Potential exploration of Fe3O4/biochar from sludge as the media of bioretention system and its comparison with conventional media

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2022 May;29(25):37906-37918. doi: 10.1007/s11356-021-17334-4. Epub 2022 Jan 24.

Abstract

The selection and configuration of soil media are a core issue of the bioretention system. A porous carbon material of Fe3O4/biochar (BSF) was prepared by adding pickling wastewater to modified sludge biochar, which could serve as a good adsorption performance and cheap media for bioretention system. Through the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), different media were evaluated according to their characteristics. By comparing the characteristics of BSF to bio-ceramic (BC), zeolite (ZE), and activated carbon (AC), it was found that BSF has a larger specific surface area and pore volume. The hydrological characteristics of the medium were also tested. The results show that BSF has better water-absorbing quality and hydraulic conductivity than the other three media, but the water-retention property of the medium seems to be inferior. BSF has stable adsorption performance for ammonia nitrogen (NH4+-N) and total phosphorus (TP) in rainwater. Its high adsorption capacity is maintained at 5-35°C, but it is very susceptible to pH factors. The adsorption process by BSF and other media conforms to pseudo-second-order kinetics and the Langmuir model in rainwater. In general, the performance of BSF is shown to be superior to BC, ZE, and AC, making it a potential medium for bioretention system.

Keywords: : Biochar; Adsorption characteristics; Analytic hierarchy process; Bioretention system media; Hydrological characteristics; Rainwater.

MeSH terms

  • Adsorption
  • Charcoal*
  • Culture Media
  • Kinetics
  • Phosphorus
  • Sewage
  • Water
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical* / analysis

Substances

  • Culture Media
  • Sewage
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical
  • biochar
  • Water
  • Charcoal
  • Phosphorus