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Ammoniacal Nitrogen Removal in Biological Aerated Filters: The Effect of Media Size
Author(s) -
Kent T. D.,
Williams S. C.,
Fitzpatrick C. S. B.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
water and environment journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.437
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1747-6593
pISSN - 1747-6585
DOI - 10.1111/j.1747-6593.2000.tb00286.x
Subject(s) - nitrification , ammoniacal nitrogen , aeration , nitrogen , environmental engineering , sewage , sewage treatment , chemistry , pulp and paper industry , environmental science , environmental chemistry , wastewater , organic chemistry , engineering
Recent legislation has led to stringent ammoniacal‐nitrogen consents and the need for first‐time sewage treatment in coastal areas where land is limited. This has led to the need to improve ‘small footprint’sewage‐treatment processes (such as biological aerated filters) which can be used for carbonaceous treatment, nitrification, or for combined treatment. The removal of ammoniacal nitrogen in filters containing different sizes of Lytag medium and operated for combined carbonaceous treatment and nitrification, was compared at different hydraulic and volumetric loading rates. The results suggest that filters containing the smallest media size (2–4 mm), gave optimum nitrification at ammoniacal‐nitrogen loading rates up to 0.6 kg/m 3 . d. At higher loading rates there was a rapid decrease in nitrification for this size of medium but, with 2.8–5.6 mm medium, nitrification continued at loading rates up to 1 kg amm. N/m 3 d. The filters containing larger media sizes (4–8 mm and 5.6–11.2 mm) exhibited low levels of nitrification above a loading rate of 0.2–0.4 kg amm. N/m 3 . d.