Zero-Valent Iron-Assisted Autotrophic Denitrification
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 131, Issue 8
Abstract
Porous reactive barriers containing metallic iron and hydrogenotrophic denitrifying microorganisms may potentially be suitable for in-situ remediation of nitrate-contaminated groundwater resources. The main objective of the research described here was to determine the type and concentration of metallic iron to be used in such reactive barriers so that ammonia formation through metallic iron-assisted abiotic nitrate reduction was minimized, while a reasonable rate of biological denitrification, sustained by hydrogen produced through metallic iron corrosion, was maintained. Initial experiments included the demonstration of autotrophic denitrification supported by externally supplied hydrogen, either from a gas cylinder or generated through anaerobic corrosion of metallic iron. Next, the effect of iron type on abiotic nitrate reduction was studied, and among those types of iron tested, steel wool, with its relatively low surface-area-to-weight ratio, was identified as the material that exhibited the least propensity to abiotically reduce nitrate. Further, long-term experiments were carried out in batch reactors to determine the effect of steel wool surface area on the extent of denitrification and ammonia production. Finally, experiments carried out in up-flow column reactors containing sand and varying quantities of steel wool demonstrated biological denitrification occurring in such systems. Based on the results of the final set of experiments, it appeared that to minimize ammonia production, the steel-wool concentration up-flow columns must be even below the lowest value—0.5 g steel wool added to of sand—used during this study. To counter any detrimental effect of lowered steel wool concentration on the extent of hydrogenotrophic denitrification, increase of the retention time in the columns to values higher than 13 days (the maximum value investigated in this study) may be necessary.
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Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 131 • Issue 8 • August 2005
Pages: 1212 - 1220
Copyright
© 2005 ASCE.
History
Received: Nov 19, 2002
Accepted: Jan 26, 2005
Published online: Aug 1, 2005
Published in print: Aug 2005
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