Electrolytic removal of ammonia from aqueous phase by Pt/Ti anode

Abstract

This study investigated the mechanism and kinetic modeling of electrolytic degradation of ammonia with Pt/Ti anode. The results show that ammonia oxidation from direct oxidation or indirect oxidation with hydroxyl radicals was slow but can be observed under pH 9 and high initial ammonia concentration of 1,050 mg N L(-1). Indirect oxidation with HOCl was the mechanism for the chloride-mediated electrolytic removal of ammonia. In this process, pH between 3 and 9 had little effect on the ammonia removal rate, but current density (j) and chloride concentration ([Cl(-)]) showed a linear relationship with ammonia removal rate within the range of 3.8-15.4 mA cm(-2) and 30-300 mg L(-1), respectively. The ammonia removal could be described by a pseudo-zero order kinetics with a mathematic equation of k = 0.0003 × [Cl(-)] × j - 0.076. Treatment of the actual wastewater effluent from a secondary clarifier in a local wastewater treatment plant showed an ammonia removal rate of 0.8 mg N L(-1) h(-1) and energy cost of 14 kJ per mg N ammonia.