Performance Evaluation of Four Field-Scale Agricultural Drainage Denitrification Bioreactors in Iowa

dc.contributor.author Christianson, Laura
dc.contributor.author Bhandari, Alok
dc.contributor.author Helmers, Matthew
dc.contributor.author Helmers, Matthew
dc.contributor.author Kult, Keegan
dc.contributor.author Sutphin, Todd
dc.contributor.author Wolf, Roger
dc.contributor.department Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
dc.date 2018-02-13T07:20:11.000
dc.date.accessioned 2020-06-29T22:38:45Z
dc.date.available 2020-06-29T22:38:45Z
dc.date.copyright Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 UTC 2012
dc.date.embargo 2013-03-13
dc.date.issued 2012-01-01
dc.description.abstract <p>Recently, interest in denitrification bioreactors to reduce the amount of nitrate in agricultural drainage has led to increased installations across the U.S. Midwest. Despite this recent attention, there are few peer-reviewed, field-scale comparative performance studies investigating the effectiveness of these denitrification bioreactors. The object of this work was to analyze nitrate removal performance from four existing bioreactors in Iowa, paying particular attention to potential performance-affecting factors including retention time, influent nitrate concentration, temperature, flow rate, age, length-to-width ratio, and cross-sectional shape. Based on a minimum of two years of water quality data from each of the four bioreactors, annual removal rates ranged from 0.38 to 7.76 g N m-3 bioreactor volume d-1. Bioreactor and total (including bypass flow) nitrate-nitrogen load reductions ranged from 12% to 76% (mean 45%) and from 12% to 57% (mean 32%), respectively, removing from 0.5 to 15.5 kg N ha-1 drainage area. Multiple regression analyses showed that temperature and influent nitrate concentration were the most important factors affecting percent bioreactor nitrate load reduction and nitrate removal rate, respectively. This analysis also indicated that load reductions within the bioreactor were significantly impacted by retention time at three of the four reactors. More field-scale performance data from bioreactors of different designs and from multiple locations around the Midwest are necessary to further enhance understanding of nitrate removal in these systems and their potential to positively impact water quality.</p>
dc.description.comments <p>This article is from <em>Transactions of the ASABE </em>55, no. 6 (2012): <a href="http://elibrary.asabe.org/abstract.asp?aid=42508&t=3&dabs=Y&redir=&redirType=" target="_blank">2163–2174</a>.</p>
dc.format.mimetype application/pdf
dc.identifier archive/lib.dr.iastate.edu/abe_eng_pubs/307/
dc.identifier.articleid 1587
dc.identifier.contextkey 3899024
dc.identifier.s3bucket isulib-bepress-aws-west
dc.identifier.submissionpath abe_eng_pubs/307
dc.identifier.uri https://dr.lib.iastate.edu/handle/20.500.12876/1059
dc.language.iso en
dc.source.bitstream archive/lib.dr.iastate.edu/abe_eng_pubs/307/2012_ChristiansonLE_PerformanceEvaluation.pdf|||Fri Jan 14 23:29:19 UTC 2022
dc.subject.disciplines Agriculture
dc.subject.disciplines Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering
dc.subject.keywords Denitrification bioreactor
dc.subject.keywords Drainage
dc.subject.keywords Nitrate
dc.subject.keywords Water quality
dc.title Performance Evaluation of Four Field-Scale Agricultural Drainage Denitrification Bioreactors in Iowa
dc.type article
dc.type.genre article
dspace.entity.type Publication
relation.isAuthorOfPublication 26a812e6-e6de-44ff-b7ea-d2459ae1903c
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication 8eb24241-0d92-4baf-ae75-08f716d30801
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