Activated biochar for cost-effective nitrate removal in urban stormwater treatment
A patent-pending activated biochar (ABC) developed by DRI's Environmental Engineering Lab offers significantly higher adsorption capacity for nitrate removal from urban stormwater runoff compared to conventional granular activated carbon. Lab-scale testing demonstrates nearly double the nitrate adsorption capacity and over ten times longer bed life, enabling more efficient and economical water treatment.
Overview
Urban stormwater runoff is a major source of water pollution, frequently carrying nitrates and other contaminants into waterways. This solution introduces an activated biochar (ABC), a porous, carbon-based adsorbent engineered from biomass feedstocks, designed specifically for removing nitrate from stormwater. Compared with conventional granular activated carbon (GAC), ABC delivers substantially higher adsorption capacity and longer operational life, offering a cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative for municipal water treatment applications.
Technical specifications
Key features:
- Patent-pending activated biochar material with high specific surface area and diverse surface functional groups
- Nitrate adsorption capacity of 32 mg/g, nearly two times higher than GAC (18 mg/g)
- Adsorption capacity for disinfection by-product precursors approximately six times greater than GAC
- Extended bed life of 138 days under continuous flow conditions, compared to 6 days for GAC, even in water with high alkalinity (150 mg/L) and hardness (184 mg/L)
- Achieves 90% nitrate adsorption under challenging water chemistry conditions
- Produced from biomass feedstocks, making it environmentally friendly and potentially more cost-effective than conventional adsorbents
Technology readiness level
The technology has been validated at laboratory scale using synthetic water samples with controlled nitrate concentrations and compared directly against a commercial GAC product (Filtrasorb 400). Continuous flow column tests have confirmed superior performance under realistic water chemistry conditions. Next steps include characterization of actual stormwater samples, batch adsorption testing with isotherm modeling, and upscaled continuous flow experiments to determine design parameters for full-scale deployment.
About Desert Research Institute
Desert Research Institute (DRI) is a Nevada-based nonprofit research institute and one of eight institutions in the Nevada System of Higher Education, with 600+ staff across campuses in Reno and Las Vegas. Its applied, interdisciplinary structure is built for sponsored research and direct collaboration with companies, government agencies, nonprofits, and universities. More than 40 specialized laboratories and facilities support this work, while the adjacent 328-acre Dandini Research Park connects DRI with Truckee Meadows Community College and the University of Nevada, Reno. Competitive support comes from NSF, NASA, DOE, DOD, DOI, USDA, and NNSA; a research office manages partnership agreements, and the Desert Research Corporation supports commercialization.
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