The effect of residual cationic polymers in swine wastewater on the fouling of reverse osmosis membranes

Recovery of nitrogen and phosphorus from livestock slurry with treatment technologies: A meta-analysis

The livestock industry has developed rapidly in recent decades, but the improper treatment of livestock manure, especially slurry, causes environmental pollution. Treatment technologies are considered to be effective in alleviating nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) losses from livestock slurry. Here, we used published research data to conduct a meta-analysis of the recovery efficiencies of N and P of five mainstream treatment technologies, including ammonia stripping, air scrubbing, membrane filtration, microalgae cultivation and struvite crystallization. Additionally, the agronomic effects of the recovered products of these treatment technologies were evaluated. The results showed that all technologies exhibited clear recovery effects on N and P. The N recovery efficiencies ranged from 57% to 86%, and those of P ranged from 64% to 87%. Struvite crystallization was the most efficient treatment technology for both N and P recovery; moreover, the ammonia stripping and microalgae cultivation technologies were less efficient. The pH levels and temperatures are the main factors that influence ammonia stripping, struvite crystallization and microalgae cultivation, while membrane filtration and air scrubbing are mainly affected by the membrane types and properties. When the equal amount of N or P input to fields, the recovered products (ammonium sulfate and struvite crystals) may achieve a similar crop yield, relative to commercial N or P fertilizers. Our findings can provide deep suggestions and parameters for designing proper treatment technologies to reduce nutrient discharge from livestock slurry in regions with high livestock density and also for identifying the research gaps that should be paid more attention in the future.

Treatment of Manure and Digestate Liquid Fractions Using Membranes: Opportunities and Challenges

Manure and digestate liquid fractions are nutrient-rich effluents that can be fractionated and concentrated using membranes. However, these membranes tend to foul due to organic matter, solids, colloids, and inorganic compounds including calcium, ammonium, sodium, sulfur, potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium contained in the feed. This review paper is intended as a theoretical and practical tool for the decision-making process during design of membrane-based systems aiming at processing manure liquid fractions. Firstly, this review paper gives an overview of the main physico-chemical characteristics of manure and digestates. Furthermore, solid-liquid separation technologies are described and the complexity of the physico-chemical variables affecting the separation process is discussed. The main factors influencing membrane fouling mechanisms, morphology and characteristics are described, as well as techniques covering membrane inspection and foulant analysis. Secondly, the effects of the feed characteristics, membrane operating conditions (pressure, cross-flow velocity, temperature), pH, flocculation-coagulation and membrane cleaning on fouling and membrane performance are presented. Finally, a summary of techniques for specific recovery of ammonia-nitrogen, phosphorus and removal of heavy metals for farm effluents is also presented.

Fouling of a spiral-wound reverse osmosis membrane processing swine wastewater: effect of cleaning procedure on fouling resistance

Swine manure is a valuable source of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. After solid-liquid separation, the resulting swine wastewater can be concentrated by reverse osmosis (RO) to produce a nitrogen-potassium rich fertilizer. However, swine wastewater has a high fouling potential and an efficient cleaning strategy is required. In this study, a semi-commercial farm scale RO spiral-wound membrane unit was fouled while processing larger volumes of swine wastewater during realistic cyclic operations over a 9-week period. Membrane cleaning was performed daily. Three different cleaning solutions, containing SDS, SDS+EDTA and NaOH were compared. About 99% of the fouling resistance could be removed by rinsing the membrane with water. Flux recoveries (FRs) above 98% were achieved for all the three cleaning solutions after cleaning. No significant differences in FR were found between the cleaning solutions. The NaOH solution thus is a good economical option for cleaning RO spiral-wound membranes fouled with swine wastewater. Soaking the membrane for 3 days in permeate water at the end of each week further improved the FR. Furthermore, a fouling resistance model for predicting the fouling rate, permeate flux decay and cleaning cycle periods based on processing time and swine wastewater conductivity was developed.