Electrolytic ammonia removal and current efficiency by a vermiculite-packed electrochemical reactor

The ammonia removal as well as the current efficiency during electrolysis was investigated by using a vermiculite-packed electrochemical reactor under continuous mode. Experimental results showed that adsorption of ammonia by vermiculite and electrolytic desorption of ammonia simultaneously existed in the reactor, leading to 89% removal of initial 30 mg N/L ammonia and current efficiency of 25% under the condition of 2.0 A, 6.0 min hydraulic retention time with 300 mg Cl/L chloride as the catalyst. The ammonia removal capacity had a linear relationship with the products of hydraulic retention time, current and chloride concentration within experimental conditions. The treatment results of secondary effluent indicated that 29.9 mg N/L ammonia can be reduced to 4.6 mg N/L with 72% removal of total nitrogen and a current efficiency of 23%, which was 2% less than synthetic wastewater due to the reducing components in the real wastewater.