Material prepared from drinking waterworks sludge as adsorbent for ammonium removal from wastewater

Drinking waterworks sludge (DWS) is not an effective adsorbent for ammonium removal without any treatment. In this study, DWS was used as a starting material to prepare ammonium adsorbent (M-DWS) by means of an ultrasonic assisted extraction and synthesis method. Two materials (M-DWS1# and M-DWS2#) were prepared according to two different routes. The composition, structure, and surface properties of DWS and M-DWS were characterized and their ammonium adsorption abilities were examined. Characterization results showed that the lamellar structure of DWS was converted into the spherical units of M-DWS and that the cation exchange capacity and specific surface area of M-DWS were many times higher than that of DWS. Batch test results indicated that the adsorption equilibrium data of M-DWS fitted well to both the Langmuir and Frendlich isotherms. The maximum adsorption capacity of M-DWS1# and M-DWS2# evaluated from the Langmuir isotherm was 6.11 mg/g and 5.10 mg/g, respectively. It was also observed that the initial pH affected ammonium adsorption on M-DWS greatly. Under an optimum pH of 7-8, the highest ammonium removal rate of 90% for M-DWS1# and 80% for M-DWS2# were achieved at an initial concentration of 50 mg NH4+/L. The advantage of M-DWS2# lies in its higher yield and less waste discharge compared with M-DWS1#.