Cited by 164Urban Stormwater Management SolutionsEnvironmental remediation with nanomaterialsWastewater Treatment and Reuse

A pilot-scale, bi-layer bioretention system with biochar and zero-valent iron for enhanced nitrate removal from stormwater

Tian, Jing, Jin, Jing, Chiu, Pei C., Cha, Daniel K., Guo, Mingxin, Imhoff, Paul T.·2019·Water Research

Abstract

Nitrogen (N) removal in conventional bioretention systems is highly variable owing to the low nitrate (NO 3 - ) elimination efficiency. We hypothesized that amending bioretention cells with biochar and zero-valent iron (ZVI) could improve the NO 3 - removal performance. A well-instrumented, bi-layer pilot-scale bioretention cell was developed to test the hypothesis by investigating its hydrologic performance and NO 3 - removal efficacy as affected by biochar and ZVI amendments. The cell containing 18% (v/v) wood biochar in the vadose zone and 10% (v/v) ZVI in the saturation zone was monitored for 18 months of field infiltration tests using synthetic stormwater amended with bromide (tracer) and NO 3 - . Compared to the Control cell without amendments, the Biochar/ZVI cell increased water retention by 11-27% and mean residence time by 0.7-3.8 h. The vadose zone of the Biochar/ZVI cell removed 30.6-95.7% (0.6-12.7 g) of NO 3 -N from the influent, as compared with -6.1-89.6% (-0.1-2.9 g) by that of the Control cell. While the performance varied with synthetic storm events and seasons, in all cases the Biochar/ZVI cell resulted in greater NO 3 - removal than the Control cell. This improvement was presumably due to biochar's ability to improve water retention, facilitate anoxic conditions, increase residence time, and provide electrons for microbial denitrification. The saturation zone with ZVI amendment further promoted NO 3 - removal: removal was 1.8 times greater relative to the…

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.watres.2018.10.030

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  • Recent studies demonstrated great efficiencies of amino- and nZVI-modified biochar for metals, E. coli, and nitrate removal from stormwater.

    “Recent studies regarding metals, E. coli, and nitrate removal from stormwater demonstrated great efficiencies of amino-and nZVI-modified biochar [9,[34][35][36].”

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Authors
Tian, J., Jin, J., Chiu, P. C., Cha, D. K., Guo, M., & Imhoff, P. T.
Affiliations
  • Sichuan Normal University (CN)
  • University of Delaware (US)
  • Delaware State University (US)
Corresponding author
Imhoff, Paul T.
Venue
Water Research
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2019-01
Volume
148
Pages
378-387
ISSN
0043-1354 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2896577322
Cited by
164
References
56
Citations by year
2026: 17 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 2
FWCI
8.55
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Water Research (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Delaware Department of Transportation
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Urban Stormwater Management Solutions
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Environmental remediation with nanomaterials
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Wastewater Treatment and Reuse
Keywords
bioretention, nitrate removal, biochar, zero-valent iron, stormwater treatment, denitrification, vadose zone, saturated zone, infiltration, water retention, residence time, redox potential, nitrogen removal, urban stormwater
MeSH terms
Charcoal, Iron, Nitrates, Denitrification

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