Effects of Surface-Bound on Nitrate Reduction and Transformation of Iron Oxide(s) in Zero-Valent Iron Systems at Near-Neutral pH
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 132, Issue 5
Abstract
Nitrate reduction in an iron/nitrate/water system with or without an organic buffer was investigated using multiple batch reactors under strict anoxic conditions. Nitrate reduction was very limited at near-neutral pH in the absence of the organic buffer. However, nitrate reduction was greatly enhanced if the system: (1) had a low initial pH ; (2) was primed with adequate aqueous ; or (3) was in the presence of the organic buffer. In Cases (1) and (3), nitrate reduction usually was involved in three stages. The first stage was quick, and ions directly participated in the corrosion of iron grains. The second stage was very slow due to the formation of amorphous oxides on the surface of iron grains, while the third stage was characterized by a rapid nitrate reduction concurrent with the disappearance of aqueous . Results indicate that reduction of nitrate by will form magnetite; (aq.) can accelerate reduction of nitrate and will be substoichiometrically consumed. Once nitrate is exhausted in the system, no more will be consumed. In the presence of nitrate, (aq) will be adsorbed onto the surface of iron grains or iron oxides; the surface-complexed Fe(II) (extracted by acetate with ) might be oxidized and become structural Fe(III), resulting in a steadily increasing ratio of in the oxides formed. The transformation of nonstoichiometric amorphous iron oxides into crystalline magnetite, a nonpassive oxide, triggers the rapid nitrate removal thereafter.
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Acknowledgments
The writers gratefully acknowledge Dr. Klabunde, Department of Chemistry, Kansas State University, for BET surface area analysis; and Drs. Shea and Comfort, School of Natural Resource Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), for their important suggestions and comments 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 with matching funds from the College of Engineering and Technology.
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© 2006 ASCE.
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Received: Feb 24, 2005
Accepted: Aug 26, 2005
Published online: May 1, 2006
Published in print: May 2006
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