The Stability of Accumulating Nitrite from Swine Wastewater in a Sequencing Batch Reactor

Shortcut nitrification is the first step of shortcut nitrogen removal from swine wastewater. Stably obtaining an effluent with a significant amount of nitrite is the premise for the subsequent shortcut denitrification. In this paper, the stability of nitrite accumulation was investigated using a 1.5-day hydraulic retention time in a 10-L (working volume) activated sludge sequencing batch reactor (SBR) with an 8-h cycle consisted of 4 h 38 min aerobic feeding, 1 h 22 min aerobic reaction, 30 min settling, 24 min withdrawal, and 1 h 6 min idle. The nitrite production stability was tested using four different ammonium loading rates, 0.075, 0.062, 0.053, and 0.039 g NH₄-N/g (mixed liquid suspended solid, MLSS) day in a 2-month running period. The total inorganic nitrogen composition in the effluent was not affected when the ammonium load was between 0.053 and 0.075 g NH₄-N/g MLSS · day (64% NO₂-N, 16% NO₃-N, and 20% NH₄-N). Under 0.039 g NH₄-N/g MLSS · day, more NO₂-N was transformed to NO₃-N with an effluent of 60% NO₂-N, 20% NO₃-N, and 20% NH₄-N. The reducing load test was able to show the relationship between a declining free nitrous acid (FNA) concentration and the decreasing nitrite production, indicating that the inhibition of FNA on nitrite oxidizing bacteria depends on its levels and an ammonium loading rate around 0.035 g NH₄-N/g MLSS · day is the lower threshold for producing a nitrite dominance effluent in the activated sludge SBR under the current settings.     

Effects of Ornamental Plant Density and Mineral/Plastic Media on the Removal of Domestic Wastewater Pollutants by Home Wetlands Technology

Wastewater treatment (WWT) is a priority around the world; conventional treatments are not widely used in rural areas owing to the high operating and maintenance costs. In Mexico, for instance, only 40% of wastewater is treated. One sustainable option for WWT is through the use of constructed wetlands (CWs) technology, which may remove pollutants using cells filled with porous material and vegetation that works as a natural filter. Knowing the optimal material and density of plants used per square meter in CWs would allow improving their WWT effect. In this study, the effect of material media (plastic/mineral) and plant density on the removal of organic/inorganic pollutants was evaluated. Low (three plants), medium (six plants) and high (nine plants) densities were compared in a surface area of 0.3 m² of ornamental plants (Alpinia purpurata, Canna hybrids and Hedychium coronarium) used in polycultures at the mesocosm level of household wetlands, planted on the two different substrates. Regarding the removal of contaminants, no significant differences were found between substrates (p ≥ 0.05), indicating the use of plastic residues (reusable) is an economical option compared to typical mineral materials. However, differences (p = 0.001) in removal of pollutants were found between different plant densities. For both substrates, the high density planted CWs were able to remove COD in a range of 86–90%, PO₄-P 22–33%, NH₄-N in 84–90%, NO₃-N 25–28% and NO₂-N 38–42%. At medium density, removals of 79–81%, 26–32, 80–82%, 24–26%, and 39–41%, were observed, whereas in CWs with low density, the detected removals were 65–68%, 20–26%, 79–80%, 24–26% and 31–40%, respectively. These results revealed that higher COD and ammonia were removed at high plant density than at medium or low densities. Other pollutants were removed similarly in all plant densities (22–42%), indicating the necessity of hybrid CWs to increase the elimination of PO₄-P, NO₃-N and NO₂-N. Moreover, high density favored 10 to 20% more the removal of pollutants than other plant densities. In addition, in cells with high density of plants and smaller planting distance, the development of new plant shoots was limited. Thus, it is suggested that the appropriate distance for this type of polyculture plants should be from 40 to 50 cm in expansion to real-scale systems in order to take advantage of the harvesting of species in these and allow species of greater foliage, favoring its growth and new shoots with the appropriate distance to compensate, in the short time, the removal of nutrients.     

Ammonium-Nitrogen Recovery from Wastewater by Struvite Crystallization Technology

Struvite crystallization is one of the sustainable approaches for recovering ammonium nitrogen (NH₄-N) from wastewater in the form of a valuable material, in parallel with improving wastewater treatment efficiency. Focusing on NH₄-N recovery, this review discusses the factors influencing struvite crystallization including the effect of foreign elements. It is shown that more than 95% of NH₄-N could be recovered in the form of struvite, a magnesium-ammonium phosphate (MAP) salt, from some kinds of wastewater. This review emphasizes the role of utilizing alternative sources of Mg and P in improving the process sustainability. Additionally, it also explains how the MAP precipitation process could result with significant reduction of other pollutants contributing to total organic carbon, of color and turbidity, which support MAP integration with other treatment methods. The main options of lowering MAP recovery cost are presented; it was shown that applying low-cost materials of both Mg and P could save more than 65% of the process’s cost. Finally, the future research directions to improve NH₄-N recovery are pointed out.     

Investigation of structural and dynamic properties of NH4[N(CN)2] by means of X-ray and neutron powder diffraction as well as vibrational and solid-state NMR spectroscopy

The crystal structure, spectroscopic and thermal properties of ammonium dicyanamide NH₄[N(CN)₂] have been thoroughly investigated by means of temperature-dependent single-crystal X-ray and neutron powder diffraction, vibrational and MAS-NMR spectroscopy as well as thermoanalytical measurements. The comprehensive elucidation of structural details is of special interest with respect to the unique solid-state transformation of ammonium dicyanamide into dicyandiamide. This reaction occurs at temperatures >80°C and it represents the isolobal analogue of Wöhler's historic transformation of ammonium cyanate into urea. NH₄[N(CN)₂] crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2₁/c with lattice constants a=3.7913(8), b=12.412(2), c=9.113(2) Å, β=91.49(2)° and Z=4 (single-crystal X-ray data, T=200 K). The temperature dependence of the lattice constants shows anisotropic behavior, however, no evidence for phase transitions in the investigated temperature range was observed. The hydrogen positions could be localized by neutron diffraction (10-370 K), and the temperature-dependent behavior of the ammonium group has been analyzed by Rietveld refinements using anisotropic thermal displacement parameters. They were interpreted by utilizing a rigid body model and extracting the libration and translation matrices of the ammonium ion by applying the TLS formalism. The results obtained by the diffraction methods were confirmed and supplemented by vibrational spectroscopy and solid-state ¹⁵N and ¹³C MAS-NMR investigations.     

Effect of Microalgae/Activated Sludge Ratio on Cooperative Treatment of Anaerobic Effluent of Municipal Wastewater

In this work, capability of the green microalga (MA), Chlorella vulgaris, in treating synthetic anaerobic effluent of municipal wastewater was investigated. While pure C. vulgaris (100 % MA) provided maximum soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD) and N???NH ₄ ⁺ removal efficiencies of 27 and 72 % respectively, addition of activated sludge (AS) to MA in different mass ratios (91, 80, 66.7, 9 % MA) improved wastewater treatment efficiency. Thus giving maximum sCOD and N???NH ₄ ⁺ removal efficiencies 85 and 86.3 % (for MA/AS?=?10/1), respectively. Utilizing AS without C. vulgaris, for treating the synthetic wastewater resulted in 87 % maximum sCOD and 42 % maximum N???NH ₄ ⁺ removal efficiencies. Furthermore, algal growth and specific growth rates were measured in the systems with microalga as the dominant cellular population. As a result, faster algal growth was observed in mixed systems. Specific growth rate of C. vulgaris was 0.14 (day^?1) in 100 % MA and 0.39 (day^?1) in 80 % MA. Finally, data gathered by online measurement of dissolved oxygen indicate that algae-activated sludge mixture improves photosynthetic activity of examined microalga strain during anaerobic effluent treatment.     

One- and two-electron reduction of triarylborane-based helical donor–acceptor compounds

One-electron chemical reduction of 10-(dimesitylboryl)-N,N-di-p-tolylbenzo[c]phenanthrene-4-amine (3-B(Mes)₂-[4]helix-9-N(p-Tol)₂) 1 and 13-(dimesitylboryl)-N,N-di-p-tolyldibenzo[c,g]phenanthrene-8-amine (3-B(Mes)₂-[5]helix-12-N(p-Tol)₂) 2 gives rise to monoanions with extensive delocalization over the annulated helicene rings and the boron p_z orbital. Two-electron chemical reduction of 1 and 2 produces open-shell biradicaloid dianions with temperature-dependent population of the triplet states due to small singlet-triplet gaps. These results have been confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, EPR and UV/vis-NIR spectroscopy, and DFT calculations.

Stepwise chemical reduction of D–π–A triarylborane-based helicenes gives the corresponding monoanions and dianions with delocalized unpaired electrons. The structures were confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction.     

177 Saponins,Including 11 New Compounds in Wild Ginseng Tentatively Identified via HPLC-IT-TOF-MSn,and Differences among Wild Ginseng,Ginseng under Forest,and Cultivated Ginseng

Wild ginseng (W-GS), ginseng under forest (F-GS, planted in mountain forest and growing in natural environment), and cultivated ginseng (C-GS) were compared via HPLC-DAD and HPLC-IT-TOF-MSⁿ. A total of 199 saponins, including 16 potential new compounds, were tentatively identified from 100 mg W-GS (177 saponins in W-GS with 11 new compounds), F-GS (56 saponins with 1 new compound), and C-GS (60 saponins with 6 new compounds). There were 21 saponins detected from all the W-GS, F-GS, and C-GS. Fifty saponins were only detected from W-GS, including 23 saponins found in ginseng for the first time. Contents of ginsenosides Re (12.36–13.91 mg/g), Rh₁ (7.46–7.65 mg/g), Rd (12.94–12.98 mg/g), and the total contents (50.52–55.51 mg/g) of Rg₁, Re, Rf, Rb₁, Rg₂, Rh₁, and Rd in W-GS were remarkably higher than those in F-GS (Re 1.22–3.50 mg/g, Rh₁ 0.15–1.49 mg/g, Rd 0.19–1.49 mg/g, total 5.69–18.74 mg/g), and C-GS (Re 0.30–3.45 mg/g, Rh₁ 0.05–3.42 mg/g, Rd 0.17–1.68 mg/g, total 2.99–19.55 mg/g). Contents of Re and Rf were significantly higher in F-GS than those in C-GS (p < 0.05). Using the contents of Re, Rf, or Rb₁, approximately a half number of cultivated ginseng samples could be identified from ginseng under forest. Contents of Rg₁, Re, Rg₂, Rh₁, as well as the total contents of the seven ginsenosides were highest in ginseng older than 15 years, middle–high in ginseng between 10 to 15 years old, and lowest in ginseng younger than 10 years. Contents of Rg₁, Re, Rf, Rb₁, Rg₂, and the total of seven ginsenosides were significantly related to the growing ages of ginseng (p < 0.10). Similarities of chromatographic fingerprints to W-GS were significantly higher (p < 0.05) for F-GS (median: 0.824) than C-GS (median: 0.745). A characteristic peak pattern in fingerprint was also discovered for distinguishing three types of ginseng. Conclusively, wild ginseng was remarkably superior to ginseng under forest and cultivated ginseng, with ginseng under forest slightly closer to wild ginseng than cultivated ginseng. The differences among wild ginseng, ginseng under forest, and cultivated ginseng in saponin compositions and contents of ginsenosides were mainly attributed to their growing ages.     

Response of aerobic sludge to AHL-mediated QS: Granulation,simultaneous nitrogen and phosphorus removal performance

The effects of different species and concentrations’ signal molecules on aerobic activated sludge system were investigated through batch experiments. Results showed that the fastest NH₄⁺-N oxidization rate and the most extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) secretion were obtained by adding 5 nmol/L N-hexanoyl-l-homoserine lactone (C₆-HSL) into the aerobic activated sludge. Further study investigated the correlation among N-acyl-homoserine lactones-mediated quorum sensing (AHLs-mediated QS), nutrient removal performances and microbial communities with the long-term addition of 5 nmol/L C₆-HSL. It was found that C₆-HSL-manipulation could enhance the stability and optimize the decontamination performance of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) system. Microbial compositions considerably shifted with long-term C₆-HSL-manipulation. Exogenous C₆-HSL-manipulation inhibited quorum quenching-related (QQ-related) activities and enhanced QS-related activities during the stable period. The proposed C₆-HSL-manipulation might be a potential technology to inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria in AGS, which could provide a theoretical foundation for the realization of more stable biological wastewater treatments.     

Use of submerged anaerobic–anoxic–oxic membrane bioreactor to treat highly toxic coke wastewater with complete sludge retention

Coke wastewater is an extremely toxic industrial effluent that requires treatment before discharge. A bench-scale, anaerobic–anoxic–oxic membrane bioreactor (A₁/A₂/O-MBR) system was utilized to treat real coke wastewater with complete sludge retention. In a 160-d test, the A₁/A₂/O-MBR system stably removed 87.9 ± 1.6% of chemical oxygen demand, 99.4 ± 0.3% of turbidity, and 99.7 ± 3.5% of NH₄⁺-N from coke wastewater. The membrane rejected almost all suspended solids; hence, a low food-to-microorganism environment was created to degrade refractory substances and reduce sludge production rates. The microbial diversity in the MBR system declined over time; however, neither pollutant removal efficiency nor total biological activity was adversely affected. Membrane fouling, which occurred during the operation of the MBR system, was principally resulted from the colloidal fraction of supernatant in suspension. Physical cleaning removed initial deposits of particles; however, prolonged operation resulted in severe clogging that can only be removed by chemical cleaning. An A₁/A₂/O-MBR system with short intermittent physical cleaning was recommended for coke wastewater treatment.     

阴阳离子双隔膜三室电解槽电渗析处理垃圾渗滤液

采用阴阳离子双隔膜三室电解槽,将电渗析技术与Ｆｅｎｔｏｎ试剂法结合,去除垃圾渗滤液中氨氮和ＣＯＤ_Ｃｒ。垃圾渗滤液中的氨氮通过电渗析技术富集到阴极液中,随后用化学沉淀法加以去除。同时,在铁阳极上生成的Ｆｅ^２＋离子,与滴加入阳极液中的Ｈ_２Ｏ_２反应生成Ｆｅｎｔｏｎ试剂,降解有机物,降低ＣＯＤ_Ｃｒ。实验结果表明,模拟废水中的氨氮透过率达８０％,垃圾渗滤液中氨氮浓度和ＣＯＤ_Ｃｒ由原来的１９８２和２２４８ ｍｇ／Ｌ分别降至２００和１２７ ｍｇ／Ｌ。     

Enhanced Hydrolysis and Acidification of Waste Activated Sludge by Biosurfactant Rhamnolipid

The effect of biosurfactant rhamnolipid (RL) on hydrolysis and acidification of waste activated sludge (WAS) was investigated. The results indicated that RL could greatly reduce the surface tension of sludge, resulting in stimulating the hydrolysis rate of WAS and enhancing the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). With the increase of RL dosage from 0.2 to 0.5 g/g DS, the maximum soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD), protein and carbohydrate concentration increased correspondingly. After 6 h of hydrolysis, SCOD, protein and carbohydrate concentration increased from 371.9, 93.3 and 9.0 mg/l to 3,994.5, 800.0 and 401.4 mg/l at RL 0.3 g/g DS, respectively. Furthermore, the release of NH₄ ⁺-N, PO₄ ^3?-P and the accumulation of SCFAs also improved in the presence of RL. The maximum SCFAs was 1,829.9 mg COD/l at RL 0.3 g/g DS, while it was only 377.7 mg COD/l for the blank test. The propionic acid and acetic acid were the mainly SCFAs produced, accounting for 50–60% of total SCFAs.     

Structure,Z′ = 2 Crystal Packing Features of 3-(2-Chlorobenzylidene)-5-(p-tolyl)furan-2(3H)-one

3-(2-Chlorobenzylidene)-5-(p-tolyl)furan-2(3H)-one (1), C₁₈H₁₃ClO₂, crystallizes with Z = 8 and Z′ = 2, and the structure at 100 K has orthorhombic (Pna2₁) symmetry. Each kind of molecule takes part in π–π stacking interactions to form infinite chains parallel to the c axis. We believe that the existence of two forms can be explained by the probable rotation around a single C–C bond. The quantum chemical modeling reveals that these molecules are almost equivalent energetically, and they can be described as the two most stable conformers (rotamers) with a minor rotational barrier of about 0.67 kcal/mol.     

Comparison of anoxic granulation in USB reactors with various inocula

Anoxic granulation process with four different inocula was monitored in a laboratory post-denitrification up-flow sludge bed (USB) reactor. Wastewater containing 20 mg L⁻¹ NO₃-N and methanol as an organic carbon source was used. Gradual increase of mass volumetric loading (B _v) and hydraulic loading (γ) resulted in spontaneous granulation of anoxic biomass both from flocculant activated sludge and from anaerobic granulated sludge. With flocculant activated sludge as the inoculum, anoxic granules sedimentation properties and maximum loadings of the USB reactor depended on the sludge volume index (SVI) of the inoculum. B _v,max achieved in the USB reactor with flocculant inoculum from a municipal wastewater treatment plant (SVI = 208 mL g⁻¹) was only 4.2 kg of COD per m³ per day and 0.7 kg of NO₃-N per m³ per day. B _v,max using flocculant inoculum from an industrial wastewater treatment plant (SVI = 170 mL g⁻¹) was 8.1 kg of COD per m³ per day and 1.35 kg of NO₃-N per m³ per day. With anaerobic granulated inoculum (SVI range 8–11 mL g⁻¹), markedly higher loadings in the USB reactor and lower SVI values of anoxic granulated biomass were achieved. Values of B _v,max were in the range of 16.1–22.4 kg of COD per m³ per day and of 2.7–3.7 kg of NO₃-N per m³ per day (depending on the inoculum and the granulation procedure). It was proved that anaerobic granulated sludge is not just an inoculum, it is also a carrier for new denitrification biomass.     

Influence of ammonium on the performance of a denitrifying culture under heterotrophic conditions

The effect of ammonium on a denitrifying reactor of the upflow anaerobic sludge blanket type was studied. At a constant nitrate loading rate (2500 mg NO ₃ ⁻ -N/[L · d]), using acetate as organic electron donor and at a C/NO ₃ ⁻ -N ratio of 1.23, an increase in the N₂ production rate was observed when the ammonium loading rate was increased (25, 250, and 500 mg NH ₄ ⁺ -N/[L · d]). Dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) was not observed, and the N₂ production efficiency was increased from 84 to 100% or higher. Since NH ₄ ⁺ in the output was lower than in the input, it was suggested that it was used for nitrate reduction. At constant NH ₄ ⁺ -N/NO ₃ ⁻ -N and C/NO ₃ ⁻ -N ratios of 0.2 and 1.63, respectively, the molecular nitrogen production rate was increased at 300 and 500 mg NH ₄ ⁺ -N/(L · d), whereas at 200 mg NH ₄ ⁺ -N/(L · d) DNRA took place probably owing to culture conditions of low reductive power. Molecular nitrogen production was not observed under autotrophic conditions, and the addition of acetate to the culture recovered its high nitrogen removal rate. Experimental results and balances indicated that the consumed ammonium was used as an additional reductive source.     

Hydroxylammonium fluorometalates: Synthesis and characterisation of a new fluorocuprate and fluorocobaltate

The first layered hydroxylammonium fluorometalates, (NH₃OH)₂CuF₄ and (NH₃OH)₂CoF₄, were prepared by the reaction of solid NH₃OHF and the aqueous solution of copper or cobalt in HF. Both compounds crystallize in monoclinic, P2₁/c, unit cell with parameters: a = 7.9617(2) Å, b = 5.9527(2) Å, c = 5.8060(2) Å, β = 95.226(2)° for (NH₃OH)₂CuF₄ and a = 8.1764(3) Å, b = 5.8571(2) Å, c = 5.6662(2) Å, β = 94.675(3)° for (NH₃OH)₂CoF₄, respectively. Magnetic susceptibility was measured between 2 K and 300 K giving the effective Bohr magneton number of 2.1 for Cu and 5.2 BM for Co. At low temperatures both complexes undergo a transition to magnetically ordered phase. The thermal decomposition of both compounds was studied by TG, DSC and X-ray powder diffraction. The thermal decomposition of (NH₃OH)₂CuF₄ is a complex process, yielding NH₄CuF₃ as an intermediate product and impure Cu₂O as the final residue, while (NH₃OH)₂CoF₄ decomposes in two steps, obtaining CoF₂ after the first step and CoO as the final product.     

Preparation of Sorbents Containing Straetlingite Phase from Zeolitic By-Product and Their Performance for Ammonium Ion Removal

In this study, straetlingite-based sorbents were used for NH₄⁺ ion removal from a synthetic aqueous solution and from the wastewater of an open recirculation African catfish farming system. This study was performed using column experiments with four different filtration rates (2, 5, 10, and 15 mL/min). It was determined that breakthrough points and sorption capacity could be affected by several parameters such as flow rate and mineral composition of sorption materials. In the synthetic aqueous solution, NH₄⁺ removal reached the highest sorption capacity, i.e., 0.341 mg/g with the S30 sorbent at a filtration rate of 10 mL/min and an initial concentration of 10 mg/L of NH₄⁺ ions. It is important to emphasize that, in this case, the Ce/C0 ratio of 0.9 was not reached after 420 min of sorption. It was also determined that the NH₄⁺ sorption capacity was influenced by phosphorus. In the wastewater, the NH₄⁺ sorption capacity was almost seven times lower than that in the synthetic aqueous solution. However, it should be highlighted that the P sorption capacity reached 0.512 mg/g. According to these results, it can be concluded that straetlingite-based sorbents can be used for NH₄⁺ ion removal from a synthetic aqueous solution, as well as for both NH₄⁺ and P removal from industrial wastewater. In the wastewater, a significantly higher sorption capacity of the investigated sorbents was detected for P than for NH₄⁺.     

Solvent Extraction-spectrophotometric Determination of Trace Amounts of Total Ammonia-Ammonium Ion Content in Sewage, Soil and Shrimp by Dicyclohexyl-18-crown-6 and Orange II

A simple and sensitive extraction-spectrophotometric method for the determination of total dissolved ammonia and ammonium ion content is reported. The ternary complex DC18C6-ammonium-Orange II, (DC18C6–NH₄–OR II), was quantitatively extracted into dichloromethane and its absorbances is measured at 483 nm. Linear calibration graph is obtained over the concentration ranges of 0.05–3.00 g mL^–1 for ammonium. The relative standard deviations for 1.0 g mL^–1 of ammonium was 1.10%. The method was applied to real samples such as sewage, agricultural soil and Persian golf shrimp. The results showed high potential of the recommended method for the determination of total dissolved NH₃ and NH⁴⁺ content in different samples.     

Nitride protonation and NH3 binding versus N–H bond cleavage in uranium nitrides

The conversion of metal nitrides to NH₃ is an essential step in dinitrogen fixation, but there is limited knowledge of the reactivity of nitrides with protons (H⁺). Herein, we report comparative studies for the reactions of H⁺ and NH₃ with uranium nitrides, containing different types of ancillary ligands. We show that the differences in ancillary ligands, leads to dramatically different reactivity. The nitride group, in nitride-bridged cationic and anionic diuranium(iv) complexes supported by –N(SiMe₃)₂ ligands, is resistant toward protonation by weak acids, while stronger acids result in ligand loss by protonolysis. Moreover, the basic –N(SiMe₃)₂ ligands promote the N–H heterolytic bond cleavage of NH₃, yielding a “naked” diuranium complex containing three bridging ligands, a nitride (N³⁻) and two NH₂ ligands. Conversely, in the nitride-bridged diuranium(iv) complex supported by –OSi(O^tBu)₃ ligands, the nitride group is easily protonated to afford NH₃, which binds the U(iv) ion strongly, resulting in a mononuclear U–NH₃ complex, where NH₃ can be displaced by addition of strong acids. Furthermore, the U–OSi(O^tBu)₃ bonds were found to be stable, even in the presence of stronger acids, such as NH₄BPh₄, therefore indicating that –OSi(O^tBu)₃ supporting ligands are well suited to be used when acidic conditions are required, such as in the H⁺/e⁻ mediated catalytic conversion of N₂ to NH₃.

Ancillary ligands alter the reactivity of U-nitrides with H⁺, relevant to N₂ conversion to NH₃. The amides lead to complete ligand loss and NH₃ activation, while for siloxides, the nitride is protonated to NH₃ leaving the ancillary ligands intact.     

A spot test for ammonium ion by the color band formation method

Removing nutrients from wastewaters is important in controlling eutrophication. Processes for removing nutrients require accurate control of operational conditions, and it is necessary to monitor nutrient concentrations during the removal process. For this purpose, a simple and accurate analytical method is especially important for small-scale wastewater treatment facilities. Here, we report a simple colorimetric method for determining NH₄⁺-N in wastewater. The method is to detect NH₄⁺-N by a color band length formed in a minicolumn, and similar methods for heavy metals detection were reported by Morosanova et al. In this study, the length of the color band of indonaphthol dye trapped on an adsorbent in a minicolumn was linearly correlated with NH₄⁺-N concentration in the range 1-10 mg NH₄⁺-N l⁻¹ under optimized conditions. This methods was developed on the basis of our previously reported color band methods for orthophosphate and nitrite determination, but the adsorbent used in this work consisted of an admixture of synthetic hydrotalcite particles and poly(vinyl chloride) particles coated with equal amounts of benzylcetyldimethylammonium chloride and biphenyl. When the method was applied to actual wastewaters, the results corresponded well with the results obtained by the standard method, and suspended solids (SS) and dissolved organic pollutants did not interfere with detection.     

ViscosityB-Coefficient of ammonium azide and the enthalpy of formation of the azide anion

Recent determination of the standard enthalpy of formation of the ammonium azide _f H ^O (NH N ₃,c) and the assignment of the viscosity B-coefficient for the azide anion, B(N ₃ ^– ,aq), in aqueous solution enable us to estimate the standard enthalpy of formation of the gaseous azide anion, _f H ^O (N ₃ ^–,g , — a thermochemical magnitude in some dispute — to be 192 kJ-mol^–1.