Removal of phosphate from aqueous solution by zeolite synthesized from fly ash

Fifteen Chinese fly ashes were converted hydrothermally into zeolites, and phosphate immobilization capacity (PIC) of the synthesized zeolites and the corresponding raw fly ashes were determined using an initial phosphate concentration of 1000 mg/L. Results showed that there was a remarkable increase in PIC (from 1.2 to 7.6 times) following the synthesis process. Fractionation of immobilized phosphorus indicated that Fe + Al-P increased most significantly and consistently among all the phosphorus fractions following the conversion of fly ash to zeolite. The PIC and Ca + Mg-P were closely related to Ca content (with r values of 0.9683 and 0.9651, respectively) rather than Mg content (with r values of 0.3920 and 0.3212, respectively). The r values of PIC and Fe + Al-P with Fe content (with r values of 0.4686 and 0.6385, respectively) were higher than those with Al content (with r values of -0.7857 and -0.3770, respectively). Although calcium and iron components were mainly involved in phosphate immobilization, there was no significant change of Ca and Fe content following the conversion of fly ash to zeolite. Increase in dissociated Fe₂O₃ and specific surface area probably accounted for the enhancement in PIC of synthesized zeolites compared with corresponding fly ashes. The PIC value of zeolites showed a significant correlation with dissociated Fe₂O₃ (r = 0.6186). The specific surface area increased 26.0-89.4 times as a result of the conversion of fly ash to zeolite. The maximum removal of phosphate occurred within different pH ranges for zeolites which were synthesized from high, medium and low calcium fly ashes and this behavior was explained by the reaction of phosphate with calcium and iron components.