Solution, exchangeable and fixed ammonium in natural diatomite as a simulated PRB material: effects of adsorption and bioregeneration processes.

Ammonia nitrogen (NH-N) is widely found in aquifers with strong reducibility or poor adsorptivity as a dissolved inorganic nitrogen pollutant. The application of adsorbents with effective long-term in situ bioregeneration as permeable reactive barrier (PRB) media for nitrogen removal has raised concern. In this study, the advantage of natural diatomite as a PRB material was investigated by exploring its NH-N adsorption and desorption characteristics, and the ability of diatomite and zeolite to be loaded nitrifying bacteria was also compared. The results showed that the exchangeable ammonium from chemical-monolayer adsorption was the main form of NH-N and was adsorbed by diatomite. Moreover, the adsorption process was limited with a maximum adsorption capacity of 0.677 mg g. However, diatomite demonstrated an excellent loading of aerobic-heterotrophic microorganisms, even stronger than zeolite. Compared with zeolite reactors, a higher OD value of nitrifiers, a faster NH-N degradation rate and more abundant functional genes were observed during the bioregeneration process of diatomite. Both the solution and exchangeable ammonium forms were bioavailable, and the regeneration of diatomite was more than 80.0% after two days. Moreover, desorption-biodegradation was systematically analysed to determine the bioregeneration mechanism of diatomite. Diatomite with good regeneration ability can be used as a competitive alternative to address sudden nitrogen pollution.