In situ nitrogen management in controlled bioreactor landfills

The characteristics of leachate from landfills vary according to site-specific conditions. Leachates from “old” landfills are often rich in ammonia nitrogen due to the hydrolysis and fermentation of the nitrogenous fractions of biodegradable substrates, with decreases in concentration mainly attributable to leachate washout. At landfills where leachate containment, collection and recirculation is practiced to accelerate decomposition of readily biodegradable organic constituents, leachate ammonia nitrogen concentrations may accumulate to higher levels than during conventional single pass leaching, thereby creating an ultimate leachate discharge challenge. Landfill leachate treatment options include complex and often costly sequences of external physical–chemical and biological processes for removal of high-strength organics and inorganics, including nitrogen. Therefore, this paper focuses on investigations with bioreactor landfill simulations to demonstrate the potential for in situ nitrogen removal in dedicated nitrification/denitrification zones. Using leachate recirculation, associated system modifications provided separate aerobic and anoxic zones for ammonia nitrogen transformations to nitrate and nitrogen gas, respectively. Results from the three simulated optional stages of methanogenesis, nitrification and denitrification indicated that nitrogen conversion and removal was dependent on the operational stage. Both separate and combined reactor operation with internal leachate recycle provided 95% nitrogen conversion. In contrast, combined reactor operation with single pass leaching provided a conversion efficiency per cycle ranging between 30–52% for nitrification and 16–25% for denitrification, thereby indicating the efficacy of using the landfill itself for attenuation of leachate ammonia nitrogen concentrations to levels acceptable for ultimate discharge.