Combination of Ozonation Process and Absorption through Membrane Contactor Using Natural Hot Spring Water as Absorbent to Remove Ammonia from Wastewater

Ammonia in wastewater is a major pollutant produced in industrial and agricultural wastewaters. Ammonia is often removed by conventional technologies such as pack tower aeration, biological treatment or adsorption as ammonium ion onto zeolites. In many cases, conventional methods are very costly and inefficient, and therefore there is a need for an alternative separation technique for more efficient removal of ammonia from wastewaters. The aim of this study is to investigate the performance of combination of ozonation and absorption through membrane processes to remove ammonia from wastewater using NHSW （natural hot spring water） as absorbent. Experimental results show that hollow fiber membrane contactor has potential application for ammonia removal from wastewater. Operating variables such as time and pH of absorbent solution are found to remarkably influence the removal process efficiency.. Based on experimental results ozonation can improve ammonia removal efficiency through hollow fiber membrane contactor. Ammonia removal efficiencies and overall mass transfer coefficients increase with decreasing pH of absorbent solution.