A comparative study on the use of palm bark as a supplementary carbon source in partially saturated vertical constructed wetland: Organic matter characterization, release-adsorption kinetics, and pilot-scale performance.

In this study, a comparative investigation of palm bark and corncob (a well-investigated material) for enhancing nitrogen removal efficiency in partially saturated vertical constructed wetland (PSVCW) was performed to evaluate an effective and cost-effective supplementary carbon source. The characteristics of the released organic matter and the release processes were analyzed through optical property characterization and a first-order release-adsorption model, respectively, and the nitrogen removal performance was evaluated in a series of pilot-scale PSVCWs. Results showed that the amount of organic matter released per unit mass of corncob was larger than that released per unit mass of palm bark under the same pretreatment conditions (control, heat, and alkaline pretreatment).