Ammonia Removal by Use of Natural Kenyan Zeolite (Hydrated Ferrous Sodium Potassium Aluminosilicate
Abstract
A series of batch experiments were conducted to ascertain the ability of a
natural Kenyan zeolite (a crystalline aluminosilicate) to remove ammonia from
synthetic wastewater samples composed of Ammonium hydroxide (NH40H).
Estimated ammonia uptake was favoured by low sorbate concentration, small
particle size of sorbent, high temperature and an alkaline medium. The
sorption kinetics studies strongly indicated that the sorption process was
largely governed by intraparticle pore diffusion. The equilibrium data fitted the
Langmuir sorption model showing the formation of monolayer coverage of
ammonium ions on the particle's surface. The Langmuir correlation of the
equilibrium data suggested that ion exchange might have been the dominant
sorption mechanism. The average ammonia ion (NH4+) sorption capacity was
observed to be about 0.7 mg/g of zeolite.
Sponsorhip
The University of NairobiPublisher
school of Emgineering