Title: A laboratory-scale mixed multibarrier for removal of ammonium from landfill leachate contamination

Authors: Thomas Van Nooten, Ludo Diels, Leen Bastiaens

Addresses: Department of Separation and Conversion Technologies, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol, Belgium. ' Department of Separation and Conversion Technologies, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol, Belgium. ' Department of Separation and Conversion Technologies, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol, Belgium

Abstract: A column-scale multibarrier, combining nitrification and ion exchange processes in a mixed configuration, was evaluated for the removal of ammonium (325 ± 60 mg N L⁻¹) from landfill leachate contamination. Inoculating granular clinoptilolite with nitrifying bacteria resulted in a 3.2 times higher overall ammonium removal, compared with a non-inoculated control. Interestingly, nitrifying activity resulted in desorption of ammonium from saturated clinoptilolite and subsequent microbial oxidation of the released ammonium. These findings indicate that ammonium-saturated clinoptilolite can be in-situ bioregenerated in a multibarrier, which implicates that periodic (and particularly costly) removal and external regeneration of the ion exchange material can be avoided.

Keywords: multibarriers; PRB; permeable reactive barriers; landfill leachate; ammonium removal; bioregeneration; clinoptilolite; nitrification; leachate treatment; ion exchange.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEE.2011.041351

International Journal of Environmental Engineering, 2011 Vol.3 No.3/4, pp.240 - 252

Published online: 25 Apr 2015 *

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