Evaluation of sorption behavior of two reactive filter materials using dual column laboratory investigation.

Abstract: Phosphorous and nitrogen are vital elements for the well-being of biological life. Industrial discharges, waste water infiltration systems, conventional waste water collection and treatment systems, agricultural runoffs and landfill leachates had been emitting significant quantity of these nutrients into water bodies. These induced negative consequences to the environment including eutrophication of aquatic water bodies, toxicity to marine life and depletion of phosphate resources. Reactive filter technology is developed based on the need to remove and retain nutrients from waste water while improving the quality of effluents from emission sources. Reactive filter materials are used to build filter bed systems that treats domestic waste water, storm water, landfill leachates and contaminated subsurface water to the desired quality. In the past natural minerals such as zeolites and industrially produced polonite had been subject to laboratory study for the sorption of ammonium, heavy metals and phosphorous. The following paper is based on the results of experiment consisting of two columns packed with mordenite and polonite reactive materials filtering in series to reduce NH4 and PO4 content of a waste water. Septic tank effluent pre filtered using 0.45 μm filter is used as influent waste water into the dual columns. The dual column filtered a total of 24.07l s (372PV) and 23.42 ls (496PV) of the waste water. Sampling of the feed water and filtrates of both columns were done every second day with measurement of pH, conductivity and temperature. Analyzed samples confirmed that the dual column filtration resulted in re-moval efficiency of 84.39 % (PO4), 67.98 % (NH4) and -37.762.8 % (NOx). Filtration in the first (mordenite) column resulted in relatively larger proportion of the influent ammonium ion exchange than sorption of phosphate while the filtration in the second (polonite) column sorbed quite high amount of phosphorous than ammonium from effluent of the first column. Saturation of mordenite occurred faster even though there was sorption potential for few more of influent ammonium. All PO4 removal in mordenite column occurred above breakthrough condition. Polonite packed column was in a condition of a third of it’s saturation potential for PO4 removal at the end of the experiment. pH of samples was the parameter which is correlated significantly with filtration in polonite column than temperature and electrical conductivity. The performance of polonite was higher at higher pH than at lower pH. The mean concentrations of the dual column effluent were 0.77 mg-PO4/l and 11.13 mg-NH4/l. This is acceptable by the standards of environmental laws. The result of the experiment is valuable in prediction of performance and designing of real time filter bed.