IJEP 39(3): 248-258 : Vol. 39 Issue. 3 (March 2019)
Waseem Ullah Khan, Sirajuddin Ahmed and Yogesh Nathuji Dhoble
Jamia Millia Islamia (Central University), Department of Civil Engineering, New Delhi-110 025
Abstract
Steel slag is a waste material from the steel industry. The potential of steel slag as an adsorbent for the removal of ammonium from the aqueous system is studied for treating wastewater having ammonium as one of the pollutants. The influence of various factors, such as initial concentration, adsorbent dosage and temperature on the adsorption capacity has been studied. The adsorption capacity is found to be 0.143 mg/g. The maximum ammonium removal is found to be 74%. The percentage removal of ammonium is observed to increase with an increase in the initial concentration of ammonium. The adsorption of ammonium is found to be spontaneous and endothermic in nature. The Freundlich equation is found to interpret adsorption isothermal data. Pseudo second order equation helps to understand the reaction mechanism. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) studies confirm the ammonium adsorbed on the surface of the steel slag.
Keywords
Ammonium, Steel slag, Adsorption, Kinetics, Isotherms, Thermodynamics
