Water spray reactor for ammonia removal via air stripping: An evaluation on mass transfer and process efficiency

This paper offers a technical assessment of a developed reactor for ammonia removal via air stripping method. Optimum operational conditions were determined by experimenting numerous major parameters such as water flow, air flow, initial TAN (Total Ammonia Nitrogen) concentrations, pH, and orifice diameter of nozzles. It was found that water flow of 10 L/min, air flow rate at 120 L/min, and pH 11 were of significant parameters that facilitated higher ammonia removal efficiency up to 99 % after 7 h of experimental run with KLa = 0.0114 min-1. Empirical mathematical expression generated by employing Buckingham’s π theorem was shown to be a good fit (R2 = 0.992) to identify the relationship among Reynolds number, Weber number, and mass transfer coefficient KLa. Our newly developed reactor demonstrated satisfying performance with relatively lower air consumption (2016 L air/L liquid) compared to that of jet loop reactor (2266 L air/L liquid) and water-sparged aerocyclone (2394 L air/L liquid). The future development of this air stripping device is propitious since our reactor also enables advantages e.g., adjustable input volume and simple maintenance from scaling and fouling.