Phosphorus removal mechanisms in soil and slag media.

Abstract

Excessive phosphorus (P) is one of the major pollutants in natural water that are responsible for algal blooms and eutrophication. P removal by soil and slag is an attractive solution if the P sorption capacity of soil or slag is significant. To design an efficient land treatment facility, basic information on the behaviour of P in the media-water environment is required. In this study, detailed experiments were conducted to study P removal under static and dynamic conditions, and mathematical models were developed to describe these processes. The kinetic studies on P sorption onto a sandy loam soil from North Sydney, Australia, and dust and cake waste products from the BHP steel industry revealed that P sorption is a slow process. More than 90% of the P was adsorbed within 70, 12 and 60 hours in a mixing system for soil, dust and cake respectively while it was within 240, 24 and 120 hours respectively in a static (no stirring) system. Dust adsorbed P the most, compared to the other adsorbents (220-225 times and 4-5 times of the sorptivity of soil and cake respectively). P sorption in the batch experiments was described better by an equation using the Langmuir isotherm than one using the Freundlich isotherm. The kinetics of P sorption were satisfactorily explained by a static, physical, non-equilibrium sorption model (SPNSM). The pH of the P solution played a critical role in the extent of removal and the removal mechanisms of P. Removal was at a minimum at pH 2. The effect of pH on P removal varied depending on the type of adsorbents and the initial P concentration. The dominant removal mechanism of P at pH<8 was physical sorption, while it was chemical precipitation at pH>10. Batch flocculation experiments revealed that the P removal efficiency increased with an increase of adsorbent dose, flocculation (contact) time and mixing rate. P sorption is affected by the presence of NH4 which competes for available sites on the adsorbents. The amount of P adsorbed by dust and cake in the presence of NH4 was less than that in a single solute system. The reduction percentage of P for dust ranged from 33 to 57%. Detailed column experiments conducted with soil, dust and cake as media indicated that dust and cake have much higher sorption capacities than soil. The solid phase P concentrations on dust and cake calculated from batch experimental isotherm constants are substantially higher than those estimated.