Abstract
Abstract Because total nitrogen (TN), in which nitrate (NO3–) is dominant in the effluent of most wastewater treatment plants, cannot meet the requirement of Chinese wastewater discharge standard (<15 mg/L), NO3– elimination has attracted considerable attention. In this research, the novel diatomite-supported palladium-copper catalyst (Pd-Cu/diatomite) with zero-valent iron (Fe0) was tried to use for catalytic reduction of nitrate in wastewater. Firstly, specific operational conditions (such as mass ratio of Pd:Cu, catalyst amounts, reaction time and pH of solution) were optimized for nitrate reduction in artificial solution. Secondly, the selected optimal conditions were further employed for nitrate elimination of real effluent of a wastewater treatment plant in Beijing, China. Results showed that 67% of nitrate removal and 62% of N2 selectivity could be obtained under the following conditions: 5 g/L Fe0, 3:1 mass ratio (Pd:Cu), 4 g/L catalyst, 2 h reaction time and pH 4.3. Finally, the mechanism of catalytic nitrate reduction was also proposed.
Highlights
Contamination of nitrate in water resources has become a severe environmental problem
Hþ concentration determined the variety of by-products, which has been proven by the results shown above. pH values of solution were tested after reaction, which mildly increased, but still remained in the range of 7–9, meeting the requirements of the Chinese discharge standard of pollutants for municipal wastewater treatment plant (GB18918-2002)
The results in this research implied that better nitrate removal performance could be obtained with a synergistic effect of Fe0 and Pd-Cu/diatomite
Summary
Contamination of nitrate in water resources has become a severe environmental problem. Among the existing technologies for nitrate removal, physico-chemical denitrification, biological and chemical reductions have been widely used (Kim et al ). Vorlop & Tacke ( ) proposed the new method of catalytic reduction to reduce nitrate in water. Since this potential technology has been gradually accepted by researchers. Controlled reaction conditions (Pd:Cu quality ratio, catalyst dosage, reaction time and pH) were firstly studied, and the mechanism of catalytic nitrate reduction was proposed
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