Modeling and analysis of ion exchange for ammonium removal from groundwater

The presence of ammonium and its derivatives in drinking water sources is a problem of worldwide concern. This work introduces a formal framework to model and analyze an ion exchange process for ammonium removal commonly used in drinking water treatment. The work aims to evaluate (via simulation) the breakthrough curves for ammonium removal in a fixed-bed column with zeolites operating in upflow regime. The results show quantitatively the influence of the initial ammonium concentration and the flow velocities on the behavior of the breakthrough curves. With this, the proposal is intended to be a reference framework for designing experiments in ion exchange processes for ammonia removal and further optimizing them using control strategies.