To explore the mechanism and efficiency of ammonia nitrogen removal, a pilot-scale biofilter for the simultaneous removal of high concentrations of iron, manganese, and ammonia nitrogen[Fe(Ⅱ) 11.9-14.8 mg·L-1, Mn(Ⅱ) 1.1-1.5mg·L-1, and NH4+-N 1.1-3.2 mg·L-1] from low temperature(5-6℃) groundwater was operated in a water supply plant in Northeast China. Results indicated excellent performance for ammonia nitrogen removal during the initial start-up stage. According to theoretical analysis and experimental verification, TNloss was driven by the adsorption of ammonia nitrogen by iron oxides, and the conversion of ammonia nitrogen into nitrate nitrogen occurred via biological nitrification. When the concentration of ammonia nitrogen increased, due to limited adsorption sites, the adsorption capacity of iron oxides remained stable at approximately 1 mg·L-1. For the same period, the amount of ammonia nitrogen removal via oxidation continued to increase, with higher quantities removed in the upper filter layer than in the lower filter layer. Dissolved oxygen(DO) is the limiting factor in the further increase in the removal of ammonia nitrogen by oxidation. With an increase in the filtration rate, the adsorption time of ammonia nitrogen by iron oxides was shortened, and the adsorption amount was reduced. Meanwhile, the shortening of EBCT reduced the ammonia nitrogen removed by nitrification under the action of nitrifying bacteria in the unit volume of the filter material. Based on these findings, it is recommended that the thickness of the filter layer should be increased to improve ammonia nitrogen removal performance.
Keywords: adsorption; ammonia nitrogen; biological nitrification; groundwater treatment; high concentration of iron and manganese.