Evaluation of Air Stripping Process for Ammonia Removal from Landfill Leachate

Of the amount of urban solid waste collected in Brazil, 58.4% (percentage by weight) had an adequate destination, while 41.6% were sent to landfills or controlled landfills. The leachate is one of the main by - products derived from the landfill process of municipal solid waste in landfills and presents qualitative/ quantitative characteristics with significant polluting potential, since it has a high concentration of recalcitrant organic material, a high concentration of ammoniacal nitrogen, a significant concentration of certain heavy metals and xenobiotic organic and inorganic compounds. The air stripping process of ammoniacal nitrogen presents as a viable alternative for reducing the concentration of ammoniacal nitrogen from landfill leachate, in order to facilitate the transfer of mass from the liquid phase to the gaseous phase. The objective of the application of the ammonia air stripping process in landfill leachate is to reduce the concentration of ammoniacal nitrogen to desired levels in systems optimized for operational parameters, especially pH. The experimental tests were performed on Jar Test apparatus, and two pH levels were studied. The application of the air stripping process to reduce the concentration of ammoniacal nitrogen in the landfill leachate showed removal efficiency of 87.0% in experiment 1 and 97.0% in experiment 2, for a time of operation the reactors of 4.1 day