Removal of Ammonia from Air, using Three Iranian Natural Zeolites

Abstract

Ammonia in air can be hazardous to human and animal life and should be removed from the environment. Recently the removal of environmental pollutants such as ammonia by means of natural and modified zeolites has attracted a lot of attention and interests. In this study the capability of three Iranian natural zeolites (Clinoptilolite) in point of view of removal of ammonia from air was investigated. Through this research, different zeolites from various regions of Iran including Semnan, Meyaneh, and Firoozkooh resources were considered to be studied. These samples of zeolites were ground and granulized into 425 µm to 4 mm and were utilized in dynamic sorption experiments. Curves of sorption were plotted and breakthrough and saturated points of zeolite samples were obtained. The adsorption capacities at different ammonia concentrations, temperatures, and flow – rates were also calculated. Results obtained showed that, the natural Iranian zeolite (Clinoptilolite) was identified to be more efficient adsorbent than the others to remove ammonia from the air. In the same conditions, the obtained breakthrough time for clinoptilolite sample of Meyaneh was longer than the others ( 135min ), while, the adsorption capacity of Semnan clinoptilolite was higher than adsorbents ( 6.30 mg /g) (P<0.0001).