Soil Chemical Property Changes over Time from Struvite Compared to Other Fertilizer-Phosphorus Sources in Multiple Soils

Studies have shown that phosphorus (P) recovered from wastewater as the mineral struvite [MgNH4PO4·6(H2O)] may be a viable alternative fertilizer-P source. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of electrochemically precipitated struvite (ECST), reclaimed from synthetic wastewater, to other commercial fertilizer-P sources in cultivated soils from Arkansas [AR;silt loam (SiL) and loam (L)], Missouri (MO;SiL), and Nebraska [NE;SiL and sandy loam (SL)]. A plant-less, moist-soil incubation experiment, including ECST, chemically precipitated struvite (CPST), monoammonium phosphate (MAP), triple superphosphate (TSP), and an unamended control (UC), was conducted to quantify soil pH, nitrate (NO3-N), ammonium (NH4-N), and Mehlich-3 (M3)-P, -Ca, -Mg, and -Fe concentrations at 0.5, 1, 2, 4, and 6 months. All measured soil properties differed (P ·kg-1 for AR-L-TSP after 1 month and NE-SiL-MAP after 6 months, respectively. Soil M3-P ranged from -29.6 mg·kg-1 in the AR-L-UC after 1 month to 429 mg·kg-1 AR-SiL-TSP after 0.5 months. Results showed that, over time, ECST had comparable pH and soil NO3-N, NH4-N, and M3-P, -Ca, -Mg, and -Fe behavior compared to CPST, MAP, and TSP across various soil textures.

Emerging electrochemical processes for materials recovery from wastewater: Mechanisms and prospects

Recovering valuable materials from waste streams is critical to the transition to a circular economy with reduced environmental damages caused by resource extraction activities.Municipal and industrial wastewaters contain a variety of materials,such as nutrients(nitrogen and phosphorus),lithium,and rare earth elements,which can be recovered as value-added products.Owing to their modularity,convenient operation and control,and the non-requirement of chemical dosage,electrochemical technologies offer a great promise for resource recovery in small-scale,decentralized systems.Here,we review three emerging electrochemical technologies for materials recovery applications:electrosorption based on carbonaceous and intercalation electrodes,electrochemical redox processes,and electrochemically induced precipitation.We highlight the mechanisms for achieving selective materials recovery in these processes.We also present an overview of the advantages and limitations of these technologies,as well as the key challenges that need to be overcome for their deployment in real-world systems to achieve cost-effective and sustainable materials recovery.

Electrochemical removal and recovery of phosphorus from wastewater using cathodic membrane filtration reactor

Removal and recovery of phosphorus(P) from wastewater is of great importance to addressing the challenges of eutrophication and phosphorus shortage. The P removal and recovery performance of conventional electrochemical precipitation approach was constrained by the limited mass transfer rate. Herein,a cathodic membrane filtration(CMF) reactor was developed using Ti/SnO_(2)-Sb anode and titanium mesh cathodic membrane module to achieve efficient removal and recovery of P in wastewater. Compared with the flow-by mode, the CMF system in the flow-through mode exhibited excellent P removal performance due to the markedly enhanced mass transfer. At the current density of 4 A/m^(2), membrane flux of 16.6 L m^(-2)h^(-1), and Ca/P molar ratio of 1.67, the removal efficiency of P was 96.2% and the energy consumption was only 45.7 k Wh/kg P. The local high p H of cathode surface played a vital role in P removal,which substantially accelerated the nucleation of calcium phosphate(Ca P). Based on the crystalline and morphological characterization of the precipitates, the hydroxyapatite was the most stable crystalline phase of Ca P, which was transformed from intermediate phases(such as dicalcium phosphate and amorphous calcium phosphate). This study paves the way for applying electrochemical membrane filtration system for P removal and recovery from wastewater.

Effect of Precipitation on Intergranular Corrosion Resistance of 430 Ferritic Stainless Steel

With Nb-Ti-stabilized 430 ferritic stainless steel（NTS430FSS） and SUS 430 ferritic stainless steel（SUS430FSS） as experimental materials, the influence of precipitation on intergranular corrosion resistance was investigated. A series of aging treatment were carried out. The free-exposure corrosion test and double loop electrochemical potentiokinetic reactivation（DL-EPR） test with a scan rate of 1.67 m V/s at 26 °C were applied to evaluate the intergranular corrosion（IGC） resistance. Metallographic observation, scanning electron microscope（SEM）, transmission electron microscope（TEM） with energy dispersive spectroscopy（EDS） and X-ray diffraction（XRD） analysis were conducted. The results show that IGC occurred in SUS430 FSS aged above 700 °C, while it occurred in NTS430 FSS as the temperature was improved to 1 050 °C. The critical degree of sensitization Ir/Ia reaches 0.305 in SUS430 FSS, which is higher than that of NTS430 FSS, i.e. 0.010, aged at 950 °C for 2 h. The TEM, EDS and XRD results show that a large amount of Cr23C6 precipitates with size of 60 nm×22 nm are located at the SUS430 FSS grain boundaries as chains. With the addition of Nb and Ti and reduction of C, the amount of precipitates reduces significantly in NTS430 FSS. A majority of Cr23C6 were replaced by Ti C and Nb C. Only a small amount of spherical Ti C（R=186 nm） and square Ti N（312 nm×192 nm） with Nb and Cr adsorbed are left along grain boundaries. Due to the dual stabilization of Nb and Ti, the precipitation of Cr23C6 is restrained, the chromium depleted region is avoided and accordingly the resistance to the intergranular corrosion is improved.