Fixed-bed study of ammonia removal from aqueous solutions using natural zeolite, Dr. Ahmad Mashal, Jehad Abu-Dahrieh, Ashraf Ahmed, Prof. Lukumon Oyedele, No’man Haimour, Ahmad Al-Haj-Ali and David Rooney
Dr. Ahmad Mashal, Jehad Abu-Dahrieh, David Rooney
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Queen's University Belfast, Belfast
UK
Email: amashal01@que.ac.uk
Ashraf A. Ahmed
School of Planning, Architecture, and Civil Engineering
Queen's University Belfast, Belfast
UK
Prof. Lukumon Oyedele
Bristol Enterprise and Innovation Centre, Bristol Business School
University of the West of England, Bristol
UK
No' man Haimour
Department of Chemical Engineering
King Faisal University, Al-Hassa
Saudi Arabia
Ahmad Al-Haj-Ali
Department of Chemical Engineering
University of Jordan, Amman
Jordan
DOI: 10.1108/WJSTSD-05-2013-0022
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the performance of natural Jordanian zeolite tuff to remove ammonia from aqueous solutions using a laboratory batch method and fixed-bed column apparatus. Equilibrium data were fitted to Langmuir and Freundlich models.
Design/methodology/approach: Column experiments were conducted in packed bed column. The used apparatus consisted of a bench-mounted glass column of 2.5 cm inside diameter and 100 cm height (column volume = 490 cm3). The column was packed with a certain amount of zeolite to give the desired bed height. The feeding solution was supplied from a 30 liter plastic container at the beginning of each experiment and fed to the column down-flow through a glass flow meter having a working range of 10-280ml/min.
Findings: Ammonium ion exchange by natural Jordanian zeolite data were fitted by Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. Continuous sorption of ammonium ions by natural Jordanian zeolite tuff has proven to be effective in decreasing concentrations ranging from 15-50 mg NH4-N/L down to levels below 1 mg/l. Breakthrough time increased by increasing the bed depth as well as decreasing zeolite particle size, solution flow-rate, initial NH4+ concentration and pH. Sorption of ammonium by the zeolite under the tested conditions gave the sorption capacity of 28 mg NH4-N/L at 20°C, and 32 mg NH4-N/L at 30°C.
Originality/value: This research investigates the performance of natural Jordanian zeolite tuff to remove ammonia from aqueous solutions using a laboratory batch method and fixed-bed column apparatus. The equilibrium data of the sorption of Ammonia were plotted by using the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms, then the experimental data were compared to the predictions of the above equilibrium isotherm models. It is clear that the NH4+ ion exchange data fitted better with Langmuir isotherm than with Freundlich model and gave an adequate correlation coefficient value.
Keywords: Diffusion; Science; Ammonium removal; Breakthrough curve; Natural zeolite; Isotherm.
Citation: Mashal, A., Abu-Dahrieh, J., A. Ahmed, A., Oyedele, L., Haimour, N., Al-Haj-Ali, A. and Rooney, D. (2014), "Fixed-bed study of ammonia removal from aqueous solutions using natural zeolite", World Journal of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 144-158. https://doi.org/10.1108/WJSTSD-05-2013-0022
