Project Title: Improving Ammonia Volatilization Through pH Adjustment
Funded By: Environmental research and Education Foundation (EREF)
PI: Dr. Nicole Berge
Dr. Berge is working on a project that is evaluating how changes in leachate pH influence ammonia volatilization. The Three Rivers Solid Waste Authority (TRSWA) landfill located near Jackson, SC wants to reduce leachate ammonia concentrations, which can be a factor that could limit acceptance of leachate by the Publicly Owned Treatment Works. During previous work at TRSWA, a small set of laboratory-scale experiments were conducted to begin investigating whether pH adjustment of the leachate to 9.0 is feasible and/or of value to conduct at larger scales. Results from this work indicated that adjusting leachate pH, at all temperatures, enhances total ammonia removal, with greatest ammonia removal (47%) occurring at the highest temperature. Although these results indicated pH adjustment is beneficial for ammonia removal, additional bench-scale studies are needed prior to conducting larger scale studies to better define important operational conditions, which is the focus of this work.