Removal of ammonia from aqueous solution for swine wastewater with swine manure compost-based char

Biochar produced from swine manure compost was used to evaluate the effect of pH, temperature, size of biochar on ammonium adsorption property considering swine wastewater treatment. The Langmuir model was demonstrated to provide the best fit for the adsorption of ammonium on the biochar. Higher temperature and pH promoted the adsorption capacity of the Langmuir model parameter although the effect of particle size of the biochar was little. The kinetic studies suggested that the adsorption of ammonium on the biochar was described by the pseudo-first order kinetic model and the rate constant was affected by pH. The low removal rate of ammonium at an initial concentration of 1,000 mg-N L⁻¹ considering primary treatment effluent indicated that the roll of adsorption by the biochar was not to remove ammonium completely, but to reduce the nitrogen load for the secondary treatment.