Removal of High Concentration of Ammonia from Wastewater by the Ion Exchange Resin

Nitrogen (N) is an essential element for living organisms in aquatic ecosystem. However, excess nitrate in this ecosystem could degrade water quality due to eutrophication. Ammonia is usually found in aqueous environments. It affects fish and other aquatic life and recreational use of water. In this study, the acidic ion exchange resins were chosen as adsorbent to adsorb the high concentration of ammonia from wastewater. The experimental results showed that reaction of temperature, the amount of the ion exchange resins and reaction time had an important influence on the removal rate of high concentration of ammonia from wastewater. The experimental data correlated well with the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. It was also suggested that the adsorption process was homogeneous adsorption. The ammonia from aqueous solution adsorption on the acidic ion exchange resins was a monolayer adsorption.