Ammonium Nitrogen Removal From Anaerobically Digested Effluent Of Swine Wastewater Using Local Sand

A type of sand selected in Sichuan, China was identified with high adsorption capacity to ammonium nitrogen. The effects of contact time, initial ammonium concentration and particle size on the sand for removing ammonium from digested effluent of swine wastewater were investigated using a static shaker experiment. Results showed that the optimum contact time for sand to adsorb ammonium was 15 0 min. As initial ammonium concentration increased, the removal capacity of the sand increased, but the removal efficiency decreased. The adsorbed ammonium increased as the particle size decreased. At ammonium concentrations ranging from 27. 0 to 553 mg.L--1,L- the maximum ammonium adsorption capacity of the sand was approximately 0.77 mg.g(-1) according to the Langmuir equation. Based on these findings, the use of this local sand as an adsorption media for ammonium nitrogen removal from digested effluent of swine wastewater is feasible.