Experimental Investigation for Nitrate Reduction Using Iron Powder in Porous Media
Keywords:
Nitrate, Reduction, Iron Powder, Column ExperimentsAbstract
This paper assessed the potential of iron powder as a nitrate reduction and retardation material in porous media. Under saturated and unsaturated flow conditions, column experiments were conducted in silica sand with a mixture of two kinds of iron powders. Experimental breakthrough curves were analyzed using temporal moments not only to estimate the retardation factor and the degradation rate but to quantify mass recovery fractions associated with nitrate and ammonium ions. The results showed the increase of the amount of iron powder resulted in the increase of the degradation rates and the retardation factor estimates. Moreover, the production of ammonium occurred by nitrate reduction was confirmed. A mixture of iron powder with soil has a potential to reduce the concentration of nitrate by the reduction of nitrate to ammonium and to retard a nitrate.