AMMONIUM NITROGEN IN THE LEACHATE OF MSW LANDFILLS: FORMATION, TRANSFORMATION, AND LONG-TERM POLLUTION

I. V. Galitskaya^1,*, V. S. Putilina^1,**, and T. I. Yuganova^1,***

¹ Sergeev Institute of Environmental Geoscience, Russian Academy of Sciences, Ulanskii per., 13, str. 2, Moscow, 101000 Russia
*E-mail: galgeoenv@mail.ru
**E-mail: vputilina@yandex.ru
***E-mail: tigryu@gmail.com

The paper deals with the study of issues related to the duration of ammonium nitrogen release from the municipal solid waste to the landfill filtrate, the forms of nitrogen in the filtrate, the processes of ammonium ionsorption and transformation in the landfill body, carried out on the basis of analysis of Russian and foreign publications. The mechanisms of reversible and irreversible sorption of ammonium ion have been considered, and the values of its distribution coefficients for various rocks are given. The processes of ammonium ion transformation under aerobic and anaerobic conditions are analyzed, including the recently established process of anaerobic microbial reaction of NH₄⁺ nitrite oxidation, called “anammox”, which plays an important role in the biological nitrogen cycle. The processes of formation and transformation of NH₄⁺ in the landfills are clearly traced on the example of waste disposal in aerobic and anaerobic landfills bioreactors.

Key words: MSW landfill, leachate, ammonium, nitrate, nitrite, groundwater pollution, landfill-biorector, long-term emissions

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