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A study on the utilization of zeolite for ammonia removal from composting leachate Liu, Chuan-hsia
Abstract
This thesis studied the feasibility of using zeolite to remove ammonia in the treatment of composting leachates. Composting is considered to be one of the best treatment methods for biological solid wastes. However, the leachate resulting from the composting process has the potential to impact seriously on the environment if it is not handled properly. This is due to the presence in composting leachates of high levels of nutrient contaminants, especially nitrogen. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the potential use of applications of the Canadian zeolite, clinoptilolite, in the removal of ammonia from composting leachate. Zeolite is considered to have potential use in efficient and cost effective treatment of composting leachate because of its affinity for ammonia and its capacity as a selective ion exchanger. Adsorption capacities, the effect of adsorption on initial solution concentrations, contact time and zeolite particle sizes were the parameters analyzed during batch studies. Adsorption capacities of zeolite ranged from 14.35-17.81 mg N/g. The Langmuir isotherm was found to describe the equilibrium better than the Freundlich model for this study. Particle diffusion was identified as the rate-controlling mechanism at the beginning of contact between zeolite and the wastewater. A batch-scale system using coarse zeolite packed columns was operated to investigate the continuous removal of ammonia from composting leachate. The effects of hydraulic retention time, operating adsorption capacities and regeneration efficiency were measured. A hydraulic retention time of 6 hours was found to be optimal for ammonia removal, which yielded an operating capacity of 1.31 mg N/g zeolite. Over 98% of the ammonia in the wastewater influent was consistently removed by the zeolite columns over approximately 5 bed volumes (BV) of leachate pass through. A 0.6M NaCl regenerating solution at a flow rate of 1 BV/ hr was preferred for the regeneration process. More than 95% of adsorbed ammonium ions were recovered in the effluent. In both the batch and column experiments, the presence of very high concentrations of potassium in the composting leachate meant that potassium acted as a competitive ion. This meant a reduction in the overall performance of the zeolite both in terms of ammonia removal and in terms of column regeneration efficiency. This study concluded that using zeolite as an ion exchanger has potential for increasing the efficiency of ammonia removal from composting leachates.
Item Metadata
Title |
A study on the utilization of zeolite for ammonia removal from composting leachate
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Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
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Date Issued |
2000
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Description |
This thesis studied the feasibility of using zeolite to remove ammonia in the treatment of
composting leachates. Composting is considered to be one of the best treatment methods for
biological solid wastes. However, the leachate resulting from the composting process has
the potential to impact seriously on the environment if it is not handled properly. This is due
to the presence in composting leachates of high levels of nutrient contaminants, especially
nitrogen. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the potential use of applications
of the Canadian zeolite, clinoptilolite, in the removal of ammonia from composting leachate.
Zeolite is considered to have potential use in efficient and cost effective treatment of
composting leachate because of its affinity for ammonia and its capacity as a selective ion
exchanger.
Adsorption capacities, the effect of adsorption on initial solution concentrations,
contact time and zeolite particle sizes were the parameters analyzed during batch studies.
Adsorption capacities of zeolite ranged from 14.35-17.81 mg N/g. The Langmuir
isotherm was found to describe the equilibrium better than the Freundlich model for this
study. Particle diffusion was identified as the rate-controlling mechanism at the beginning
of contact between zeolite and the wastewater.
A batch-scale system using coarse zeolite packed columns was operated to investigate
the continuous removal of ammonia from composting leachate. The effects of hydraulic
retention time, operating adsorption capacities and regeneration efficiency were
measured. A hydraulic retention time of 6 hours was found to be optimal for ammonia
removal, which yielded an operating capacity of 1.31 mg N/g zeolite. Over 98% of the
ammonia in the wastewater influent was consistently removed by the zeolite columns
over approximately 5 bed volumes (BV) of leachate pass through. A 0.6M NaCl
regenerating solution at a flow rate of 1 BV/ hr was preferred for the regeneration
process. More than 95% of adsorbed ammonium ions were recovered in the effluent.
In both the batch and column experiments, the presence of very high concentrations
of potassium in the composting leachate meant that potassium acted as a competitive ion.
This meant a reduction in the overall performance of the zeolite both in terms of
ammonia removal and in terms of column regeneration efficiency.
This study concluded that using zeolite as an ion exchanger has potential for
increasing the efficiency of ammonia removal from composting leachates.
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Extent |
5080581 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2009-07-28
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0058989
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
2001-05
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
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Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.