Long-term operation of biofilters for biological removal of ammonia

Biological removal of ammonia was investigated using two types of packing materials, compost and sludge in laboratory-scale biofilters (8l reactor volume). The aim of this study is to investigate the potential of unit systems packed with these supports in terms of ammonia emissions treatment. Experimental tests and measurements included analysis of removal efficiency, metabolic products, and results of long-term operation. The inlet concentration of ammonia applied was 20-200 mg m-3. The ammonia loading rates of 24.9-566 g NH3 m-3 d-1 to compost biofilter (BF3) and 24.9-472 g NH3 m-3 d-1 to sludge biofilter (BF4) were applied for 210 days, respectively. Removal efficiencies of the compost and sludge biofilters were in the range of 97-99% and 95-99%, respectively when the inlet concentration of ammonia was below 110 mg m-3, and the maximum elimination capacities were 288 and 243 g NH3m-3d-1, respectively. However, removal efficiency and elimination capacity of both biofilters significantly decreased as the inlet concentration increased to above 110 mg m-3. By using kinetic analysis, the maximum removal rate of ammonia, Vm, and the saturation constant, Ks, were determined for both packing materials and the value of Vm for compost was found to be larger. Periodic analysis of the biofilter packing materials showed the accumulation of the nitrification product NO3- in the operation. During the experiment, the pressure drops measured were very low. The use of both packing materials requires neither nutritive aqueous solution nor buffer solution.     

Production of copper-based rare earth composite metal materials by coprecipitation and applications for gaseous ammonia removal

This study addresses the oxidation of ammonia (NH3) at temperatures between 423 and 673 K by selective catalytic oxidation (SCO) over a copper-based, rare earth composite metal material that was prepared by coprecipitating copper nitrate, lanthanum nitrate, and cerium nitrate at various molar ratios. The catalysts were characterized using Brunner, Emmett, and Teller spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, Xray diffraction, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetric spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. At a temperature of 673 K and an oxygen content of 4%, approximately 99.5% of the NH3 was reduced by catalytic oxidation over the 6:1:3 copper-lanthanum-cerium (molar ratio) catalyst. Nitrogen (N2) was the main product of this NH3-SCO process. Results from the activity and selectivity tests revealed that the optimal catalyst for catalytic performance had the highest possible cerium content and specific surface area (43 m2/g).     

海水生物滤器除氮性能及硝化动力学研究

生物滤器是封闭循环水养殖系统的关键水处理单元,主要用于去除水体中的氮化物。采用人工模拟海水养殖废水,在系统运行的水力停留时间为30 min,水温为14~25℃,pH为8.05~8.53条件下,对4种填料生物滤器的挂膜过程及其氨氮去除性能差异进行了实验研究,结果表明:在0.5 mg/L的进水氨氮浓度条件下,竹环、麦饭石、陶粒和塑料生物滤球4种填料生物滤器的最大氨氮去除速率分别为331.38、425.73、310.38和128.24 mg/(m3.h),竹环填料滤器的出水亚氮较低,小于0.07 mg/L,麦饭石和陶粒填料滤器的出水亚氮较高,峰值分别达0.28 mg/L和0.13 mg/L;从除氮性能、造价、能耗等方面综合考虑,竹环填料的性能优于其他3种填料。研究了竹环填料生物滤器处理海水养殖废水的硝化动力学特性,实验结果表明:用Monod方程能够很好地表达养殖废水处理的硝化动力学,并用积分法求得反应动力学常数:最大氨氮去除速率Vmax=1 828.70 mg/(m3.h),半饱和常数Ks=0.3916 mg/L,且R2=0.9752。经过模型验证,建立的动力学方程能预测实际状况。     

Removal of ammonia by biofilters: a study with flow-modified system and kinetics

The characteristics of ammonia removal by two types of biofilter (a standard biofilter with vertical gas flow and a modified biofilter with horizontal gas flow) were investigated. A mixture of organic materials such as compost, bark, and peat was used as the biofilter media based on the small-scale column test for media selection. Complete removal capacity, defined as the maximum inlet load of ammonia that was completely removed, was obtained. The modified biofilter showed complete removal up to 1.0 g N/kg dry material/day. However, the removal capacity of the standard biofilter started to deviate from complete removal around 0.4 g N/kg dry material/day, indicating that the modified biofilter system has higher removal efficiency than the standard upflow one. In kinetic analysis of the biological removal of ammonia in each biofilter system, the maximum removal rate, Vm, was 0.93 g N/kg dry material/day and the saturation constant, Ks, was 32.55 ppm in the standard biofilter. On the other hand, the values of Vm and Ks were 1.66 g N/kg dry material/day and 74.25 ppm, respectively, in the modified biofilter system.     

Comparison of physical technologies for biomass control in biofilters treating gaseous toluene

Excessive accumulation of biomass within gas-phase biofilters often results in the deterioration of removal performance. Compared with chemical and biological technologies, physical technologies are more effective in removing biomass and inducing less inhibition of the biofilter performance. This study applied different physical technologies, namely, air sparging, mechanical mixing, and washing with water at various temperatures, to remove excess biomass in biofilters treating toluene. Filter pressure drop, removed dry biomass, biofilter performance, and microbial metabolic characteristics were analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of the methods. Results showed that air sparging was inefficient for biomass removal (1 kg dry biomass/m³ filter), whereas mechanical mixing significantly inhibited removal efficiencies (<30%). Washing of the packing with fluids was feasible, and hot fluids can remove a large amount of biomass. However, hot fluids reduce microbial activity and inhibit removal performance. Washing of the packing with either 20°C or 50°C water showed efficiency as >3 kg dry biomass/m³ filter can be removed at both temperatures with removal efficiencies at approximately 40% after treatment. Finally, different technologies were compared and summarized to propose an optimized strategy of biomass control for industrial biofilters.

Implications: This study is to apply different physical technologies, namely, air sparging, mechanical mixing, and washing with water of different temperatures, to remove the excess biomass in biofilters treating toluene. The filter pressure drop, removed dry biomass, biofilter performance, and microbial metabolic characteristics were all analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of the methods. The results of this study provide useful information regarding biomass control of industrial biofilters.     

Microbial degradation of livestock-generated ammonia using biofilters at typical ambient temperatures

The purpose of this research was to neutralize livestock-generated ammonia by using biofilters packed with inexpensive inorganic and organic packing material combined with multicultural microbial load at typical ambient temperatures. Peat and inorganic supporting materials were used as biofiltration matrix packed in a perfusion column through which gas was transfused. Results show the ammonia removal significantly fell in between 99 and 100% when ammonia concentration of 200 ppmv was used at different gas flow rates ranged from 0.030 to 0.060 m3 h(-1) at a fluctuating room temperature of 27.5 +/- 4.5 C (Mean +/- SD). Under these conditions, the emission concentration of ammonia that is liberated after biofiltration is less than 1 ppmv (0.707 mg m(-3)) over the period of our study, suggesting the usage of low-cost biofiltration systems for long-term function is effective at wider ranges of temperature fluctuations. The maximum (100%) ammonia removal efficiency was obtained in this biofilter was having an elimination capacity of 2.217 g m(-3) h(-1). This biofilter had high nitrification efficiencies and hence controlled ammonia levels with the reduced backpressure. The response of this biofilter to shut down and start up operation showed that the biofilm has a superior stability.     

Solubility of ammonia in liquid water and generation of trace levels of standard gaseous ammonia

Equilibrium gas phase concentration of ammonia in dilute solution has been measured as a function of total ammonia + ammonium concentration (0.002–0.10 M), pH (6–10) and temperature (278.8−290.6 K). Henry's Law is obeyed under these conditions and may be expressed as In K_H(M atm⁻¹) = 4092/T −9.70 with a relative standard error of less than 5 %, in good agreement with NBS thermodynamic data. Convenient generation of trace levels of ammonia (1.33 × 10⁻⁸–7.77 × 10⁻⁴ atm) using a porous membrane tube is described.     

Removal of ammonia from contaminated air by trickle bed air biofilters

A trickle bed air biofilter (TBAB) was evaluated for the oxidation of NH3 from an airstream. Six-millimeter Celite pellets (R-635) were used for the biological attachment medium. The efficiency of the biofilter in oxidizing NH3 was evaluated using NH3 loading rates as high as 48 mol NH3/m3 hr and empty-bed residence times (EBRTs) as low as 1 min. Excess biomass was controlled through periodic backwashing of the biofilter with water at a rate sufficient to fluidize the medium. The main goal was to demonstrate that high removal efficiencies could be sustained over long periods of operation. Ammonia oxidation efficiencies in excess of 99% were consistently achieved when the pH of the liquid nutrient feed was maintained at 8.5. Quick recovery of the biofilter after backwashing was observed after only 20 min. Evaluation of biofilter performance with depth revealed that NH3 did not persist in the gas phase beyond 0.3 m into the depth of the medium (26% of total medium depth).     

Influence of phosphorus and trace metals in biofilters treating gaseous VOCs using a novel irrigation system

ABSTRACT

Although the appropriate supply of nutrients has been extensively researched, more information is required on the effects of nutrients in treating gaseous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in biofiltration. In this study, the effects of phosphorous and trace metals on gaseous toluene and methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) removal were investigated. The transfer of nutrients from the irrigation liquid to the packed bed, and the consumption and holding amount of nutrients in the packing material were observed during biofiltration. Under conditions of 20–24 s of empty bed residence time, MEK removal was 95% or more in all conditions of the biofiltration reactors, whereas toluene removal was affected by the operating conditions of the reactors. Consumption ratio of phosphorus to carbon was from 1.7 × 10^?4 to 1.1 × 10^?3 in the steady state of VOC removal under the conditions of this study. When gaseous VOC treatment was restarted after nine days of shutdown, a significant decline in toluene removal was observed by the reactor in which phosphorus supply was approximately one fifth of the amount in another reactor. Two types of irrigation systems, soaking and spraying, were compared and soaking irrigation achieved a more even distribution of nutrients held inside the packed bed. Soaking irrigation was expected to lead to higher VOC removal capacity by this distribution effect of nutrients, but toluene removal in the reactor with this irrigation was lower than that in the reactor with spraying irrigation. One of the possible reasons for this was the inhibition of nutrients transfer in the bottom part of the reactor. The trend of transfer in all ingredients from the irrigation liquid to the packed bed was synchronized on the whole; however, this transfer relatively tended to be high in nitrate and sodium and low in ammonium and phosphate.

Implications: A major concern about using biofiltration systems to treat VOCs is the uncertainty regarding the appropriate nutrient supply to the filter bed to preserve microbial activity. This study showed that all the elements, except nitrogen, were retained sufficiently in the filter bed when a proper composition of nutrient solution was used for irrigation; however, phosphate addition may be needed when restarting a reactor from a prolonged period of shutdown. Distinct differences in the amount of transfer to the filter bed for different ingredients are probable, and may have to be taken into account when operating biofiltration reactors.     

Gaseous ammonia uptake in compost biofilters as related to compost water content

Sewage sludge and yard waste compost were used as biofilter materials and tested with respect to their capacity for removing ammonia from air at different water contents. Ammonia removal was measured in biofilters containing compost wetted to different moisture contents ranging from air dry to field capacity (maximum water holding capacity). Filters were operated for 15 days and subsequently analyzed for NH3/NH4+, NO2-, and NO3-. The measured nitrogen species concentration profiles inside the filters were used to calculate ammonia removal rates. The results showed that ammonia removal is strongly dependent on the water content in the filter material. At gravimetric water contents below 0.25 g H2O g solids(-1) for the yard waste compost and 0.5 g H2O g solids(-1) ammonia removal rates were very low but increased rapidly above these values. The sewage sludge compost filters yielded more than twice the ammonia removal rate observed for yard waste compost likely because of a high initial concentration of nitrifying bacteria originating from the wastewater treatment process and a high airwater interphase surface area that facilitates effective ammonia dissolution and transport to the biofilm.     

Continuous determination of gaseous ammonia in the ambient atmosphere using fluorescence derivatization

A method for continuous determination of ambient ammonia levels employing o-phthalaldehyde fluorescence derivatization is described. A simplified Venturi scrubber and gas-liquid separator have been employed for reproducible measurements of ⩾ 0.1 ppb ambient ammonia with less than 2 min time resolution. The scrubbing efficiency of the ammonia gas collection system was determined to be 29 ± 1 %. During 4 d in August 1979 ambient ammonia levels at the Brookhaven National Laboratory site averaged about 1.5 ± 1.1 ppb during afternoon daylight hours.     

氨氮对生物净化滤柱中铁锰氨氮去除效果的影响

采用培养成熟并稳定运行一段时间的生物除铁除锰除氨氮滤柱,考察进水氨氮浓度变化对铁锰氨氮去除效果的影响。结果表明：进水氨氮从约1.2 mg·L-1逐步提高到约2.0 mg·L-1的过程中,铁、锰和氨氮的去除效果没有受到影响。当进水氨氮超过2 mg·L-1时,进水溶解氧不足,铁的去除效果不受影响;生物除锰受到氨氮升高过程中产生的亚硝氮的抑制,并且与氨氮竞争溶解氧,导致出水锰升高,然而锰氧化菌能够在低溶解氧条件下将锰氧化,出水锰数天后又降到0.05 mg·L-1以下;出水氨氮随进水氨氮的升高而升高。沿程分析发现,进水溶解氧充足时,氨氮和锰的氧化速率没有受到影响;但进水溶解氧不足时,氨氮和锰的氧化速率明显降低;铁的去除速率不受溶解氧的限制。生物净化滤柱可以在较低的溶解氧条件下运行,从而降低能耗。     

Scrubbing intensification for sulphur and ammonia compounds removal

Operating conditions were optimised in a new compact scrubber in order to remove odorous sulphur (H(2)S and CH(3)SH) and ammonia compounds. The influence of the superficial gas and liquid velocities, pH, contactor length, inlet concentrations (sulphur compounds, ammonia, chlorine), and the mixing effects was characterised. Whereas abatement increased with velocities, pH and the chlorine concentration, an increase of inlet CH(3)SH concentration drove to a worse efficiency of process. Moreover, the contactor length and the presence of another pollutant in the gas phase only played a role on the methylmercaptan removal. Finally, the reactive consumptions were estimated at the outlet of the reactor. The chlorination by-product quantification permitted to understand the under-stoichiometry.     

腐殖填料生物滤池氨氮降解特征

根据腐殖填料生物滤池及石英砂普通生物滤池的氨氮去除效率、表面水力负荷及微生物量差异,比较两者氨氮降解速率及比降解速率,对腐殖填料生物滤池的氨氮降解特征进行分析。结果表明,在相同运行方式及外界环境下,腐殖填料滤池表面水力负荷数倍于石英砂普通生物滤池;腐殖填料生物滤池单位体积平均氨氮降解速率高达31.5 g NH4+-N/(m3.d),是石英砂普通生物滤池的5.4倍;腐殖填料生物滤池氨氮比降解速率为4.1×10-2μg NH4+-N/(g微生物碳.d),约为石英砂普通生物滤池的4倍。腐殖填料生物滤池能负载较高的生物量,抗堵塞性能较强,系统内特异微生物对氨氮降解能力较高,是一种优良的降解氨氮的生物滤池。     

填埋结构对渗滤液中氨氮脱除的影响

建立了模拟填埋试验中试装置,研究了准好氧填埋渗滤液NH3-N的变化特性和稳定期垃圾对渗滤液NH3-N的处理效果.结果表明,准好氧填埋结构下渗滤液NH3-N衰减很快,下降率可达99.6%,没有出现传统填埋场累积的现象,为渗滤液后续处理解决了氨氮浓度过高的难题;随着水力负荷的增大,NH3-N的去除率呈下降趋势,去除率由低水力负荷时的99.9%,下降到高水力负荷时的87.7%;准好氧填埋垃圾对低可生化性、高浓度氨氮的渗滤液有很好的处理能力,但反硝化能力不足;较高有机物浓度有利于反硝化作用,使氨氮彻底转化为氮气.     

填埋结构对渗滤液中氨氮脱除的影响

建立了模拟填埋试验中试装置,研究了准好氧填埋渗滤液NH3-N的变化特性和稳定期垃圾对渗滤液NH3-N的处理效果.结果表明,准好氧填埋结构下渗滤液NH3-N衰减很快,下降率可达99.6%,没有出现传统填埋场累积的现象,为渗滤液后续处理解决了氨氮浓度过高的难题;随着水力负荷的增大,NH3-N的去除率呈下降趋势,去除率由低水力负荷时的99.9%,下降到高水力负荷时的87.7%;准好氧填埋垃圾对低可生化性、高浓度氨氮的渗滤液有很好的处理能力,但反硝化能力不足;较高有机物浓度有利于反硝化作用,使氨氮彻底转化为氮气.     

水产品加工废水氨氮去除异常的分析研究

针对水产品加工废水处理工程运行过程中出水氨氮过高的问题.通过实验分析研究了该处理工程的硝化反硝化程度.实验结果显示,该处理丁=程的硝化反硝化程度过低(对TN的去除率仅为22.7%),硝化细荫和反硝化细菌含量较少,且活性较差.经分析其主要原因为进水水质、水量突变,而硝化细菌和反硝化细菌抗冲击能力较差,造成系统中硝化细菌和反硝化细菌含量减少,影响出水水质.     

The equilibrium of ammonium chloride aerosol with gaseous hydrochloric acid and ammonia under tropospheric conditions

Using thermodynamic data, the equilibrium constant for dissociation of solid ammonium chloride aerosol into gaseous hydrogen chloride and ammonia has been calculated. The existence of solid ammonium chloride aerosols is thermodynamically possible at temperatures and concentrations observed in the troposphere, but significant gas phase concentrations of hydrogen chloride and ammonia will also be present.