Removal of Ammonia from Swine Wastewater using Swine Manure Compost-based Char

Abstract

To remove ammonia from swine wastewater after primary treatment with swine manure compost-based char, adsorption experiments and removal experiments were conducted. The results of adsorption experiments showed that the Na and K cations inhibited ammonia adsorption on the biochar. The q_max parameter of the Langmuir isotherm had a strong negative correlation with the sum of Na and K concentrations. The amount of adsorption of ammonia from swine wastewater was higher than that expected from the results of an NH₄Cl solution that contained Na and K. The results of removal experiments showed that a 5% biochar addition to swine wastewater was enough to remove 130mg-N/L of ammonia, which is a target value to promote biological denitrification. This suggests that improvement of the biochar mixing method could decrease the ratio of added biochar. These results indicate that swine manure compost-based char could be utilized for ammonia removal from swine wastewater after primary treatment to promote biological denitrification.