| Summary: | At the Malmberget iron mine in northern Sweden, nitrogen from undetonated explosives is discharged from the mine with process water. After passing through a settling pond, excess process water is discharged to the Linaälv River via a spillway. Because of the risk for eutrophication in rivers and coastal areas downstream, it is necessary to decrease the N levels in the effluent waters. This study presents the results from laboratory column experiments under water – saturated conditions, conducted at room temperature and 5oC, which will be used in the design of a pilot-scale barrier system. The columns were filled with a reactive substrate consisting of sawdust and activated sewage sludge. The results of the room temperature experiments demonstrated that nitrate removal efficiency was >95% for flow rates < 341 liters d-1 m-3 reactive mixture. However, at flow rates of ~700 liters d-1 m-3 reactive mixture, nitrate removal efficiency decreased to ~64%. Tracer experiments indicated an increasing degree of channeling in the columns as flow rate increased, thus leading to a reduction in removal efficiency. Apparent denitrification rates were estimated to 2.8 -9.3 g N d-1 m-3 and 2.2 g N d-1 m-3 at room temperature and 5oC, respectively.
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