In this paper, an electrocoagulation reactor was set up to investigate the ammonium removal in Nam Son landfill leachate. The research focused on studying several factors that affect to the ammonium removal namely current intensity, operating time, initial pH and electrode materials. Mono-polar electrocoagulation reactor was conducted in a batch system with iron electrodes and 1.8 L leachate. The research indicated that current intensity and operating time are directly proportional with NH4+ treatment performance. When applied current increased from 1 to 4A, the NH4+ removal percentage went up from 14.03 to 24.99% after a 1 hour treatment. The effect of initial pH in range of 5 to 10 has showed that the best NH4+ treatment efficiency in neutral and mild alkaline conditions. It is noticeable that iron electrodes had higher NH4+ removal than aluminum one during nearly the first 40 min, however this trend has been reversed later with the advantage belonging to aluminum anode. The optimum operating conditions found are aluminum electrodes, applied current of 3A, electrolysis time of 60 min, raw pH of 8, resulting in NH4+ treatment performance of approximately 24%. As a result, the electrocoagulation method is not really effective in NH4+ removal and might be applied as a pre-treatment.
Electrocoagulation for ammonium removal in Nam Son landfill leachate
