The characteristics of ammonia-nitrogen (NH4 +-N) adsorption by a zeolitic material synthesized from Jeju scoria using the fusion and hydrothermal method was studied. The synthetic zeolitic material (Z-SA) was identified as a Na-A zeolite by X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence analysis and scanning electron microscopy images. The adsorption of NH4 +-N using Jeju scoria and different types of zeolite such as the Z-SA, natural zeolite, and commercial pure zeolite (Na-A zeolite, Z-CS) was compared. The equilibrium of NH4 +-N adsorption was reached within 30 min for Z-SA and Z-CS, and after 60 min for Jeju scoria and natural zeolite. The adsorption capacity of NH4 +-N increased with approaching to neutral when pH was in the range of 3-7, but decreased above 7. The removal efficiency of NH4 +-N increased with increasing Z-SA dosage, however, its adsorption capacity decreased. For initial NH4 +-N concentrations of 10-200 mg/L at pH 7, the adsorption rate of NH4 +-N was well described by the pseudo second-order kinetic model than the pseudo first-order kinetic model. The adsorption isotherm was well fitted by the Langmuir model. The maximum uptake of NH4 +-N obtained from the Langmuir model decreased in the order of Z-CS (46.8 mg/g) > Z-SA (31.3 mg/g) > natural zeolite (5.6 mg/g) > Jeju scoria (0.2 mg/g).

For 26 soil series distributed more than 1% among 63 soil series in Jeju Island, natural uncultivated soil samples were collected. For these soils, the chemical speciation of eight heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, V, and Zn) was examined. Further, the Plant Bioavailability (PB) and Mobility Factor (MF) of these heavy metals were evaluated using Tessier’s 5-step sequential extraction method (exchangeable, carbonate, reducible (bound to Fe/Mn oxides), oxidizable (bound to organic matter), and residual fraction). The main form present was residual fraction for Cd and Zn; residual and oxidizable fractions for Cr, Cu, Ni, and Pb; reducible fraction for Mn; and carbonate fraction for V. The average plant availability and average mobility factor were found to be V (57.37%) > Zn (12.49%) > Cd (11.76%) > Cu (11.19%) > Pb (9.37%) > Cr (9.09%) > Mn (3.13%) > Ni (2.63%), and Mn (61.04%) > V (59.94%) > Zn (31.54%) > Cd (17.65%) > Cr (15.66%) > Ni (13.89%) > Pb (13.80%) > Cu (13.53%), respectively.

For 63 soil series distributed in Jeju Island, natural uncultivated soils in each soil series were collected, and their physicochemical properties and their concentrations of 19 heavy metals including 8 heavy metals which are regulated by Korean Soil Environment Conservation Law, were analyzed. Moreover, the correlations between physicochemical properties and heavy metal concentrations, and between heavy metal concentrations were analyzed. The heavy metals distributed in the higher concentrations and the lower concentrations with arithmetric mean value, were Mn(730 mg/kg) and Ba(493 mg/kg), and Hg(0.146 mg/kg) and Tl(0.096 mg/kg), respectively. The correlations between pH(H2O) and heavy metals(Hg, Ni, Co, Se), between pH(NaF) and heavy metals(Hg, Ba, Se, Tl), and between organic matter content and heavy metals(Hg, Tl) were significant at the 0.01 level. From the correlations between heavy metal concentrations, there were 22 where there were significant at the 0.01 level and they showed positive correlation. Among those, the heavy metals showing the correlation higher than r=0.5, were Sb-V(0.878), Mo-Sn(0.867), Co-V(0.654), Co-Sb(0.648), Be-Sn(0.546), and Sn-Tl(0.528).

The adsorption performance of lead ion was studied using five zeolites (Na-P1, sodalite (SOD), analcime (ANA), nepheline hydrate (JBW), cancrinite (CAN)) synthesized from Jeju scoria. The adsorption performances of lead ion decreased in the order of Na-P1 > SOD > ANA > JBW > CAN. These results showed that the synthetic zeolite with a higher cationic exchange capacity showed a higher adsorption performance. The uptake of lead ion by synthetic zeolites were described by Freundlich model better than Langmuir model. The adsorption kinetics of lead ion by synthetic zeolites fitted the pseudo 2nd order kinetics better than pseudo 1st order kinetics. The effective diffusion coefficients of lead ion by synthetic zeolites were ten times higher than the zeolite A synthesized from coal fly ash.

The removal performances of divalent heavy metal ions (Pb2+, Cu2+, Cd2+, Sr2+ and Mn2+) were studied using the Na-P1 zeolite synthesized from Jeju scoria in the batch and continuous fixed column reactor. The uptakes of heavy metal ions by synthetic Na-P1 zeolite decreased in the order of Pb2+>Cu2+>Cd2+>Sr2+>Mn2+ based on the selectivity of each ion to ionic exchange site of Na-P1 zeolite for single and mixed solutions in batch or continuous fixed column reactor. For mixed solution, each heavy metal ion uptake was lower than that in single solution, and especially the uptake for Mn2+ decreased greatly. In batch reactor, the uptakes of heavy metal ions by synthetic Na-P1 zeolite were described by Freundlich or Langmuir equation, but they followed the former better than the latter. In continuous fixed column reactor, the maximum ion exchange capacity obtained for each of heavy metal ions, was about 90% of that in batch reactor. The uptakes of heavy metal ions by synthetic Na-P1 zeolite increased with the increase of initial heavy metal concentration and solution pH, and the decrease of the amount and particle size of synthetic zeolite.