Which design and operating conditions affect pollutant removal from wastewater in biochar filters?

In this study, published in the journal Water, we assessed how several design/operating parameters affect the efficiency of biochar filtration in removing organic matter (COD) and nutrients (Tot-N, NH4-N, Tot-P, PO4-P) from wastewater. We compared the process efficiency of different biochar parent materials, biochar diameters, hydraulic and organic loading rates (HLR and OLR) and one control filtering media (sand), and related it to filtering media properties, such as porosity and chemical composition of the media. 

We found that: i) all the COD removal was high regardless of all the studied parameters, ii) Tot-P and NH4-N removal were affected by the biochar diameter, and iii) Tot-N removal was higher with pine-spruce biochar than with sand. Neither HLR nor OLR were found to significantly affect the removal of the studied parameters at the tested levels.

Click here to access the full paper: Perez-Mercado, L., Lalander, C., Berger, C., & Dalahmeh, S. (2018). Potential of Biochar Filters for Onsite Wastewater Treatment: Effects of Biochar Type, Physical Properties and Operating Conditions. Water, 10(12), 1835.

Contact: Sahar Dalahmeh