Removal of anions from aquaculture effluent by Organozeolite

Synthetic and natural zeolites have become increasingly important in the last 30 years due to their wide range of physiochemical properties that make them capable of removing toxic ions at lower concentrations which are common in aquaculture effluents. Natural zeolites can remove ammonia from ambient aquaculture wastewater. At the present study the natural zeolite was characterized using XRD and XRF analyses. For removing anions from solutions and aquaculture effluent, modification was practiced with tetradecyletremethyleammoniumbromid (TDTMA) to increase the adsorption of anions (on the zeolite), which subsequently increase the ion absorption capacity of zeolite per se. Under the experimental and a standard solutions the effects of pH and temperature was evaluated. Results showed that increasing pH promote anion absorption (except for phosphate in standard condition). Like pH, temperature has good effect on the anion absorption. Results indicated that absorption active layer (Surfactant) has good tendency for absorption of nitrate ions. Results showed that clinoptilolite treated with TDTMA (SMZ) was efficient in removing undesirable anions from aquaculture wastewaters.

Keywords:

recirculating aquaculture system , toxic ion species , modified clinoptilolite , TDTMA , absorption , ion exchange