Optimization of ammonium removal from waste water by natural zeolite using central composite design approach

The aims of the present study are to investigate removal of ammonium ion from wastewater using natural Western Azarbaijan zeolite and to optimize effective parameters by experimental design. In order to remove ammonium ions from aqueous solutions, experiments were carried out using column method as functions of the initial ammonium concentration, flow rate and pH of the solution. The results clearly confirmed that all mentioned parameters have vital affects on removing ammonium ions from wastewater and effluents, so got optimized. Central composite design with response surface methodology was applied for the optimization of main experiment parameters. The significance of the independent variables and their interactions were tested by the analysis of variance ANOVA and f-test statistics. Optimization of the variables for maximum removal efficiency by natural zeolite was performed using the quadratic model. The model predicted maximum removal efficiency under the optimum conditions including initial ammonium concentration of 30 mg l(-1); flow rate of 1 ml min(-1) and pH 6, which was very close to the experimental value determined in column experiment. The cation exchange capacity of natural Western Azarbaijan zeolite was found to be 1.79 meq g(-1). Based on the experimental results, it can be concluded that the natural Western Azarbaijan zeolite has an excellent potential for removing ammonium ions from aqueous solutions and it is suggested as a suitable material for wastewater treatment.