Progress of Cryogenics and Isotopes Separation , ISSN: 1582-2575
2017, Volume 20, Issue 2

An overview on the removal of nitrogen compounds from water and wastewater

Abstract

Excess nitrogen compounds can cause environment pollutions and healthy problems. The commonly encountered nitrogen compounds in wastewater are the nitrate ions, due to human activities (agriculture and human wastes). The removal of nitrate from groundwater, surface water and wastewater is of prime importance, the most common methods including biological and physicochemical technologies. However, these methods have shortcomings and limitations (high costs and complex operations). The adsorption process has been found successful in nitrate removal by using various materials as adsorbents due to the simple design, easy and  conomical operation as well as allowing nitrate recovery. For example, ammonium-functionalized SBA-16 mesoporous silica was used as an efficient potential adsorbent for nitrate removal, due to the large specific surface area, the ordered mesostructure and the functionalization ability with various surface functional groups. In view of the above facts and in a continuous quest for high capacity, selective, effective and regenerable adsorbents, the present work is aimed to highlight the use of mesoporous materials for the removal of nitrate from water and wastewater.