Abstract Zeolites are microporous crystalline aluminosilicates that have transformed the petrochemical and chemical industries through their use as catalysts and sorbents. The catalytic properties of zeolites can be altered by introducing heavy metal ions into the zeolite, and one of the methods used to prepare catalysts is sorption. Sorption on zeolites can also be used to remove metals from contaminated water. If the sorption process is carried out in a batch reactor, its efficiency depends on various process parameters, including the mixing parameters, the influence of which on sorption itself has not been sufficiently studied. The hydrodynamic conditions in a given system result from the geometrical characteristics of the reactor and the impeller used, as well as from the impeller rotation speed. For this reason, the influence of hydrodynamic conditions on the efficiency and kinetics of copper ions sorption on synthetic zeolite NaX in an uncovered batch reactor with baffles was studied in this work. Mixing was performed using three different impeller types: an axial propeller impeller, a radial-axial pitched blade turbine impeller (PBT), and a radial straight blade turbine impeller (SBT). For all impeller types, the effect of impeller type and zeolite NaX mass concentration in a solution on the critical impeller speed required to achieve a state of complete suspension, N JS , was investigated. The effect of impeller type on the kinetics of copper ions sorption on zeolite NaX and removal efficiency was studied. At the lowest mass concentration of NaX zeolite in the solution investigated, the effect of the impeller rotation speed, N/N JS , on the performance of the studied process was also investigated for all impeller types. For the PBT impeller, the effect of the impellers' position and its diameter on the kinetics of the copper ion sorption process on zeolite NaX and the removal efficiency at the lowest mass concentration of NaX zeolite in the solution investigated, were studied too. Kinetic parameter estimation was performed using nonlinear and linear regression analysis for three kinetic models: Ritchie’s model, Mixed kinetic model of adsorption controlled by surface reaction and diffusion (Mixed model), and Weber-Morris model. By kinetic analysis of the obtained experimental data using the selected kinetic models, a kinetic model that describes the kinetics of sorption of copper ions onto zeolite NaX, and the kinetic parameters were calculated. Since sorption is a heterogeneous process, the slowest step of the process was defined for the conditions studied. By analysing the experimental kinetic data, it was found that the sorption of copper ions onto zeolite NaX is well described by the Ritchie’s model. However, at impeller speeds of N/N JS 0.60 and 0.80, the Mixed model agrees better with the experimental kinetic data, suggesting that the second order reaction is suppressed by diffusion. To obtain a more complete insight into the hydrodynamic processes in the studied system, the fluid flows were simulated using the ANSYS Fluent v17.2 software package. Taking into account the obtained results, i.e. the kinetics and the amount of sorbed copper ions, the most favourable reactor geometry was proposed.