Treatment of artificial secondary effluent for effective nitrogen removal using a combination of corncob carbon source and bamboo charcoal filter

Nitrogen from secondary effluents has endangered the aquatic environment and human health. A new experimental setup combining a corncob carbon source and bamboo charcoal filter (BCF) was used to effectively purify artificial sewage treatment plant tail water that had high nitrate and nitrogen content, and a low carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratio. The nitrogen concentration in the reactor's effluent was below the limit of 15 mg/L when the influent COD concentration was 20 mg/L-60 mg/L, the influent NO3--N concentration was 15 mg/L-30 mg/L, and the hydraulic retention time (HRT) was 1 h-4 h. The reactor's maximum volumetric load of total nitrogen was 0.585 kg/(m(3) d). The COD and NO3--N balances of the reactor indicated that 4.77 g corncob was required to remove 1 g NO3--N and 2 g corncob was required to release 1 g COD. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.