Study on the Removal of Ammonia Nitrogen from Wastewater Using Microwave Coupled with Active Carbon

[ Objective] The study aimed to discuss the feasibility and optimal conditions of removing ammonia nitrogen by using microwave coupled with active carbon. [ Method ] In the study, a novel process, microwave radiation coupled with active carbon, was applied to remove ammonia nitro- gen from wastewater, and the influences of solution pH, air conditions, active carbon usage, microwave power and time on the removal effect of ammonia nitrogen were studied. [ Result] Microwave coupled with active carbon can remove ammonia nitrogen efficiently, and pumping air into the wastewater can also increase the removal rate of ammonia nitrogen to a certain extent. Higher pH, intensive microwave power and longer treating time could also increase the removal rate of ammonia nitrogen using microwave radiation coupled with active carbon, whereas the usage of active carbon contributed a small impact. It was proved that microwave coupled with active carbon was an effective method for the removal of ammonia ni- trogen from wastewater. Meanwhile, the orthogonal experiment results showed that the removal rate of ammonia nitrogen reached 92.5% under the optimal conditions, that is, the usage of active carbon was 0.5 g, pH = 11, microwave radiation power was 850 W, and microwave action time was 4 minutes. [ Conclusion] The research provided a new method to remove ammonia nitrogen from wastewater, namely microwave coupled with ac- tive carbon.