Phosphorus recovery through struvite crystallisation: Recent developments in the understanding of operational factors

Phosphorus recovery via struvite crystallization in batch and fluidized-bed reactors: Roles of microplastics and dissolved organic matter

Struvite crystallization, a promising technology for nutrient recovery from wastewater, is facing considerable challenges due to the presence of emerging contaminants such as microplastics (MPs) ubiquitously found in wastewater. Here, we investigate the roles of MPs and humic acid (HA) in struvite crystallization in batch and fluidized-bed reactors (FBRs) using synthetic and real wastewater with a Mg:N:P molar ratio of 1:3:(1-1.3) at an initial pH of 11. Batch reactor (BR) experiment results show that MPs expedited the nucleation and growth rates of struvite (e.g., the rate of crystal growth in the presence of 30 mg L-1 of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was 1.43 times higher than that in the blank system), while HA hindered the formation of struvite. X-ray diffraction and the Rietveld refinement analysis revealed that the presence of MPs and HA can result in significant changes in phase compositions of the reclaimed precipitates, with over 80 % purity of struvite found in the precipitates from suspensions in the presence of 30 mg L-1 of MPs. Further characterizations demonstrated that MPs act as seeds of struvite nucleation, spurring the formation of well-defined struvite, while HA favors the formation of newberyite rather than struvite in both reactors. These findings highlight the need for a more comprehensive understanding of the interactions between emerging contaminants and struvite crystallization processes to optimize nutrient recovery strategies for mitigating their adverse impact on the quality and yield of struvite-based fertilizers. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATION: The presence of microplastics in wastewater poses a significant challenge to struvite crystallization for nutrient recovery, as it accelerates nucleation and growth rates of struvite crystals. This can lead to changes in the phase compositions of the reclaimed precipitates, with implications for the quality and yield of struvite-based fertilizers. Additionally, the presence of humic acid hinders the formation of struvite, favoring the formation of other minerals like newberyite. Understanding the interactions between emerging contaminants and struvite crystallization processes is crucial for optimizing nutrient recovery strategies and mitigating the environmental impact of these contaminants on water quality and struvite-based fertilizers.

Phosphorus recovery from sewage sludge via Mg-air battery system

A pressing issue in contemporary society is the resource scarcity of phosphorus. Operating on the principle of electrochemical reactions between Mg as the anode and oxygen from air as the cathode, Mg-air batteries (MAB) have been employed to provide new prospects for phosphorus recovery in struvite form. Different phosphorus concentrations and reaction time impact struvite generation in MAB systems; however, the exact mechanism has rarely been investigated. We investigated how varying the initial phosphorus concentration and the reaction time affects phosphorus recovery, electricity generation, and the efficiency of struvite production in MAB. Additionally, we examine the impact of solid carbon sources on phosphorus transformation in sludge. The findings revealed that the incorporation of solid carbon sources facilitated the release of phosphate by changing phosphorus speciation. The electrolyte derived from the conditioned sludge filtrate exhibited a remarkable phosphorus removal efficiency of 91.7 % within 1 h, yielding the highest struvite purity of ∼70 %, whereas that using raw sludge filtrate or extending the reaction time was found to be less effective, even reducing struvite formation. Furthermore, different electrolytes influence the system's ability to passivate anode, and electrolytes with higher phosphorus concentrations have better electricity production performance. The results by Visual MINTEQ model confirmed that longer reaction times and lower initial phosphorus concentrations can negatively affect struvite formation by introducing Mg3(PO4)2 and Mg(OH)2. The integration of agricultural waste as carbon sources with MAB for phosphorus recovery represents a potential methodology for struvite recuperation from sewage sludge, thereby heralding a sustainable strategy for resource recovery.

Electrochemical route outperforms chemical struvite precipitation in mitigating heavy metal contamination

Electrochemically mediated struvite precipitation (EMSP) offers a robust, chemical-free process towards phosphate and ammonium reclamation from nutrients-rich wastewater, i.e., swine wastewater. However, given the coexistence of heavy metal, struvite recovered from wastewater may suffer from heavy metal contamination. Here, we systematically investigated the fate of Cu2+, as a representative heavy metal, in the EMSP process and compared it with the chemical struvite precipitation (CSP) system. The results showed that Cu2+ was 100% transferred from solution to solid phase as a mixture of copper and struvite under pHi 9.5 with 2-20 mg/L Cu2+ in the CSP system, and varying pH would affect struvite production. In the EMSP system, the formation of struvite was not affected by bulk pH, and struvite was much less polluted by co-removed Cu2+ (24.4%) at pHi 7.5, which means we recovered a cleaner and safer product. Specifically, struvite mainly accumulates on the front side of the cathode. In contrast, the fascinating thing is that Cu2+ is ultimately deposited primarily to the back side of the cathode in the form of copper (hydro)oxides due to the distinct thickness of the local high pH layer on the two sides of the cathode. In turn, struvite and Cu (hydro)oxides can be harvested separately from the front and back sides of the cathode, respectively, facilitating the subsequent recycling of heavy metals and struvite. The contrasting fate of Cu2+ in the two systems highlights the merits of EMSP over conventional CSP in mitigating heavy metal pollution on recovered products, promoting the development of EMSP technology towards a cleaner recovery of struvite from waste streams.

Efficient removal of phosphorus and nitrogen from aquatic environment using sepiolite-MgO nanocomposites: preparation, characterization, removal performance, and mechanism

Excessive phosphorus will lead to eutrophication in aquatic environment; the efficient removal of phosphorus is crucial for wastewater engineering and surface water management. This study aimed to fabricate a nanorod-like sepiolite-supported MgO (S-MgO) nanocomposite with high specific surface area for efficient phosphate removal using a facile microwave-assisted method and calcining processes. The impact of solution pH, adsorbent dosage, contact time, initial phosphate concentrations, Ca2+ addition, and N/P ratio on the phosphate removal was extensively examined by the batch experiments. The findings demonstrated that the S-MgO nanocomposite exhibited effective removal performance for low-level phosphate (0 ~ 2.0 mM) within the pH range of 3.0 ~ 10.0. Additionally, the nanocomposite can synchronously remove phosphate and ammonium in high-level nutrient conditions (> 2.0 mM), with the maximum removal capacities of 188.49 mg P/g and 89.78 mg N/g. Quantitative and qualitative analyses confirmed the successful harvesting of struvite in effluent with high-phosphate concentrations, with the mechanisms involved attributed to a synergistic combination of sorption and struvite crystallization. Due to its proficient phosphate removal efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and substantial removal capacity, the developed S-MgO nanocomposite exhibits promising potential for application in phosphorus removal from aquatic environments.

Leaching of phosphorus from phosphate tailings and extraction of calcium phosphates: Toward comprehensive utilization of tailing resources

Phosphate tailing is an extremely fine by-product during phosphate ore flotation. Due to the large quantities and relatively higher P2O5 content, the phosphate tailings have been considered as a potential P resource, compared to other P-bearing wastes. Besides, phosphate tailings also contain a large amount of available components, such as Ca, Mg, and Si. To explore a low-cost and efficient process for the utilization of phosphate tailings, the hydrochloric acid leaching-precipitation method was employed to recover phosphorus. The P in phosphate tailings can be selectively dissolved into leaching liquor, followed by the precipitation of calcium phosphates from the leaching liquor through pH adjustment. The results showed that P was predominantly concentrated in fluorapatite and its dissolution ratio increased with the decrease in pH. At pH 1.0, the P dissolution efficiency from phosphate tailings reached 96.3%, along with the majority of Mg and Ca. However, Si was hardly dissolved. It demonstrated that almost all the fluorapatite and dolomite were dissolved while the quartz was difficult to dissolve. Dolomite was more preferentially dissolved than fluorapatite. Increasing temperature contributed to the dissolution of dolomite while suppressing fluorapatite dissolution. The residue containing 87.9% SiO2 (quartz) and only 0.25% P2O5 has the potential as a building material. As the pH increased to 7.0, the collected precipitate consisted of 34.18% P2O5 and 56.10% CaO, which can serve as a source of a slow-released phosphate fertilizer. The highly efficient utilization of phosphate tailings was achieved via this process.

A review of struvite crystallization for nutrient source recovery from wastewater

Nutrient recovery from wastewater not only reduces the nutrient load on water resources but also alleviates the environmental problems in aquatic ecosystems, which is a solution to achieve a sustainable society. Besides, struvite crystallization technology is considered a potential nutrient recovery technology because the precipitate obtained can be reused as a slow-release fertilizer. This review presents the basic properties of struvite and the theory of the basic crystallization process. In addition, the possible influencing variables of the struvite crystallization process on the recovery efficiency and product purity are also examined in detail. Then, the advanced auxiliary technologies for facilitating the struvite crystallization process are systematically discussed. Moreover, the economic and environmental benefits of the struvite crystallization process for nutrient recovery are introduced. Finally, the shortcomings and inadequacies of struvite crystallization technology are presented, and future research prospects are provided. This work serves as the foundation for the future use of struvite crystallization technology to recover nutrients in response to the increasingly serious environmental problems and resource depletion.

Recovering struvite from livestock wastewater by fluidized-bed homogeneous crystallization as a pre-treatment process to sludge co-digestion

Livestock wastewater can contain high levels of phosphates and trace amounts of various ionic species harming the environment and human health. These ions can be successfully removed from livestock effluent and recovered in a non-toxic crystal form via crystallization. The fluidized bed homogeneous crystallization (FBHC) technology is a cutting-edge pretreatment method that removes phosphate and ammonium by crystallizing struvite. The findings demonstrated a 37% removal for ammonium solutions alone, 38% with copper, 35% with zinc, and 33% when copper and zinc were present, while the crystallization efficiency was achieved at 35%, 33% with copper, 28% with zinc, and 26% with copper and zinc. For phosphate-containing solutions, 95% was removed, 81% with copper, 96% with zinc, and 88% with copper and zinc. Similarly, crystallization efficiency was attained at 87%, 60% with copper, 94% with zinc, and 81% when copper and zinc were combined with phosphates. For ammonium solutions, copper and zinc reduced the removal and crystallization efficiency at constant pH and increased at increasing pH. For phosphate solutions, the removal and crystallization efficiencies increased at increasing pH. However, zinc ions resulted in the highest removal, and crystallization efficiency for phosphate solutions was attained. Based on SEM, EDS, XRD, and XPS analyses, the peaks revealed the presence of struvite in the form of magnesium ammonium phosphate.

Phosphate Recovery from Aqueous Solutions via Vivianite Crystallization: Interference of FeII Oxidation at Different DO Concentrations and pHs

Vivianite (Fe₃(PO₄)₂·8H₂O) crystallization has attracted increasing attention as a promising approach for removing and recovering P from wastewaters. However, Fe^II is susceptible to oxygen with its oxidation inevitably influencing the crystallization of vivianite. In this study, the profile of vivianite crystallization in the presence of dissolved oxygen (DO) was investigated at pHs 5-7 in a continuous stirred-tank reactor. It is found that the influence of DO on vivianite crystallization was highly pH-related. At pH 5, the low rate of Fe^II oxidation at all of the investigated DO of 0-5 mg/L and the low degree of vivianite supersaturation resulted in slow crystallization with the product being highly crystalline vivianite, but the P removal efficiency was only 30-40%. The removal of P from the solution was substantially more effective (to >90%) in the DO-removed reactors at pH 6 and 7, whereas the efficiencies of P removal and especially recovery decreased by 10-20% when Fe^II oxidation became more severe at DO concentrations >2.5 mg/L (except at pH 6 with 2.5 mg/L DO). The elevated degree of vivianite supersaturation and enhanced rate and extent of Fe^II oxidation at the higher pHs led to decreases in the size and homogeneity of the products. At the same pH, amorphous ferric oxyhydroxide (AFO)─the product of Fe^II oxidation and Fe^III hydrolysis─interferes with vivianite crystallization with the induction of aggregation of crystal fines by AFO, leading to increases in the size of the obtained solids.

The effectiveness and adsorption mechanism of iron-carbon nanotube composites for removing phosphate from aqueous environments

This study successfully employed iron-carbon nanotubes (Fe-CNT) to recover phosphate (P) from water. We examined the effects of various iron concentrations denoted by Fe-CNT-1 and Fe-CNT-2 on P removal and compared them with pristine carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The adsorption capacity of Fe-CNTs was much better than pristine CNTs. According to the high adsorption capacity, Fe-CNT-2 sample was very effective for P recovery and exhibits ∼7 times higher P removal efficiency than that of pristine CNTs. The characterization of the as-obtained adsorbent (Fe-CNT-2) and pristine CNTs were performed using X-ray diffraction, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method, Field emission scanning electron microscope coupled with energy-dispersive spectroscopy detector (FESEM-EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Transmission electron microscopy. Results demonstrated that iron oxide nanoparticles were successfully deposited on the surface of CNT. The adsorption kinetics and isotherm studies for P removal showed pseudo-second-order rate constants (R² > 0.99) and the Langmuir isotherm (R² > 0.99) respectively, thus revealing that the nature of adsorption was chemisorption. The estimated Langmuir adsorption capacity of Fe-CNT-2 was 36.5 mgP/g or 112 mg PO₄/g at an equilibrium time of 3 h. The ionic strength provided by SO₄^2-, NO₃^-, and Cl^- demonstrated no considerable influence on phosphate adsorption. Moreover, the P adsorbed Fe-CNT-2 was efficiently recovered with different concentrations of desorbing reagents, such as NaOH and NaCO₃^2-. Moreover, the findings of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis demonstrated that OH group played a major role in the P removal by Fe-CNT-2. The findings of this study demonstrate that Fe-CNT-2 had a great deal of application as an effective and stable adsorbent for the P recovery from aquatic environments.

Enhancing anaerobic co-digestion of primary settled-nightsoil sludge and food waste for phosphorus extraction and biogas production: effect of operating parameters and determining phosphorus transformation

The study aimed to comprehensively determine P extraction efficiency and co-digestion of food waste (FW) and primary settled-nightsoil sludge (PSNS) process performance influenced by different hydraulic retention times (4, 7, 10, and 15 days) and mixture ratios of FW:PSNS in substrates (100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75, and 0:100). P-transformation was evaluated to identify P fractionation in both supernatant and sludge accumulated in reactors. The results showed that anaerobic co-digestion was inhibited by the accumulation of undigested feedstock due to higher %PSNS found in AD4 (25FW:75PSNS) and AD5 (100PSNS). A more stable process was found in AD2 (75FW:25PSNS) under hydraulic retention time (HRT) 15 days in which COD removal efficiency and P release were 97.2 and 80.2%, respectively. This recommended condition allowed a high organic loading rate (OLR) at 12 gVS/L/day resulting in the highest biogas yield of 0.93 L/L/day. Distribution of P data demonstrated that most of P in feedstock was deposited and accumulated in sediment up to 97.8%. Poor biodegradability resulting from using shortened HRT led to high increased P-solid content in effluent. In addition, available P in effluents and accumulated P-solids in sediment obtained from the AcoD process has the potential to serve as sources for P recovery.

An integrated process for struvite recovery and nutrient removal from ship domestic sewage

Marine pollution caused by the untreated and substandard discharge of ship domestic sewage has received widespread attention. A novel integrated process for struvite recovery and nutrient removal from ship domestic sewage (SRNR-SDS) based on seawater magnesium source was developed in this study. Removal efficiencies of the total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) for the activated sludge unit in SRNR-SDS process were approximately 67.61% and 41.35%, respectively, under the salinity of 7.85 g/L. The coupling-induced struvite crystallization unit significantly improved the removal efficiency of TN and TP, and the scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction demonstrated that magnesium ammonium phosphate (MAP) crystals were successfully formed on the surface of zeolite. The SRNR-SDS process had an ideal performance for pollutant removal and MAP recovery under the optimal hydraulic retention time of 20 h. The effluent concentrations of COD, NH₄⁺-N, TN and TP in SRNR-SDS process were approximately 34.73 mg/L, 4.31 mg/L, 10.07 mg/L and 0.23 mg/L, respectively, which meet the Chinese and international ship sewage discharge standards. SRNR-SDS process has obvious environmental, social and economic benefits, which could save 6.20%∼57.14% of the operation cost of ship domestic sewage treatment via MAP recovery. The results could provide theoretical and technical support for the development and application of ship sewage treatment process with the functions of pollutant removal and resource recovery.

Nutrient released characteristics of struvite-biochar fertilizer produced from concentrated sludge supernatant by fluidized bed reactor

With the exacerbating water eutrophication globally, it is important to recover nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from sewage for recycle. In this study, coconut shell biochar and ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) were added into the designed fluidized bed reactor (FBR) to create struvite-biochar. N and P released from struvite-biochar and the recovery efficiency of N and P from concentrated sludge supernatant were analyzed. Results showed that the optimal operation condition for hydraulic retention time (HRT), pH, Mg/P molar ration, and addition amount EDTA were 90 min, 9.5, 1.2, and 0.2 g/L, respectively. The recovery efficiency of NH₄⁺-N and PO₄^3--P, and purity struvite for FBR were 34.41%-38.05%, 64.95-68.40%, and 84.15%, respectively. The recovery efficiency of NH₄⁺-N and PO₄^3--P were respectively increased by 7.23% and 5.36% when FBR with addition of 0.33 g/L coconut shell biochar, but purity struvite from struvite-biochar decreased by 45.70%. Contents of As, Cd, Pb, and Cr in struvite and struvite-biochar were all lower than Chinese Standard Limits of Fertilizer. Compared to commercial chemical fertilizer, such as superphosphate and urea, struvite-biochar and struvite have slowly released N and P. The amounts of released P, NO₃^--N and NH₄⁺-N from struvite-biochar were higher than struvite during the five leaching times. Compared with struvite, the total amounts of released P, NO₃^--N and NH₄⁺-N from struvite-biochar increased by 4.9%, 3.5% and 8.3%, respectively. Therefore, it is valuable to add biochar into FBR to recovery N and P from concentrated sludge supernatant and make struvite-biochar as a slow-release fertilizer.

Phosphorus harvesting from fresh human urine: A strategy of precisely recovering high-purity calcium phosphate and insights into the precipitation conversion mechanism

Phosphorus (P) harvesting from source-separated urine to optimize the overall nutrient loop is one of the most appealing benefits and is a global research interest in wastewater management and treatment. However, current P precipitation is mainly oriented to struvite, which is limited by the issues such as relatively low product purity and high cost of Mg source. Distinguished from previous conventional struvite precipitation, the strategy of precisely harvesting P from fresh human urine as high-purity calcium phosphate was first proposed in this study. This enhanced strategy can optimize P harvesting performance and product purity by simply regulating the consumption of calcium-based materials via model simulation and experimental validation. The thermodynamic model was constructed to probe the precipitation conversion mechanism, and visually predict the component and yield for products under various operating conditions. Batch experiments were conducted to investigate P recovery performance as a function of initial Mg²⁺ concentration, initial pH level, as well as degree of urine hydrolysis. Moreover, the alternative dosing scheme with different calcium salts and alkali was presented, diversifying the options for efficient P recovery. The results showed that, from the perspective of acidic storage for fresh urine, P recovery can be boosted along with eliminating urine hydrolysis. In urine with an initial pH=2.0, P can be completely recovered and purity for calcium phosphate can be optimized to 100% within a Ca/P ratio range of 1.67-2.3. Overall, this work is of great significance for precisely and efficiently harvesting P from urine and provides an integrated strategy for P resource recovery from urine.

Production of struvite by magnesium anode constant voltage electrolytic crystallisation from anaerobically digested chicken manure slurry

Nitrogen and phosphorus levels in livestock manure and digestive fluid are high, posing a threat to soil and water quality and necessitating nutrient removal and recovery. Phosphorus recovery has the potential to alleviate the global phosphorus resource crisis. This study proposed a magnesium anode constant voltage electrolysis method to crystallise struvite (magnesium ammonium phosphate hexahydrate, MgNH₄PO₄·6H₂O) from anaerobically digested chicken manure slurry using reaction kinetics at variable constant voltages ranging from 2 V to 12 V. The recovery of nitrogen and phosphorus was shown to be effective over a wide initial pH range (3.00 ± 0.03-7.90 ± 0.10) using synthetic digestion fluids. Moreover, the pH gradually increased during the reaction without any external chemical adjustments. The phosphorus recovery rates conformed to the first-order kinetic model, with a maximum rate constant of 2.13 h^-1. When the best voltage of 2 V was used at 25 ± 1 °C, the recovery rate reached 5.24 mg P h^-1cm^-2 in the synthetic digestion fluids during 90 min and 4.60 mg P h^-1cm^-2 in the anaerobically digested chicken manure slurry. The crystalline products recovered were identified as high-purity struvite by XRD and XPS. The purity of recovered struvite with an initial pH of 3.00 and 7.90 was 96.5% and 98.9%, respectively. These results demonstrated that the magnesium electrode could rapidly react with nitrogen and phosphorus to generate high-purity struvite.

Synchronously recovering different nutrient ions from wastewater by using selective electrodialysis

Digestive slurry normally contains various nutrient ions with high concentrations, including NH₄⁺, PO₄^3-, K⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺ and SO₄^2-, which is a resource pool for nutrient recovery. In this study, a synchronously cationic and anionic selective electrodialysis (SCAE) was developed to recover anionic and cationic nutrient ions. Results showed that SCAE could synchronously recover more than 85.0%, 90.2% and 97.8% of PO₄^3-, SO₄^2- and other cations (including NH₄⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺) from the simulated digestive slurry, respectively. The ionic permeation sequence, NH₄⁺ > K⁺ > Ca²⁺ > Mg²⁺ for cations, and SO₄^2- > PO₄^3- for anions, was affected by hydrated radius and hydration numbers, and did not alter despite the variation in electric field. High electrolyte concentration in the product streams would promote the recovery efficiency of both divalent cations and anions due to the ionic replacement effect and the demand for charge neutrality. Under continuous operation, the maximum concentrations of PO₄^3-, SO₄^2-, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, NH₄⁺ and K⁺ in product streams reached 231.9, 496.6, 180.7, 604.3, 9,648.4 and 4,571.4 mg·L^-1, respectively. By directly mixing different streams, the feasibility of producing mineral fertilizers without dosing externally precipitating chemicals was proved. Struvite, NH₄HSO₄ and potassium chloride minerals were produced successfully. The outcome provided an optional method for nutrient recovery from wastewater.

Design and preliminary techno-economic assessment of a pilot scale pharmaceutical wastewater treatment system for ammonia removal and recovery of fertilizer

Recovery of nutrients from wastewater has a paramount importance for a sustainable and safe environment. In this study removal of ammonia and recovery of resources in the form of struvite from a complex pharmaceutical acidic wastewater having high concentration of ammoniacal nitrogen (NH₄-N > 40 g/L) and other co-existing contaminants (magnesium, phosphorous, phenol etc.) was explored. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was employed for design of experiments and process optimization. RSM results revealed that removal of ammoniacal nitrogen, i.e., struvite precipitation was found to be maximum in alkaline pH (10.5-11.0) at a N:Mg molar ratio (1:0.030 to 1:0.035) and N:P molar ratio (1:0.025 to 1:0.030). X-Ray diffraction, thermo-gravimetric analysis and Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy confirmed the presence of struvite crystals in the obtained precipitate. Techno-economic assessment (TEA) based on mass energy balance principle and market equipment specifications revealed that a pilot-scale plant set up would have a break-even period of 1.06 years with a return on investment as 94.28%. This clearly elucidated the economic viability of the developed process for industrial applications for management of high ammonia laden pharmaceutical wastewater. While further specific technological improvements are needed for reduction of cost, this study will guide researchers and industries for careful selection of target markets to reduce the cost for successful implementation.

Struvite crystallization by using active serpentine: An innovative application for the economical and efficient recovery of phosphorus from black water

Recovery of phosphorus from wastewater through struvite crystallization is one of the most attractive methods. However, the cost of chemical consumption makes this technology is unattractive to some extent. In this work, highly active serpentine was prepared by one-step mechanical activation and then used to recover phosphate as struvite from the black water containing 132.8 mg/L phosphorus and 3144 mg/L ammonia nitrogen. The results indicated that the prepared active serpentine can release magnesium ions and hydroxide ions simultaneously into an aqueous solution and is an ideal raw material for struvite crystallization. The factors for phosphorus recovery in this process mainly include mechanical activation intensity, serpentine dosage, and contact time. For the actual black water, a high recovery rate of phosphorus (>98%) is achieved by using active serpentine as the magnesium and alkali source for struvite precipitation. The recovery product was identified as struvite with a median particle size of 32.96 μm. It was confirmed that the mechanical activation damaged the crystal structure of the raw serpentine, improving the activity of Mg²⁺ and OH^-. The undissolved Si-containing particles act as crystal seeds, accelerating the struvite crystallization process. Furthermore, a pilot-scale test was conducted with a rural public toilet in Xiong'an New District, Hebei Province. The results showed that an acceptable phosphorus recovery (98%) could be achieved using active serpentine. Additionally, it was demonstrated that the serpentine process to recover phosphate as struvite reduced the cost by 54.4% in compared with an ordinary chemical process. The active serpentine is a promising dual source of magnesium and alkali for the phosphorus recovery by the struvite method. It has a potential prospect for the large-scale application in phosphorus recovery and struvite fertilizer production.

Effects of Physicochemical Parameters on Struvite Crystallization Based on Kinetics

The precipitation of struvite (MgNH₄PO₄·6H₂O) is considered to be a promising method for the recovery of phosphate from wastewater. In this review, the kinetic models, which are commonly used to explain the process of struvite crystallization, are described. The mixed-suspension mixed-product removal (MSMPR) model is based on the population balance equation (the size-dependent growth model and the size-independent growth model). Thereafter, the first-order kinetic fitting model that aligned with concentration changes in the substrate is summarized. Finally, the several physical and chemical factors that affected the efficiency of struvite crystallization are determined. The supersaturation ratio, which is seen as the driving force of struvite crystallization, is the main factor that influences crystallization; however, it cannot be used in practical applications of engineering because it is indirectly associated with the following factors: pH, the molar ratio of Mg:N:P, and the interference of foreign impurities. In this study, we present conclusions that should be used to guide further research studies, and encourage the engineering practice of wastewater treatment with struvite precipitation.

Phosphorus recovery from wastewater and bio-based waste: an overview

Phosphorus is one of the most important macronutrients needed for the growth of plants. The fertilizer production market uses 80% of natural, non-renewable phosphorus resources in the form of phosphate rock. The depletion of those deposits forces a search for other alternatives, including biological waste. This review aims to indicate the most important ways to recover phosphorus from biowaste, with particular emphasis on wastewater, sewage sludge, manure, slaughter or food waste. A comparison of utilized methods and directions for future research based on the latest research is presented. Combining biological, chemical, and physical methods with thermal treatment appears to be the most effective way for the treatment of wastewater sludge in terms of phosphorus recovery. Hydrothermal, thermochemical, and adsorption on thermally treated adsorbents are characterized by a high phosphorus recovery rate (over 95%). For animal by-products and other biological waste, chemical methods seems to be the most optimal solution with a recovery rate over 96%. Due to its large volume and relatively low phosphorus content, wastewater is a resource that requires additional treatment to recover the highest possible amount of phosphorus. Pretreatment of wastewater with combined methods seems to be a possible way to improve phosphorus recovery. A compressive evaluation of combined methods is crucial for future research in this area.

A review on the integration of mainstream P-recovery strategies with enhanced biological phosphorus removal

Phosphorus (P), an essential nutrient for all organisms, urgently needs to be recovered due to the increasing demand and scarcity of this natural resource. Recovering P from wastewater is a feasible and promising way widely studied nowadays due to the need to remove P in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). When enhanced biological P removal (EBPR) is implemented, an innovative option is to recover P from the supernatant streams obtained in the mainstream water line, and then combine it with liquor-crystallisation recovery processes, being the final recovered product struvite, vivianite or hydroxyapatite. The basic idea of these mainstream P-recovery strategies is to take advantage of the ability of polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAO) to increase P concentration under anaerobic conditions when some carbon source is available. This work shows the mainstream P-recovery technologies reported so far, both in continuous and sequenced batch reactors (SBR) based configurations. The amount of extraction, as a key parameter to balance the recovery efficiency and the maintenance of the EBPR of the system, should be the first design criterion. The maximum value of P-recovery efficiency for long-term operation with an adequate extraction ratio would be around 60%. Other relevant factors (e.g. COD/P ratio of the influent, need for an additional carbon source) and operational parameters (e.g. aeration, SRT, HRT) are also reported and discussed.

Spontaneous nutrient recovery and disinfection of aquaculture wastewater via Mg-coconut shell carbon composites

Aquaculture wastewater contained large amounts of pathogenic microorganisms, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). In this study, the nutrient recoveries and wastewater disinfection were simultaneously achieved using Mg-coconut shell carbon (Mg-CSC). The composites were prepared by a ball milling method. The hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) was in-situ generated by the dissolved oxygen reduction driven by Mg corrosion on the CSC surface, which inactivated the microorganisms. Besides that, Mg corrosion provided sufficient Mg ions and appropriate pH conditions for struvite formation. The results show that 5.4-log E.coli removal was achieved under different conditions. Improving the Mg/CSC ratio and composite dosage could shorten the time required for disinfection. In addition to H₂O₂, singlet oxygen played a critical role. Reactive oxygen species destroyed the cellular structure and killed the bacteria. The recoveries of NH₄⁺-Nand P under certain conditions were about 60% and 91%, respectively. An increased composite dosage could improve the recovery ratio of P. Excessive dosages were not beneficial for removing NH₄⁺-N. The characterization result revealed that struvite crystals were the main precipitates on the CSC surface. The Mg-CSC composites also revealed satisfied nutrient recovery and disinfection performances in the real aquaculture wastewater treatment process.

Effect of saline water ionic strength on phosphorus recovery from synthetic swine wastewater

Declining worldwide phosphate rock reserves has driven a growing interest in exploration of alternative phosphate supplies. This study involved phosphorus recovery from swine wastewater through precipitation of struvite, a valuable slow-release fertiliser. The economic feasibility of this process is highly dependent on the cost of magnesium source. Two different magnesium sources were used for phosphorus recovery: pure magnesium chloride and nanofiltration (NF) saline water retentate. The paper focuses on the impact of ionic strength on phosphorus recovery performance that has not been reported elsewhere. Experimental design with five numerical variables (Mg/P molar ratio, pH, PO₄^3--P, NH₄⁺-N, and Ca²⁺ levels) and one categorical variable (type of magnesium source) was used to evaluate the effect of ionic strength on phosphorus removal and struvite purity. The experimental data were analysed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and principal component analysis (PCA). Results indicated that a magnesium source obtained from NF retentate was as effective as MgCl₂ for struvite precipitation. It was also revealed that ionic strength had a more positive effect on struvite purity than on phosphorus removal. Within the range of parameters studied in this research, high ionic strength, high pH and wastewater with high phosphate, high ammonium and low calcium contents were found to be the most favourable conditions for struvite precipitation. Findings from this study will be beneficial to determine the feasibility of using high ionic strength saline water, such as NF seawater retentate, as a magnesium source for phosphorus recovery from wastewater that is rich in ammonium-nitrogen and phosphate.

Engineering Calcium-bearing Mineral/Hydrogel Composites for Effective Phosphate Recovery

Effectively recovering phosphate from wastewater streams and reutilizing it as a nutrient will critically support sustainability. Here, to capture aqueous phosphate, we developed novel mineral-hydrogel composites composed of calcium alginate, calcium phosphate (CaP), and calcium silicate (CSH) (CaP + CSH/Ca-Alg). The CaP + CSH/Ca-Alg composites were synthesized by dripping a sodium alginate (Na-Alg) solution with ionic precursors into a calcium chloride bath. To change the mineral seed's properties, we varied the calcium bath concentrations and the ionic precursor (sodium dibasic phosphate (NaH₂PO₄) and/or sodium silicate (Na₂SiO₃)) amounts and their ratios. The added CSH in the mineral-hydrogel composites resulted in the release of calcium and silicate ions in phosphate-rich solutions, increasing the saturation ratio with respect to calcium phosphate within the mineral-hydrogel composites. The CSH addition to the mineral-hydrogel composites doubled the phosphate removal rate while requiring lesser initial amounts of Ca and P materials for synthesis. By incorporating both CSH and CaP mineral seeds in composites, we achieved a final concentration of 0.25 mg-P/L from an initial 6.20 mg-P/L. Moreover, the mineral-hydrogel composites can remove phosphate even under CaP undersaturated conditions. This suggests their potential to be a widely applicable and environmentally-sustainable treatment and recovery method for nutrient-rich wastewater.

Ultrasonic power combined with seed materials for recovery of phosphorus from swine wastewater via struvite crystallization process

Recovering P via struvite crystallization is an effective way to utilize the resources in swine wastewater. At present, the main challenges of traditional struvite crystallization process are the long reaction time and insufficient removal efficiency. In this study, a novel method to promote struvite crystallization process through ultrasound (US) combined with seed materials is proposed to overcome these defects. We systematically study the effects of US, seed materials, and ultrasonic power on nutrient recovery. The experimental results show that under the conditions of pH 9.5 and MgCl₂:P molar ratio1.4:1, the addition of 2 g/L pre-synthesized struvite as the seed materials can increase the P removal rate to 91.56%, whereas, the addition of 80 W ultrasonic power for 15 min can make the P removal rate reach 94.18%. Meanwhile, the combination of US and struvite seed crystals can achieve a maximum P removal efficiency value of 97.66% in which 10 min for the reaction time is enough. The products are characterized using XRD, SEM, and FTIR to determine the phosphorus removal mechanism of ultrasonic power combined with seed induction. The shearing effect of US is found beneficial to affect the surface morphology of the seed crystals, which provides more nucleation sites to enhance crystal nucleation and growth. The removal efficiency comparison reveals that this combined technology performs an excellent removal effect.

Recovery of phosphorus as soluble phosphates from aqueous solutions using chitosan hydrogel sorbents

This manuscript presents new method of phosphorus recovery from aqueous solutions in a convenient form of readily-soluble phosphates using chitosan hydrogels. Non-modified chitosan hydrogel granules (CHs) and chitosan hydrogel granules crosslinked with epichlorohydrin (CHs-ECH) served as orthophosphate ion carriers. The developed method was based on cyclic sorption/desorption of orthophosphates, with desorption performed in each cycle to the same solution (the concentrate). The concentrations of orthophosphates obtained in the concentrates depended on, i.a., sorbent type, sorption pH, source solution concentration, and desorption pH. Phosphorus concentrations in the concentrates were even 30 times higher than these in the source solutions. The maximum concentrate concentrations reached 332.0 mg P-PO₄/L for CHs and 971.6 mg P-PO₄/L for CHs-ECH. The experimental series with CHs-ECH were characterized by higher concentrations of the obtained concentrate, however the concentrates were also more contaminated with Cl⁻ and Na⁺ ions compared to series with CHs. The high content of chlorine and sodium ions in the concentrates was also favored by the low pH of sorption (pH < 4) and very high pH of desorption (pH > 12) in the cycles. After concentrate evaporation, phosphorus content in the sediment ranged from 17.81 to 19.83% for CHs and from 16.04 to 17.74% for CHs-ECH.

Effect of Organic Substances on Nutrients Recovery by Struvite Electrochemical Precipitation from Synthetic Anaerobically Treated Swine Wastewater

Anaerobically treated swine wastewater contains large amounts of orthophosphate phosphorus, ammonium nitrogen and organic substances with potential nutrients recovery via struvite electrochemical precipitation post-treatment. Lab-scale batch experiments were systematically conducted in this study to investigate the effects of initial pH, current density, organic substances upon nutrients removal, and precipitates quality (characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and element analysis via acid dissolution method) during the struvite electrochemical precipitation process. The optimal conditions for the initial pH of 7.0 and current density of 4 mA/cm² favoured nutrients removal and precipitates quality (struvite purity of up to 94.2%) in the absence of organic substances. By contrast, a more adverse effect on nutrients removal, morphology and purity of precipitates was found by humic acid than by sodium alginate and bovine albumin in the individual presence of organic substances. Low concentration combination of bovine albumin, sodium alginate, and humic acid showed antagonistic inhibition effects, whereas a high concentration combination showed the accelerating inhibition effects. Initial pH adjustment from 7 to 8 could effectively mitigate the adverse effects on struvite electrochemical precipitation under high concentration combined with organic substances (500 mg/L bovine albumin, 500 mg/L sodium alginate, and 1500 mg/L humic acid); this may help improve struvite electrochemical precipitation technology in practical application for nutrients recovery from anaerobically treated swine wastewater.

Second-Generation Phosphorus: Recovery from Wastes towards the Sustainability of Production Chains

Phosphorus (P) is essential for life and has a fundamental role in industry and the world food production system. The present work describes different technologies adopted for what is called the second-generation P recovery framework, that encompass the P obtained from residues and wastes. The second-generation P has a high potential to substitute the first-generation P comprising that originally mined from rock phosphates for agricultural production. Several physical, chemical, and biological processes are available for use in second-generation P recovery. They include both concentrating and recovery technologies: (1) chemical extraction using magnesium and calcium precipitating compounds yielding struvite, newberyite and calcium phosphates; (2) thermal treatments like combustion, hydrothermal carbonization, and pyrolysis; (3) nanofiltration and ion exchange methods; (4) electrochemical processes; and (5) biological processes such as composting, algae uptake, and phosphate accumulating microorganisms (PAOs). However, the best technology to use depends on the characteristic of the waste, the purpose of the process, the cost, and the availability of land. The exhaustion of deposits (economic problem) and the accumulation of P (environmental problem) are the main drivers to incentivize the P’s recovery from various wastes. Besides promoting the resource’s safety, the recovery of P introduces the residues as raw materials, closing the productive systems loop and reducing their environmental damage.

Study of pig manure digestate pre-treatment for subsequent valorisation by struvite

This work evaluates the release of phosphorus contained in the digestate from the anaerobic digestion of pig manure, through an acidification process. The objective of this acidification is to increase the amount of phosphorus available in the digestate liquid fraction and, subsequently, recover this element by chemical precipitation in the form of struvite or calcium phosphate. Two digestate samples (one fresh and one old) were studied and treated by adding various amounts of sulphuric acid to the different digestate fractions (raw digestate, solid fraction and liquid fraction). For the raw digestate, phosphorus releases higher than 95% were obtained for pH 4.0. In the last part of the experiment, the influence of acid pre-treatment on the reaction yield of phosphorus precipitation, in the form of struvite or calcium phosphate, was determined. Improvements in reaction yield were obtained up to 15% for struvite and 80% for calcium phosphate, increasing also in 7.5 times the amount of phosphorus available in the digestate liquid fraction, for both cases.

Towards an Energy Self-Sufficient Resource Recovery Facility by Improving Energy and Economic Balance of a Municipal WWTP with Chemically Enhanced Primary Treatment

The recent trend of turning wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) into energy self-sufficient resource recovery facilities has led to a constant search for solutions that fit into that concept. One of them is chemically enhanced primary treatment (CEPT), which provides an opportunity to increase biogas production and to significantly reduce the amount of sludge for final disposal. Laboratory, pilot, and full-scale trials were conducted for the coagulation and sedimentation of primary sludge (PS) with iron sulphate (PIX). Energy and economic balance calculations were conducted based on the obtained results. Experimental trials indicated that CEPT contributed to an increase in biogas production by 21% and to a decrease in sludge volume for final disposal by 12% weight. Furthermore, the application of CEPT may lead to a decreased energy demand for aeration by 8%. The removal of nitrogen in an autotrophic manner in the side stream leads to a further reduction in energy consumption in WWTP (up to 20%). In consequence, the modeling results showed that it would be possible to increase the energy self-sufficiency for WWTP up to 93% if CEPT is applied or even higher (up to 96%) if, additionally, nitrogen removal in the side stream is implemented. It was concluded that CEPT would reduce the operating cost by over 650,000 EUR/year for WWTP at 1,000,000 people equivalent, with a municipal wastewater input of 105,000 m3/d.

Dissolving the high-cost with acidity: A happy encounter between fluidized struvite crystallization and wastewater from activated carbon manufacture

Production of wood-based activated carbon (WAC) generates large volume of highly acidic and phosphate-rich wastewater. Currently, the routine treatment (i.e. lime precipitation) creates significant secondary pollution, leading to extra economic and environmental burdens. Here, by exploiting the strong acidity of WAC wastewater, we successfully demonstrate fluidized struvite crystallization as a low-cost treatment alternative. Based on a 12 m³/d on-site pilot-scale system, four different fluidized struvite crystallization scenarios are evaluated from technical, economic, and environmental perspectives. The results show that using MgO with MgCl₂ supplement saves 42.8% of the reagent cost when treating phosphate-rich wastewater (i.e. P = 3125.2 mg/L), and also maintains ideal P removal rate and struvite product purity. Meanwhile, the internal circulation mode exhibits higher P recovery (99.2%) than the external mode (55.3%-89.3%), while also demonstrates superior economic and environmental benefit because of less chemical consumption. In addition, the struvite morphology can be turned between pellets with strong crushing strength (external mode) to powder (internal mode). By Life cycle cost (LCC) analysis, we find that, on a treatment scale of 500 m³/d, struvite-based technology saves up to 31.33 million Chinese Yuan (CYN) during a 20-year lifespan, with relative payback period of 2.60 year. The technical, economic, and environmental assessments confirm that the struvite technology is a promising alternative in solving the bottleneck of WAC wastewater treatment.

Insight into efficient phosphorus removal/recovery from enhanced methane production of waste activated sludge with chitosan-Fe supplementation

Fe(III)-loaded chitosan (CTS-Fe) composite was used for the first time to remove and recover phosphorus (P) from waste activated sludge (WAS) via anaerobic digestion (AD). The P transformation pathway and the effect of CTS-Fe addition on the AD process were investigated using batch experiments. The P fractionation results indicate that non-apatite inorganic phosphorus (NAIP) reduction in the solid phase of sludge at 20 g/L of CTS-Fe addition (6.72 mg/g-SS) was 2.4 times higher than that in the control (2.77 mg/g-SS, no CTS-Fe addition). This is probably brought about by the added CTS-Fe enhanced the reduction of Fe(III)-P compounds in the sludge with phosphate released into the liquid phase. CTS-Fe can efficiently recover 95% of P from the liquid digestate of WAS. Notably, partial Fe(III) on the CTS-Fe was reduced and effectively combined with P to form vivianite crystals on the CTS-Fe surface during the AD process. Characterization analysis demonstrated that ligand exchange and chemical precipitation were the dominant mechanisms for P removal/recovery. Furthermore, the addition of CTS-Fe increased methane production by 11.9 - 32.2% under the tested conditions, likely attributable to the enhanced hydrolysis of WAS under CTS-Fe supplementation. As the P-loaded CTS-Fe particles can be easily separated and recovered from the AD system and further reutilized in agriculture, this study could provide a new approach for simultaneous P removal/recovery and enhanced methane production from AD of WAS.

Optimization and reaction kinetics analysis for phosphorus removal in struvite precipitation process

As a promising strategy to remove and recover phosphorus from wastewater, optimization of the struvite (MgNH₄ PO₄ .6H₂ O) precipitation parameters is required to achieve desirable phosphorus removal efficiency. To tackle the challenges upon the precipitation optimization methods as three-level full factorial designs, and central composite design as well, Box-Behnken design was implemented to optimize different reaction parameters for phosphorus removal and recovery during struvite precipitation in the current study. Moreover, the reaction orders and the rate equation were all determined to reveal the reaction kinetics parameters of struvite precipitation. The results showed that the optimal operating parameters of pH, Mg/P ratio and N/P ratio were 9.82, 1.45, and 4.00, respectively, by which more than 95% of phosphorus removal efficiency could be achieved. In addition, it was found that pH and pH/(N/P) had the most influence on phosphorus removal efficiency among different individual factors and interactive items, respectively. The partial orders of PO₄ -P, Mg²⁺ , and NH 4 + in kinetic rate equation were determined as 1.586, 0.930, and 1.236 while the rate constant k was 0.0167 ± 0.0014 mM^-2.752 per minute by differential method. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Different reaction parameters were optimized by Box-Behnken design. pH and pH/(N/P) had the most influence on phosphorus removal efficiency among different individual factors and interactive items. The reaction orders and the rate equation were all determined to reveal the reaction kinetics parameters.

Novel, recyclable active capping systems using fabric-wrapped zirconium-modified magnetite/bentonite composite for sedimentary phosphorus release control

A zirconium-modified magnetite/bentonite composite (M-ZrFeBT) was synthesized, characterized and combined with water-permeable fabric to construct novel, recyclable active capping systems for sedimentary phosphorus (P) release control. Three fabric-wrapped M-ZrFeBT capping devices with different shapes were designed, i.e., CAP-1, CAP-2 and CAP-3, and they are disc-shaped, cuboid-shaped and spindle-shaped capping devices, respectively. The behavior and mechanism for phosphate adsorption onto M-ZrFeBT was studied. The impact of CAP-1, CAP-2 and CAP-3 capping on the mobilization of P in sediments was investigated. The results showed that M-ZrFeBT possessed good phosphate adsorption ability, with a largest monolayer adsorption capacity of 8.02 mg P/g. The replacement of Fe/Zr bound hydroxyl groups with phosphate through ligand-exchange reactions to generate the inner-sphere Fe-O-P and Zr-O-P bonding played a key part in the uptake of phosphate from water by M-ZrFeBT. Sediment capping with fabric-wrapped M-ZrFeBT not only brought about a significant decline in the concentrations of soluble reactive P (SRP) and DGT (diffusive gradient in thin films)-labile P (LP_DGT) in the overlying water, but also gave rise to the diminished SRP and LP_DGT concentrations in the upper sediment. Most (96.5%-98.2%) of P bound by the M-ZrFeBT in the capping layers was in the form of NaOH extractable inorganic P, HCl-extractable P and residual P, which were considered to be hard to be released back into the water column under common pH and oxygen-deficient conditions. The reduction of pore water SRP and LP_DGT in the upper sediment layer induced by the adsorption of SRP on the M-ZrFeBT-based capping layer played a key part in the interception of SRP liberation from the sediment solid into the overlying water. Results indicate that fabric-wrapped M-ZrFeBT capping is promising for controlling the internal P loading from sediments in shallow freshwater bodies.

Transformation and migration of phosphorus in excess sludge reduction pretreatment by alkaline ferrate oxidation combined with anaerobic digestion

Recently, more and more attention has been paid to the strong oxidation ability of newly prepared potassium ferrate (NAPF) in sludge reduction process, but less attention has been paid to the change of phosphorus in this process. The feasibility of phosphorus migration and transformation during excess sludge reduction pretreatment using NAPF pre-oxidation combined with anaerobic digestion was investigated. After 70 mg/g suspended solids NAPF pretreatment and 16 days anaerobic digestion, the solid-phase volatile suspended solids decreased by 44.2%, and much organic matter had been released into the liquid-phase and then degraded during digestion by indigenous microorganisms. As the sludge pre-oxidation process was performed, solid-phase organic phosphorus and chemically combined phosphorus also released into the liquid-phase as PO₄^3-, peaking at 100 mg/L. During anaerobic digestion, the Fe³⁺ in the liquid-phase was gradually reduced to Fe²⁺, and then formed Fe²⁺-PO₄^3- compound crystals and re-migrated to the solid-phase. The concentration of PO₄^3- decreased to 17.08±1.1 mg/L in the liquid-phase after anaerobic digestion. Finally, the phosphorus in the Fe²⁺-PO₄^3- compound accounts for 80% of the total phosphorus in the solid-phase. A large number of vivianite crystals in sludge were observed. Therefore, this technology not only effectively reduces sludge, but also increases the proportion of PO₄^3- in the sludge in the form of Vivianite.

The potential of adopting struvite precipitation as a strategy for the removal of nutrients from pre-AnMBR treated abattoir wastewater

Large volume of wastewater consisting complex forms of organics, lipids and nutrients, is discharged from the abattoir (red meat) processing industry. In this study, nutrient rich pre-Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor (AnMBR) treated abattoir effluent was fed to a struvite (MgNH₄PO₄.6H₂O) precipitator to evaluate the possibility of developing an innovative environmentally sustainable treatment technology to produce nutrient free high-quality treated effluent. A series of continuous and batch experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of pH and presence of Ca²⁺ on struvite precipitation. The study found that Mg²⁺:Ca²⁺ molar ratio of 0.8 (or high Ca²⁺) impacts on the production and quality of struvite significantly. Pre-AnMBR treated abattoir wastewater with negligible Ca²⁺ (Mg²⁺:Ca²⁺ molar ratio > 20) showed over 80% removal of phosphorus via struvite precipitation. The highest removal rates of both nitrogen and phosphorus were achieved at pH 9.5 with Mg²⁺:PO₄^3- molar ratio of 2:1.

Feedstock-Dependent Phosphate Recovery in a Pilot-Scale Hydrothermal Liquefaction Bio-Crude Production

Microalgae (Spirulina) and primary sewage sludge are considerable feedstocks for future fuel-producing biorefinery. These feedstocks have either a high fuel production potential (algae) or a particularly high appearance as waste (sludge). Both feedstocks bring high loads of nutrients (P, N) that must be addressed in sound biorefinery concepts that primarily target specific hydrocarbons, such as liquid fuels. Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL), which produces bio-crude oil that is ready for catalytic upgrading (e.g., for jet fuel), is a useful starting point for such an approach. As technology advances from small-scale batches to pilot-scale continuous operations, the aspect of nutrient recovery must be reconsidered. This research presents a full analysis of relevant nutrient flows between the product phases of HTL for the two aforementioned feedstocks on the basis of pilot-scale data. From a partial experimentally derived mass balance, initial strategies for recovering the most relevant nutrients (P, N) were developed and proofed in laboratory-scale. The experimental and theoretical data from the pilot and laboratory scales are combined to present the proof of concept and provide the first mass balances of an HTL-based biorefinery modular operation for producing fertilizer (struvite) as a value-added product.

The recovery of phosphorus from source-separated urine by repeatedly usable magnetic Fe3O4@ZrO2 nanoparticles under acidic conditions

The separation of urine at source for phosphorus (P) recovery is attractive taking into account the high P concentration and small volume. However, the treatment of urine is still challenging due to its unpleasant odor and hygiene problems. Because the above problems could be solved by acidification to keep the pH of urine below 4, we propose a novel strategy to recover P from acidified urine using tailored hydrous zirconia-coated magnetite nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄@ZrO₂). This strategy involves the selective adsorption of phosphate by easily separable and reusable Fe₃O₄@ZrO₂, the desorption of adsorbed phosphate, and the precipitation of desorbed phosphate as calcium phosphate fertilizer. The results indicated that at pH 4, the P in synthetic urine was selectively adsorbed and could be exhausted using Fe₃O₄@ZrO₂. Nearly all (>97.5%) of the sequestered P on the Fe₃O₄@ZrO₂ nanoparticles was stripped using ≥1 M NaOH solution and ~100% of the stripped P was then successfully transformed into calcium phosphate, upon adding CaCl₂ at pH >12 and a Ca/P molar ratio of 3. The liquid/solid (Fe₃O₄@ZrO₂ particles) mixture could be conveniently separated for reuse using an external magnetic field. The reusability of the Fe₃O₄@ZrO₂ nanoparticles in the extraction of P from synthetic urine was confirmed using five cycles of the adsorption-desorption process and their performance validated using real urine samples. The mechanism of phosphate adsorption was investigated using XPS, FTIR and zeta potential measurements, showing that phosphate was chemically adsorbed on the surface through direct coordination to zirconium atom via ligand exchange.

Development of a Heterogeneity Analysis Framework for Collaborative Sponge City Management

Rapid urbanization, inappropriate urban planning and the changing climate in many countries have resulted in flooding, water shortage and water pollution around the world. Although the sponge city concept has been applied in both macro-scales and micro-scales to address those challenges, research on the heterogeneity of different cities for sponge city construction and the collaborative management between cities is insufficient. Therefore, this paper proposes a multivariate cluster analysis framework and conducts an empirical study using 96 Chinese cities. By considering the local infrastructure, economic development, water resource distribution, water quality and precipitation characteristics in each city, and integrating the principal component analysis and a self-organizing feature mapping network, this paper shows the potential of regional and interregional sponge city collaborative management. This will provide an opportunity for developing a new sponge city management mechanism and will promote the establishment of multi-functional departments for urban flood control and water quality improvement.