A study on the removal of urea from aqueous solution with immobilized urease and electrodialysis

A five-compartment electrodialyzer with immobilized urease was developed for the removal of urea from aqueous solution. The immobilized urease, supported on polyurethane foam, was placed in the central (dilute) compartment, where urea was hydrolyzed and the products NH4+ and CO3(2-)/HCO3- were removed simultaneously by electrodialysis. The system was studied both under constant current and under constant voltage. The effects of urea concentration and applied current or voltage on the removal of urea and ammonium ions from the dilute solution were investigated. The variations of the pH of dilute solution, the current or voltage of system, and current efficiency were also examined during reaction-electrodialysis. The removal of urea by enzymic reaction was not affected significantly by the applied electric field. The current efficiencies for removing ammonium ions from dilute solution were mostly within 40-80%, and the removal percentage of ammonium ions was dependent on current density and current efficiency.