Removal of ammonia by clinoptilolite

The important advantage of zeolite applied to water treatment is its high porosity when comparing to
other minerals. The porosity results in good hydrodynamic properties (the increase in the pressure
loss on the zeolite filters is 1.5-2.0 times smaller than in the case of sand filters) and adsorption
roperties, and in turn high capacity which allows for adsorption of contaminants (a clinoptilolite filter
allows for removal of phytoplankton and bacteria).
The increase in the application of artificial fertilizers and gradual contamination of water resulted
from discharging industrial wastewater into the environment led to the contamination of the
environment by nitric compounds. Wastewater contains about 15-50 mg dm-3 of nitric compounds
(based on nitrogen) – ammonia salts constitute about 55-60% whereas organic forms of proteins,
pesticides and aminoacids about 40-50%.
Natural clinoptilolite could be applied to remove ammonium ions from water and wastewater. The
ammonium ion uptake behaviour of clinoptilolite is connected to the processes of ion exchange. The
main aim of this investigation is to evaluate the adsorption capacity of clinoptilolite towards
ammonium ions. According to the obtained results the adsorption capacity of clinoptilolite for the
removal of ammonium ions demonstrates its potential application in the treatment of water,
wastewater and sanitary landfill leachate contaminated with ammonia. The highest adsorption
capacity of clinoptilolite towards ammonium ions of 3.79 mg g-1 was found for the initial
concentration of 300 mg L-1. The highest removal level reached by clinoptilolite for ammonium was
of 99.74% for the initial concentration of ammonia of 50 mg L-1. The effect of exposure time on
maximum uptake of ammonia was found to be insignificant.