Elimination of nitrate in secondary effluent of wastewater treatment plants by Fe0 and Pd-Cu/diatomite

Abstract

Abstract Because total nitrogen (TN), in which nitrate (NO3–) is dominant in the effluent of most wastewater treatment plants, cannot meet the requirement of Chinese wastewater discharge standard (<15 mg/L), NO3– elimination has attracted considerable attention. In this research, the novel diatomite-supported palladium-copper catalyst (Pd-Cu/diatomite) with zero-valent iron (Fe0) was tried to use for catalytic reduction of nitrate in wastewater. Firstly, specific operational conditions (such as mass ratio of Pd:Cu, catalyst amounts, reaction time and pH of solution) were optimized for nitrate reduction in artificial solution. Secondly, the selected optimal conditions were further employed for nitrate elimination of real effluent of a wastewater treatment plant in Beijing, China. Results showed that 67% of nitrate removal and 62% of N2 selectivity could be obtained under the following conditions: 5 g/L Fe0, 3:1 mass ratio (Pd:Cu), 4 g/L catalyst, 2 h reaction time and pH 4.3. Finally, the mechanism of catalytic nitrate reduction was also proposed.