Electrochemical removal of nitrite and ammonia for aquaculture

Electrochemical nitrite and ammonia removal from aqueous solution was investigated. Operating variables of the electrochemical method including the current input, pH, conductivity, buffer solution and initial nitrite and ammonia concentrations were considered to determine their respective effect on the efficiency of nitrite and ammonia removal. The experimental results indicated that the time for complete nitrite removal and power consumption decrease with an increase in conductivity. For nitrite removal, the electrochemical process was found to consume less power when utilizing a current input larger than 2 A. The pH effect on the nitrite removal was observed to be significantly smaller than those of conductivity and current input. While the acidic environment favored the nitrite removal, the alkaline environment appeared to be beneficial to the ammonia removal. The ammonia removal was found to be a much slower process than the nitrite removal.