Charles Amiel Dionisio

BSChE V-1

Journal # 1

Nitrogen Removal from Municipal Landfill Leachate

The journal titled Nitrogen Removal from Municipal Landfill Leachate was studied by J.
Ibrahimpasic and his colleagues in the Biotechnical Faculty of the University of Bihac, Bosnia and
Herzegovina. The journal was published on the 4th of November 2010. The studys main purpose is to
evaluate the efficiency of nitrogen removal in samples of mature leachate in a bioreactor using microbial
cultures and additional sodium acetate as a source of carbon. The study is experimental in nature since it
varied parameters to obtain the optimal one.

At first glance, the journals title, Nitrogen Removal from Municipal Landfill Leachate, is quite
short and straightforward. Although it would not have any implications on the journals content, readers
may find it uninteresting. Aside from that the title clearly indicated what the study is for, in a brief and
concise manner. Also, the authors provided a set of unfamiliar terminologies or jargons.

Upon reading the abstract, Ive already gained knowledge of what the study is for. It was written
in a clear, brief, precise manner and phrased in a comprehensible and simple structure, just like what an
abstract should be. However, I found that the abstract is not fully representative of the method used, and
experimentation part was not emphasized in the abstract which for me is the most interesting part. But
in general, the abstract is well written.

An expounded idea of the abstract is the best way to describe the articles introduction. It gave
an insight to the main significance and purpose of the paper regarding the treatment of mature municipal
waste leachate, specifically, the efficiency of nitrogen removal using microbes. The reason being, is that
mature leachate cannot degrade further because it is already low in organic compounds which microbes
metabolize to live. Aside from that, I learned that there are types of leachate with regards to its age. Imm
ature leachate has a high concentration of organic compounds as it is newly leached from the waste.
Mature leachate has lesser oxygen demand, both biologically and chemically because it already has
degraded given the time.

In the materials and methods part, the researchers used leachate from a mature landfill that has
been operating for 10 years. They measured its components and its properties such as BOD and COD. I
learned that by taking the ratio of BOD to COD and comparing it to the numerical value 0.2, one can tell if
the sample leachate is low or high in biodegradability. It turns out that their samples BOD/COD ratio is
less than 0.2, implying that it is mature and low in biodegradability. The collected samples were
refrigerated at 4C to slowdown any microbial or chemical activity.
 They conducted a microbial enrichment technique to obtain a concentrated culture to use in their
experiment. The enrichment culture came from the leachate sludge itself and took 2 months for the
culture to mature and be ready to be used in experimentations. The main reactions in nitrogen removal
is nitrification and denitrification. Ammonium compounds are degraded into nitrites and nitrates by
nitrification and further decomposed into diatomic nitrogen gas by denitrification. These reactions are
done in a laboratory scale 3-liter batch reactors with a working volume of 2 liters.

Their methods were somewhat lacking especially in the parts where the nitrification process
needs to be terminated. They did not specify the parameters to be considered to indicate when to stop
the process. This issue is the same for the denitrification process.

For a student, the results and discussion part is very vague since it requires a greater
understanding or specialization in biochemical engineering, but as far as I can understand, they have
achieved their target objective: to be able to biodegrade a mature leachate, which by itself wont
decompose further. However, I am a bit confused because they did not include any measurements of
efficiency in the conclusion. They only stated all the data they have gathered. Nonetheless, the study was
successful and introduces a specific pathway for decomposing mature leachate