Title: Occurrence of rate limited sorption in stormwater biofiltration systems

Authors: O. Al-Mashaqbeh; R.G. McLaughlan

Addresses: Faculty of Engineering, Institute for Water and Environmental Resource Management (IWERM), University of Technology, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia. ' Faculty of Engineering, Institute for Water and Environmental Resource Management (IWERM), University of Technology, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia

Abstract: Batch and column studies were conducted using synthetic stormwater with mixtures of 0.6 mm glass beads and compost particles of either 1.18 or 4.75 mm. Batch tests showed that rate limited uptake of zinc occurred onto both particle sizes. The column containing the 1.18 mm particles could be fitted by a Freundlich sorption isotherm while the other column exhibited a diffuse front and tailing and could not be modelled using equilibrium isotherms. The sorption capacity of the compost for zinc was estimated at 12.5 mg/g and 9.1 mg/g for the 1.18 mm and 4.75 mm particle size fractions, respectively.

Keywords: compost; particle size; rate-limited sorption; sorption capacity; stormwater biofiltration; zinc removal.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEWM.2012.046391

International Journal of Environment and Waste Management, 2012 Vol.9 No.3/4, pp.257 - 269

Published online: 13 Dec 2014 *

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