Mohammad Ali Khadivi - Catalyst Research Center, Chem. Eng Dept., Razi Univ., Kermanshah ۶۷۱۴۹- ۶۷۲۴۶, Iran
Shahram Sharifnia
Tahereh Shojaeimehr
Yaser Shavisi

The possibility of ammonium ion removal from aqueous solution using light expanded clay aggregate (LECA) was investigated in this work. FESEM is used to determine the sorbent characterization. The effects of some effective parameters on ammonium ion adsorption process such as initial pH, initial ammonium ion concentration, and the contact time were studied. The results showed that the equilibrium data were fitted well with two Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The maximum monolayer adsorption capacity estimated by Langmuir isotherm was 0.255 mg/g and the required contact time to achieve the equilibrium condition was 150 min and pH=7 was reported as optimum value

Ammonium removal; Clay; LECA; Equilibrium isotherm; Adsorption