Strong influence of medium pH condition on gas-phase biofilter ammonia removal, nitrous oxide generation and microbial communities

Effects of pH on gas-phase biofilter performance including NH3 removal efficiency (RE), N2O generation, and microbial communities of ammonia oxidizers and denitrifies, are examined. A two-step experiment was carried out on four biofilters for 130 days. In step 1 with pH 8.0, NH3 REs were 85–95% and N2O concentrations were 0.1–0.4 ppm. In step 2, pH was adjusted to 4.5, 6.0, 8.0, and 9.5 in four biofilters, respectively. The acidified biofilters showed higher NH3 REs than the alkalized biofilters. N2O concentration in biofilters with pH 4.5 and 6.0 was increased to 1.5 and 0.5 ppm, respectively, while no change in the alkalized biofilters. Comparing to communities in step 1, the amoA and nosZ structures were altered when pH was changed to 4.5 and 6.0, but not at 9.5. Abundance of amoA was reduced at pH 4.5, while nosZ abundance was increased with considerably less changes in acidified biofilters compared to alkalized biofilters.