ADSORPTION STUDY FOR THE REMOVAL OF NITRATE FROM WATER USING FIRED CLAY

This study focused on using adsorption process to eliminate nitrate ions from a synthetic water using fired clay (FC) materials as a low-cost adsorbent and to assess its performance and practicability as a complementary factor to eliminate nitrate ions in aqueous solution. The tests were implemented to explore the adsorption isotherm of nitrates at room temperature, the influence of many factors: the mass of adsorbent, contact time, agitation speed, pH, and primary adsorbate concentration has investigated. The findings demonstrated the nitrates reduction percentage was 93% for fired clay at best experimental conditions: pH=6, adsorbent dose 5 g, adsorbate concentration 10 mg/l, contact time 2.5 hours, and agitation speed 250 rpm. Langmuir and Frendlich isotherm models were applied to examine the experimental results. Results revealed that Langmuir adsorption isotherm was the preferred model for the nitrate adsorption onto fired clay material. This study obviously demonstrates the possibility of fired clay particles as low-cost adsorbent to remove nitrate from water.