ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Analyzing the Removal Effect of Nitrogen
before and after Enhanced Aeration
in Constructed Wetlands
Hao Wang1, Xiaoqing An1, Yang Yang1, Guozhu Bo1,
Yaozong Zhang2,3
More details
Hide details
1College of Civil and Architectural Engineering, North China University of Science and Technology,
Tangshan, P.R. China
2Tangshan City Drainage Co., Ltd., Tangshan, P.R. China
3Drainage Engineering Technology Research Center of Tangshan City, Tangshan, P.R. China
Submission date: 2016-01-19
Final revision date: 2016-04-17
Acceptance date: 2016-04-18
Publication date: 2016-10-05
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2016;25(5):2161-2166
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
In this research, constructed wetlands were applied to remove the nitrogen of lightly polluted wastewater
from a wastewater treatment plant in Tangshan. The results showed that a favorable removal effect of
nitrogen could be obtained through constructed wetland. Moreover, the aeration device added to the bottom
could increase the removal rates of ammonia nitrogen in lightly polluted wastewater, but the removal of total
nitrogen was not satisfactory under this operational condition. In addition, when the bottom aeration device
was added, the optimal operation condition was evaluated by three-dimensional (2D and 3D) contour plots.
The results showed that in a horizontal zeolite subsurface constructed wetland (HZSW), the optimal removal
rates for ammonia nitrogen (which could reach above 98%) were obtained when the average daily aeration
time was about 7-17 h and hydraulic loadings were 0.05-0.20 m3/(m2·d). Meanwhile, the optimal removal
rates of total nitrogen could reach 56.40-62.60% when the average daily aeration time was less than 5 h
and the hydraulic loadings were less than 0.11 m3/(m2·d). In contrast, in a horizontal limestone subsurface
constructed wetland (HLSW) the optimal removal rates of ammonia nitrogen (namely 96.44-97.10%) could
be obtained when the average daily aeration time was more than 11 h and hydraulic loadings were about
0.10-0.45 m3/(m2·d); meanwhile, the optimal removal effects of total nitrogen, namely 49.25-55.00%, were
obtained when the average daily aeration time was less than 8.5 h and the hydraulic loadings were less than
0.13 m3/(m2·d). In summary, the removal effects of ammonia nitrogen increased obviously and that of total
nitrogen were depressed apparently after the bottom aeration device was added.