Treatment of Wastewater Containing Runway De-Icing Agents in Biofilters as a Part of Airport Environment Management System

Joanna Rodziewicz,Kamila Ostrowska,Artur Mielcarek,Wojciech Janczukowicz,Kamil Bryszewski

doi:10.3390/su12093608

Joanna Rodziewicz, Kamila Ostrowska + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su12093608

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Journal: Sustainability	Publication Date: Apr 29, 2020
Citations: 2	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn

Abstract

Large volumes of pavement de-icing and anti-icing fluids, collectively termed de-icing agents, are used at airports to facilitate wintertime safe air travel. After use, most of the them get typically mixed with storm water runoff and may enter soil and waters near the airports. Wastewater resulting from airports’ winter operations is contaminated mainly with nitrogen and carbon compounds. Previous research results have shown that the use of biofilters filled with lightweight aggregates prepared from fly ash from sewage sludge thermal treatment (FASST LWA) could be an effective method for removing nitrogen and organic compounds at low temperatures, i.e., 0–8 °C. For this to be possible, it is necessary to maintain a proper ratio between the amounts of carbon and nitrogen in the treated wastewater, through the simultaneous application of de-icing agents containing urea and carbon compounds. Biofilter technology is part of the concept of sustainable development. Their filling is made of waste materials and one of the pollutants (organic compounds) present in the wastewater is used to remove other pollutants (nitrogen compounds). In this study, technological systems for the treatment of wastewater containing airport runway de-icing agents with biofilters were proposed, which allow for the treated wastewater to be discharged into natural waters, soil, and sewerage network.

Highlights

Large volumes of pavement de-icing agents are used at airports to facilitate wintertime safe air travel
It is necessary to design a system with a wastewater treatment plant which, according to the authors of this article, would operate based on biofilters filled with lightweight aggregates prepared from fly ash from sewage sludge thermal treatment (FASST LWA)
The study results showed a decrease in the efficiency of nitrogen removal with an increase in the C/N ratio at the low temperature of biofilter operation

Summary

Introduction

Large volumes of pavement de-icing agents are used at airports to facilitate wintertime safe air travel. Most of the de-icing agents get typically mixed with storm water runoff and enter grounds and waters near the airfield pavements. The wastewater resulting from airports’ winter operations is contaminated mainly with nitrogen and carbon compounds, while the average total phosphorus levels do not exceed the limit values. Airport runway wastewater is characterized by chemical oxygen demand (COD) of up to 630,000 mg O2/L, total nitrogen concentration from 0 to 600 mg/L, and total phosphorus concentration below 1 mg/L [2,3,4]. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, COD and total nitrogen (TN) are indicators of the quality of wastewater containing de-icing agents [5]

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Conclusion