AMMONIA REMOVAL CHARACTERISTICS OF POROUS CONCRETE WITH ZEOLITE FOR ENHANCING SELFPURIFICATION ABILITY IN RIVER SYSTEM

Abstract

Ammonia removal characteristics of porous concrete with zeolite are investigated. Ammonia
is one of the common pollutants in river water, and it can cause several adverse impacts for human activities
such as water supply and agricultural purposes. It has negative impacts on water ecosystem as well. Porous
concrete with zeolite can adsorb ammonia by zeolite, and biological nitrification and its promotion can be
expected because attached ammonia on the surface of the porous concrete can promote bacterial growth of
nitrifying bacteria. It is expected that both chemical effects (ammonia adsorption) and biological effects
(nitrification) can remove ammonia effectively from river waters when the porous concrete is applied in the
river as an artificial riverbed for example. Experimental discussion is conducted in this study. It was shown
that the specific surface area was increased by making porous concrete, and the ammonia removal rate can be
increased twice as a result. It was made clear that chemical effect can be produced in the same level as
biological effects as well. It is considered that both effects can increase the ammonia removal ability of
porous concrete with zeolite effectively.