Electrochemical nitrite and ammonia removal from aqueous solution

Abstract

Abstract Nitrite and ammonium removal from aqueous solution by electrochemical method was investigated. The efficiencies of nitrite and ammonium removal were determined in terms of the current input, pH, conductivity, buffer solution and initial nitrite and ammonium concentrations. It was found that the time for complete nitrite removal and power consumption decrease with an increase in conductivity. The experimental results also indicated that for nitrite removal, the electrochemical process consumes less power when utilizing a current input larger than 2 A. The effect of pH on nitrite removal was observed to be smaller than those of conductivity and current input. While the acidic environment favors nitrite removal, the alkaline environment appears to be beneficial to ammonium removal. Addition of buffer solution for pH control was seen to have a detrimental effect on the nitrite removal.