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.