TY - JOUR
T1 - Phosphorus Removal in Denitrifying Woodchip Bioreactors Varies by Wood Type and Water Chemistry
AU - Sanchez Bustamante-Bailon, Ana Paula
AU - Margenot, Andrew
AU - Cooke, Richard A.C.
AU - Christianson, Laura E.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Illinois Nutrient Research and Education Council (NREC 2017-4-360498-302); project NR185A12XXXXC004 CESU under the Great Rivers Umbrella Agreement 68-3A75-18-518 504 (USDA NRCS); and USDA Hatch project ILLU-802-925.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/1
Y1 - 2022/1
N2 - Denitrifying woodchip bioreactors are a practical nitrogen (N) mitigation technology but evaluating the potential for bioreactor phosphorus (P) removal is highly relevant given that (1) agricultural runoff often contains N and P, (2) very low P concentrations cause eutrophication, and (3) there are few options for removing dissolved P once it is in runoff. A series of batch tests evaluated P removal by woodchips that naturally contained a range of metals known to sorb P and then three design and environmental factors (water matrix, particle size, initial dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) concentration). Woodchips with the highest aluminum and iron content provided the most dissolved P removal (13±2.5 mg DRP removed/kg woodchip). However, poplar woodchips, which had low metals content, provided the second highest removal (12±0.4 mg/kg) when they were tested with P-dosed river water which had a relatively complex water matrix. Chemical P sorption due to woodchip elements may be possible, but it is likely one of a variety of P removal mechanisms in real-world bioreactor settings. Scaling the results indicated bioreactors could remove 0.40 to 13 g DRP/ha. Woodchip bioreactor dissolved P removal will likely be small in magnitude, but any such contribution is an added-value benefit of this denitrifying technology.
AB - Denitrifying woodchip bioreactors are a practical nitrogen (N) mitigation technology but evaluating the potential for bioreactor phosphorus (P) removal is highly relevant given that (1) agricultural runoff often contains N and P, (2) very low P concentrations cause eutrophication, and (3) there are few options for removing dissolved P once it is in runoff. A series of batch tests evaluated P removal by woodchips that naturally contained a range of metals known to sorb P and then three design and environmental factors (water matrix, particle size, initial dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) concentration). Woodchips with the highest aluminum and iron content provided the most dissolved P removal (13±2.5 mg DRP removed/kg woodchip). However, poplar woodchips, which had low metals content, provided the second highest removal (12±0.4 mg/kg) when they were tested with P-dosed river water which had a relatively complex water matrix. Chemical P sorption due to woodchip elements may be possible, but it is likely one of a variety of P removal mechanisms in real-world bioreactor settings. Scaling the results indicated bioreactors could remove 0.40 to 13 g DRP/ha. Woodchip bioreactor dissolved P removal will likely be small in magnitude, but any such contribution is an added-value benefit of this denitrifying technology.
KW - Batch test
KW - Dissolved phosphorus
KW - Oak
KW - Poplar
KW - Precipitation
KW - Sorption
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85113885449&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85113885449&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11356-021-15835-w
DO - 10.1007/s11356-021-15835-w
M3 - Article
C2 - 34460085
AN - SCOPUS:85113885449
SN - 0944-1344
VL - 29
SP - 6733
EP - 6743
JO - Environmental Science and Pollution Research
JF - Environmental Science and Pollution Research
IS - 5
ER -