Options for Treatment of Ammonia in Landfill Leachate
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Options for Treatment of Ammonia in Landfill Leachate by Doctor Segweni This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of a Master in Water Resource Management at the Waterways Centre for Freshwater Management University of Canterbury New Zealand February 2017 Abstract Treatment of landfill leachate is often needed to remove ammonia nitrogen (free ammonia and dissolved organic nitrogen) because high concentrations are known to negatively impact on waterways and the wastewater treatment process. The objective of this study was to examine ways to reduce ammonia nitrogen in landfill leachate. The methods explored were coagulation– flocculation, adsorption and system integration methods. For coagulation–flocculation treatment: jar test experiments explored the best coagulant, effective dose, pH control, mixing regimes and the use of polyelectrolytes. Three conventional coagulants – anhydrous ferric chloride, hexahydrate ferric chloride and aluminium sulfate – were examined, alongside three commercial cationic polyelectrolytes. The best coagulant was anhydrous ferric chloride, and the coagulant dosage and pH were found to be very crucial. Anhydrous ferric chloride showed removal of about 20%, 29% and 77% of ammonia nitrogen, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and colour respectively at an optimum dose of 2,000 mg/L at pH 7. The mixing regimes and polyelectrolyte additions were insignificant in ammonia nitrogen removal. Sorption using local soils (type A, B, C and D) and zeolite was also studied. The four local soils were equally ineffective in removing ammonium from landfill leachate (< 5.0% removal); in contrast, zeolite was somewhat effective (23%). Two system integrations were analysed: one between coagulation–flocculation and biological nitrification, and the other between adsorption and coagulation–flocculation. Obstacles encountered in biological nitrification made it challenging to draw a conclusion as to its potential. In contrast, the integration of an adsorption method with coagulation–flocculation achieved maximum reductions of ammonia nitrogen, COD, colour and turbidity of 36%, 47%, 96% and 85% respectively from landfill leachate. This treatment, however, still produces landfill leachate with high (1,450 mg/L) ammonia nitrogen concentrations. i Acknowledgement To begin with I would like to give all the glory to Jesus Christ my God for giving me life, good health and strength throughout my research. Lord You are good all the time. The gratitude is also extended to Prophet TB Joshua and The SCOAN ministry for their endless prayers throughout my research. This project would not have been possible without the special support from the New Zealand government (MFAT) in funding my studies. Special thanks go to Waterways Centre staff for the special support and guidance throughout my studies and research. I would like to mention Professor Jenny Webster-Brown, Suellen Knopick and Julie Clarke among others. Many thanks go to Professor Mark W. Milke for his guidance and patience throughout my research. I am also grateful to Dr Ricardo Bello-Mendoza, my associate supervisor for his technical advice. I would like to acknowledge Peter McGuigan who has always assisted me with all of my lab experiments, including sourcing of the materials required for the experiments. Peter, you are the man. Special thanks also go to Joan Gladwyn for making sure this thesis is written in an acceptable manner. Finally, many thanks to my friends and family for supporting me all the way. Special love to Lone Vavani and Tlotso Molefi, (son and daughter) for putting a smile on daddy’s face even during rough times. And I say: “Better is not good enough, the best is yet to come” Emmanuel! : God with us (John 1:9) ii Table of Contents Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgement .................................................................................................................................. ii Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................. iii List of Figures .................................................................................................................................... vii List of Tables ..................................................................................................................................... xi Terminologies .................................................................................................................................... xii Abbreviations ....................................................................................................................................... i CHAPTER 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Leachate problems in the environment ......................................................................... 2 1.3 A need for research ....................................................................................................... 2 1.4 Research objectives ....................................................................................................... 3 CHAPTER 2. Literature review ........................................................................................................... 4 2.1 Overview ....................................................................................................................... 4 2.2 Municipal solid waste management in the developed and developing countries ......... 4 2.2.1 Nature of municipal solid waste in developed and developing countries ......... 6 2.3 Landfilling .................................................................................................................. 10 2.4 Leachate generation in landfill.................................................................................... 11 2.5 Landfill leachate decomposition ................................................................................. 12 2.6 Landfill leachate characteristics .................................................................................. 13 2.6.1 Organic content ............................................................................................... 15 2.6.2 Nutrients in leachate ....................................................................................... 15 2.6.3 Heavy metals, chlorides and salts ................................................................... 15 2.7 Nitrogen in landfills .................................................................................................... 16 2.8 Ammonia nitrogen pathway in landfill leachate ......................................................... 16 2.8.1 Problems caused by nitrogen and ammonia nitrogen ..................................... 18 2.9 Ammonia treatment Methods from landfill leachate .................................................. 19 2.9.1 Physico-chemical methods ............................................................................. 20 2.9.2 Biological nitrification removal ...................................................................... 44 2.10 Previous studies of ammonia nitrogen removal by coagulation–flocculation ............ 46 2.10.1 Coagulation–flocculation in leachate treatment by using ferric chloride and alum as coagulant by Rui et al. (2012) ....................................................................... 46 iii 2.10.2 Treatment of landfill leachate by using lateritic soil as a natural coagulant . 50 2.10.3 Nutrient removal and sludge production in the coagulation–flocculation process ...................................................................................................................... 51 CHAPTER 3. Analytical methods and leachate characterisation ...................................................... 52 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 52 3.2 Materials and method .................................................................................................. 52 3.2.1 Leachate sampling and analysis ...................................................................... 52 3.3 Analytical methods ..................................................................................................... 54 3.3.1 Landfill leachate characterisation ................................................................... 54 3.4 Results and Discussion: Leachate characterisation ..................................................... 61 3.4.1 pH ................................................................................................................... 61 3.4.2 Ammonia nitrogen .......................................................................................... 62 3.4.3 Chemical oxygen demand (COD) ................................................................... 62 3.4.4 Nitrates ............................................................................................................ 62 3.4.5 Turbidity ......................................................................................................... 63 3.4.6 Total suspended solids and total solids ........................................................... 63 3.4.7