Simultaneous removal of dominant forms of nitrogen and phosphorous present in secondary effluents was studied with reactive filtration as the... Show moreSimultaneous removal of dominant forms of nitrogen and phosphorous present in secondary effluents was studied with reactive filtration as the treatment method. The selected media for filter bed included Granular Ferric Hydroxide (GFH), Calcite (C), Silica Sand (S), and Activated Alumina (A). The focus was to evaluate the performances of media blends GFH-C-S and A-C-S for removal of sRP and sNO3-N in lab scale batch and column experiments using secondary effluents provided by Calumet Water Reclamation Plant. The media blends performed better for sRP removal than sNO3-N removal with A-C-S being outperformed by GFH-C-S in batch experiments, and hence was not used for column experiments. The removal kinetic study using GFH-C-S showed 100% sRP removal rate and 45% NO3-N removal rate for an optimal contact time of 2 minutes, with latter showing gradual desorption after initial instant adsorption. The optimal adsorbent dosage for sRP was found to be 15g (1:1:1) whereas for NO3-N, the removal rates increased with an increase in adsorbent dosage. Column experiments with GFH-C-S gave an adsorption capacity of 1.8 mg/g for an equilibrium concentration of 0.1 mg P/L with breakthrough occurring after a throughput of 603 bed volumes. M.S. in Environmental Engineering, July 2015 Show less
