Modeling of Nitrate Adsorption and Reduction in -Packed Columns through Impulse Loading Tests
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 131, Issue 8
Abstract
A conventional tracer study using and was conducted on four -packed column reactors for nitrate removal. Both and showed strong adsorption onto iron media and thus were not ideal tracers for the study. Tests using an impulse loading of nitrate were then innovated to investigate the transport and reduction of nitrate in the reactors. The impulse loading was superposed on a continuous constant feeding of nitrate which generated a steady effluent baseline. A multivariable model incorporating hydraulic dispersion, adsorption/desorption, and reduction of nitrate was developed and numerically solved. Both Langmuir adsorption and linear adsorption isotherms were separately applied to describe nitrate adsorption on the reactive surface. The parameters of the model were estimated by fitting the model with the response curves from the impulse loading tests. These estimated parameters were consistent with previous studies. Specifically, the modeling results suggest a significant adsorption of nitrate by the iron media, causing an evident retardation effect. The research may lead to new methods for studying the fate of contaminants in porous reactive environments.
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Acknowledgments
The writers thank Dr. Shea and Dr. Comfort, School of Natural Resource Sciences, Univ. of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) for their help and important suggestions during the project. The writers would like to thank Ms. D. Derrick and Ms. A. Blakey of UNL for their helpful assistance in writing this paper. This research was supported in part by the EPA/EPSCoR Program (Project No. R-829422-010) and the Nebraska Research Initiative Program. The College of Engineering and Technology at UNL provided matching funds for the project.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 131 • Issue 8 • August 2005
Pages: 1194 - 1202
Copyright
© 2005 ASCE.
History
Received: Mar 16, 2004
Accepted: Jan 25, 2005
Published online: Aug 1, 2005
Published in print: Aug 2005
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