N₂) can also be produced simultaneously in the course of the denitrification process, so it has been almost impossible to quantify the conversion rate accurately. In addition, the molecular nitrogen (N₂) resulting from the microbiological processes is in principle invisible because of the high background concentration of N₂ in the atmosphere (≈79 vol. %), since the quantities of N₂ released are extremely small compared with the existing atmospheric nitrogen levels. Now for the first time, the two soil scientists Oliver Spott and Florian Stange of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) have succeeded in developing a new mathematical model that can calculate precisely the quantities of N₂ from anammox, from denitrification and from the atmosphere. The model is based on analyses using stable isotopes, and means that in future it will be possible to investigate in greater detail the optimum conditions for microbiological treatment of nitrogenous wastewater using the anammox process. This will in turn make it possible to reduce the costs of wastewater treatment in the long term, increase its effectiveness and avoid N₂O emissions. The two scientists have published their discovery in the internationally renowned specialist journal Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry.

The idea for developing the new mathematical approach using the stable nitrogen isotope 15N came from their collaboration with UFZ colleagues Peter Kuschk and Diego Paredes, who have been looking at the possibility of microbial treatment of nitrogenous wastewater using anammox for a long time. But the new equations are also of great significance for their own work. In 1992 Japanese scientists described for the first time a metabolic process involving soil fungi (Fusarium oxysporum) which is very s
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Contact: Tilo Arnhol presse@ufz.de 49-341-235-1635 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres Source:Eurekalert

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