Seed selections for crystallization of calcium phosphate for phosphorus recovery

Seed induces and promotes the crystallization of calcium phosphate, and acts as carrier of the recovered phosphorus （P）. In order to select suitable seed for P recovery from wastewater, three seeds including Apatite （AP）, Juraperle （JP） and phosphate-modified Juraperle （M-JP） were tested and compared. Batch and fixed-bed column experiments of seeded crystallization of calcium phosphate were undertaken by using synthetic wastewater with 10 mg/L P phosphate. It shows that AP has bad enduring property in the crystallization process, while JP has better performance for multiple uses, and M-JP is a hopeful seed for P recovery by crystallization of calcium phosphate.

Temporal Dynamics and Performance Association of the Tetrasphaera-Enriched Microbiome for Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal

Tetrasphaera have been recently identified based on the 16S ribosomal RNA(rRNA)gene as among the most abundant polyphosphate-accumulating organisms(PAOs)in global full-scale wastewater treatment plants(WWTPs)with enhanced biological phosphorus removal(EBPR).However,it is unclear how Tetrasphaera PAOs are selectively enriched in the context of the EBPR microbiome.In this study,an EBPR microbiome enriched with Tetrasphaera(accounting for 40%of 16S sequences on day 113)was built using a top-down design approach featuring multicarbon sources and a low dosage of allylthiourea.The microbiome showed enhanced nutrient removal(phosphorus removal~85%and nitrogen removal~80%)and increased phosphorus recovery(up to 23.2 times)compared with the seeding activated sludge from a local full-scale WWTP.The supply of 1 mg·L^(-1)allylthiourea promoted the coselection of Tetrasphaera PAOs and Microlunatus PAOs and sharply reduced the relative abundance of both ammonia oxidizer Nitrosomonas and putative competitors Brevundimonas and Paracoccus,facilitating the establishment of the EBPR microbiome.Based on 16S rRNA gene analysis,a putative novel PAO species,EBPR-ASV0001,was identified with Tetrasphaera japonica as its closest relative.This study provides new knowledge on the establishment of a Tetrasphaera-enriched microbiome facilitated by allylthiourea,which can be further exploited to guide future process upgrading and optimization to achieve and/or enhance simultaneous biological phosphorus and nitrogen removal from high-strength wastewater.

Phosphorus Recovery from Incinerated Ash of Sewage Sludge by Heat Treatment

The phosphorus recovery from incinerated ash of sewage sludge by a heat treatment method was investigated.The incinerated ash of sewage sludge was mixed with sodium hydroxide or sodium carbonate,and treated at 750 ℃ to 900 ℃ in aerobic conditions.The phosphorus was successfully recovered as an alkali metal phosphate from the treated ash through water extraction.The recovery rate of the phosphorus reached about 74% to 78%.The optimal condition of the phosphorus recovery and composition of the recovered phosphorus was investigated.

Phosphorus Recovery from Dehydrated Water Sludge by Incineration Using Alkali Metal Compounds

In order to recover the phosphorus from the waste water sludge,the dehydrated sludge was mixed with the reagent of NaOH,KOH or Na2CO3,and incinerated at 750℃ or 900℃.Phosphorus in the incinerated ash of the sludge was dissolved by the addition of water,and recovered by the evaporation of the phosphorus resolved water.The recovered phosphorus was confirmed to be an alkali metal phosphate,and the recovery rate reached about 75%regardless any combination of the reagents(NaOH,KOH or Na2CO3).

Phosphorus Recovery as Struvite from the Supernatant of Anaerobic Digestion in Wastewater Treatment Plant

Phosphorus is an irreplaceable and depletable element. Furthermore, it has an almost one-way circulation on earth, so it is necessary to close the phosphorus cycle loop. Phosphorus could be recovered as struvite, which is a good slow-released fertilizer for agriculture. The supernatant of anaerobic digestion used to treat sludge from wastewater treatment plant is one main source from which phosphorus can be recovered. Studies have proven that phosphorus recovery from digester supematant is a feasible choice to preserve phosphorus rock technically and economically. A modified ＂PHOSNIX＂ P-recovery process was applied under the operating conditions of a 9.0 pH value and a 1.8 mg： P ratio with the influent of the centrate coming from the sludge centrifuge of the Songjiang Wastewater Treatment Plant in Shanghai. More than 80% influent phosphorus was recovered as struvite. Crystal products with good purity and low heavy metal content were gained. The largest crystal had a length of up to 0.26 mm. It was found in our study that the reaction time did not play an important role in crystal growth. Therefore, the optimization of the reaction condition for crystal growth should be examined in future study.

Phosphorus Recovery from the Ash of Sewage Sludge Using NaOH by Heat Treatment-II—Reuse of the Alkali Water Generated by Phosphorus Recovery

The phosphorus recovery from the incinerated ash using NaOH by the heat treatment,was investigated.In this method,non-reacted NaOH containing alkali water was generated with the phosphorus recovery.In order to find out the best method for reuse of the alkali water,the alkali water was mixed with new reagent of NaOH,and the phosphorus recovery was carried out.The phosphorus was recovered as a sodium phosphate,and the recovery rate was almost the same even with the reuse of the alkali water.

Recovery and Upgrading of Phosphorus from Digested Sewage Sludge as MAP by Physical Separation Techniques

Physical separation apparatuses;a vibrating screen, a 4-inch hydrocyclone and a Multi-Gravity Separator (MGS) were used to recover phosphorus as MAP (magnesium ammonium phosphate, MgNH4PO4.6H2O) from anaerobic digested sludge of two sewage-treatment plants A and B. For plant A, the MAP grade increased from 0.08% to 88.9% with 90.4% recovery and for plant B, the grade increased from 0.11% to 73.8 with 93.2% recovery. The collected MAP products containing impurities such as organic materials and heavy metals were further upgraded through dry and wet magnetic separation tests at different magnetic flux densities. A dry magnetic separator was tested on both MAP products (MAP-A and MAP-B), while the wet magnetic separation process was exclusively experimented for the removal of impurities from MAP-B. Feed samples, as well as magnetic and nonmagnetic products were analyzed by absorption spectroscopy, XRD, ICP-AES, polarizing microscope observation, and SEM-EDX. The grade of MAP products could be improved by about 4% - 9% after magnetic separation (the most appropriate magnetic force being 15,000 Gauss). During both dry and wet magnetic separation processes, not only heavy metals have been removed, but also nonmagnetic constituents like Al, Ba, and Ca. This may be attributed to the attachment of fine magnetic particles on the nonmagnetic surfaces, rendering them magnetic properties.

Leaching of phosphorus from incinerated sewage sludge ash by means of acid extraction followed by adsorption on orange waste gel

Ashes from sewage sludge incineration have a high phosphorus content, approximately 8% （W/W）, which indicates a potential resource of the limiting nutrient. Incineration of sewage sludge with subsequent recovery of phosphorus is a relatively new sludge treatment technique. In this article, the leaching of phosphorus by using sulfuric acid as well as hydrochloric acid by means of several batch experiments was presented. At the same time a selective recovery of phosphorus by adsorption was also discussed. The effects of acid concentration, temperature and time on extraction were studied. The phosphorus leaching increased with the increase in acid concentration and temperature. Kinetic studies showed that the complete leaching of phosphorus took place in less than 4 h. Selective adsorption of phosphorus by using orange waste gel provided a hint for recovery of this natural resource, which eventually could meet the ever-increasing requirement for phosphorus. The overall results indicated that the incinerated sewage sludge ash can be treated with acid to efficiently recover phosphorus and thus can be considered a potentially renewable source of phosphorus.

Releasing characteristics of phosphorus and other substances during thermal treatment of excess sludge

The releasing characteristics of phosphorus, nitrogen compounds, organics, and some metal cations during thermal treatment of excess sludge were investigated. It was found that during heating not only phosphorus, but also nitrogen compounds, organics, and some metal cations could be released in abundance. The maximum orthophosphate （ortho-P） release of about 90 mg/L in concentration was observed at 50℃ in 1 h. Except for volatile fatty acids （VFAs）, comparatively little total nitrogen （TN）, total organic carbon （TOC）, and metal cations were released at the same time. Such results might favor further process of phosphorus recovery. VFAs were considerably released only at 50℃. Acetic, butyric, and propionic acid were the most abundant components in turn and their releasing profiles exhibited good linear relationship with time （R2 = 0.9977, 0.9624, and 0.8908, respectively）. The concentrations of Mg^2＋ and K^＋ increased with time and temperature during thermal treatment, but Ca^2＋ decreased. The release of Mg^2＋ and K^＋ agreed well with TP release （R^2 = 0.9892 and 0.9476, respectively）. Temperature in the experimental range had very little impact on the linear relationships, especially of Mg^2＋. Moreover, the parameter of mixed liquor suspended solids （MLSS） was found to be an important factor for thermal sludge treatment as the released ortho-P and total phosphorus （TP） at 50℃ increased more than one-fold when MLSS was increased from 4000 to 8000 mg/L.

Mixture of ilmenite and high phosphorus iron ore smelted by oxygen-enriched top-blown smelting reduction

In order to reasonably utilize the abundant resources of high-phosphorus iron ore and ilmenite in China, the technology of top-blown smelting reduction with oxygen enrichment was used to smelt the mixed ore of high-phosphorus iron and ilmenite. The effect, which is related to basicity, reduction temperature, carbon-oxygen ratio and time of ventilated oxygen to iron recovery, dephosphorization rate, content of iron, phosphorus, sulfur and titanium in pig iron, was investigated in the experiment. The results show that an ideal outcome can be gained in condition of 6：4 ration on Mengqiao concentrate and Huimin iron ore, temperature of 1 500℃, basicity of 1.3, 1.0 on molar ration of carbon to oxygen, time of 10 min on blowing-oxygen. The outcome is that there is no foamy slag in generation, a good separation of slag and iron, iron recovery with 91.41%, content of phosphorus with 0.27% and tilanium content less than 0.001%, The atmosphere of strong oxidizing in the upper of reduction container and high potential of oxygen in the composition of slag in this technique bring phosphorus, titanium and silicon into slag, which ensures less content of impurity in pig iron.

Effects of recovery time after fire and fire severity on stand structure and soil of larch forest in the Kanas National Nature Reserve, Northwest China

Forest recovery may be influenced by several factors, of which fire is the most critical.However, moderate-and long-term effects of fire on forest recovery are less researched in Northwest China.Thus, the effects of different forest recovery time after fire(1917(served as the control), 1974, 1983 and 1995) and fire severities(low, moderate and high) on larch(Larix sibirica Ledeb.) forest were investigated in the Kanas National Nature Reserve(KNNR), Northwest China in 2017.This paper analyzed post-fire changes in stand density, total basal area(TBA), litter mass, soil organic carbon(SOC) and soil nutrients(total nitrogen, total phosphorus and total potassium) with one-way analyses of variance.Results indicate that litter mass, TBA, SOC and soil nutrients increased with increasing recovery time after fire and decreasing fire severity, while the stand density showed an opposite response.The effects of fire disturbance on SOC and soil nutrients decreased with increasing soil depth.Moreover, we found that the time of more than 43 a is needed to recover the litter mass, TBA, SOC and soil nutrients to the pre-fire level.In conclusion, high-severity fire caused the greatest variations in stand structure and soil of larch forest, and low-severity fire was more advantageous for post-fire forest stand structure and soil recovery in the KNNR.Therefore, low-severity fire can be an efficient management mean through reducing the accumulation of forest floor fuel of post-fire forests in the KNNR, Northwest China.

Impact of recycling improvement on the life cycle of phosphorus

Access to natural resources is increasingly more difficult and more costly, partly due to their economic significance and to continuous increase of their global consumption in the recent years. In the case of phosphorus (P), which is a critical raw material, geological distribution of its primary nonrenewable source (phosphate rock) is concentrated in particular regions leading to high supply risk of this raw material. In Europe (EU-28), where phosphate rock reserves are scarce, import of phosphorus has been the main source of supply. It means that Europe relies highly on the foreign exporters. From decision makers' perspective, recycling of phosphorus was taken into account as one of the possible solutions to decrease the dependence on imports and extraction of reserves. The question, however, is to what extent does the recycling of phosphorus help in reducing the reliance on typical supply resources? Hence, the main objective of this paper is to quantify the dynamic flow of phosphorus and show potential benefits of its recycling in Europe. This article presents a system dynamics model for representation of the element P flow and helps to quantify to what extent the recycled phosphorus could mitigate its criticality. Analysis of the results supports previous studies indicating the high reliance ofEU on P imports, estimating around 96% as the reliance percentage on imports. The results imply that improving P recycling has the potential to decrease the level of P imports to a certain extent, which may reach 79%.

Phosphorus Transfer in the Ash through Acid or AlkaliExtraction Processes

In order to find the best method of the phosphorus recovery, some kinds of the phosphorus recovery methods were applied using the same raw material. The acid treatment shows the highest recovery performance, on the contrary, the alkali treatment indicates the lowest recovery rate. The recovery rate was improved by the application of the heat treatment or hydrothermal method. In the acid treatment, the recovered phosphorus is mainly composed of aluminum phosphate, conversely, in alkali treatment, recovered phosphorus was mainly composed of sodium phosphate containing a small amount of aluminum. But the aluminum content in the phosphorus decreased by introduction of the heat treatment or hydrothermal method.

Phosphorus Adsorption and Nitric Acid Reduction by Ferrous Sulfate-Treated Foamed Waste Glass

Wastewaters containing phosphorus and nitric acid are produced during biological treatment processes. In this study, a material for treating such wastewaters was developed. Foamed glass was produced from waste glass and then heated with iron sulfate to prepare an adsorbent for phosphorus and carrier for reducing nitric acid. The adsorbent performance was evaluated in batch and continuous experiments. The saturated adsorption amount of phosphate was 6.23 mg/g for the product obtained from glass of size 3 to 12 mm;the amount adsorbed was relatively high, in spite of the large glass size. The denitrification by reduction of nitrate was around 25%.

Field Utilization of Dried Water Hyacinth for Phosphorous Recovery from Source-Separated Human Urine

This research demonstrated the feasibility of converting source-separated human urine into a solid fertilizer by means of continuous absorption and solar thermal evaporation using dried water hyacinth as adsorbent. In a preliminary experiment, the dried petioles of water hyacinth (DWH) absorbed urine in a mean rate of 18.78 ml·g-1 within 7 d, retrieving about 3.46% urine dissolved solids (UDS). In an advanced experiment, the DWH’s capacity of urine absorption declined from an initial 2.73 L·kg-1·d-1 to 0.68 L·kg-1·d-1, with a requirement of material change in about 25 effective days and an average ratio of 25 (L) to 1 (kg). Phosphorus (P2O5) concentration in the adsorbent increased from 0.46% (material baseline) to 3.14% (end product), suggesting a satisfactory recovery of the element. In field application, the urine was discharged, not in wet weather, onto the DWH via a tube connected to a waterless urinal. There are several ways to use the UDS-DWH as P(K)-rich fertilizer, e.g., making soluble fertilizer for foliage spraying to encourage prolific flowering and fruiting. Apparently, utilization of water hyacinth waste to recover dissolved plant nutrient elements from source-separated urine will benefit the environment in a wide range of perspectives. The herein innovative use of water hyacinth is also expected to be useful in the recycling of certain dissolved hazardous materials.

Influence of temperature and Fe_(2)O_(3)on phosphorus recovery from dephosphorization slag by reduction

The reduction and recovery of P_(2)O_(5)in dephosphorization slag were examined to establish a new recycling process for dephosphorization slag.The dephosphorization slag is obtained from the dephosphorization furnace in the duplex converter process,and the content of P_(2)O_(5) in the dephosphorization slag can reach 9 wt.%.The dephosphorization slag is considered to be a prospective resource of phosphorus due to its high content of P_(2)O_(5).To explore the effects of temperature and Fe2O3 content in slag on phosphorus recovery from dephosphorization slag,the experimental slag was reduced by carbon powder in a resistance furnace.The results show that the temperature and content of Fe2O3 in slag have a significant effect on the reduction in P_(2)O_(5),and the reduction and recovery ratios of P_(2)O_(5) in slags increase with the increase in the experimental temperature and content of Fe_(2)O_(3),reaching 94.41%and 83.09%,respectively.It has been indicated that phosphorus recovery from dephosphorization slag using carbothermic reduction has significant environmental and economic benefits.

Environmental sustainability opportunity and socio-economic cost analyses of phosphorus recovery from sewage sludge

Although phosphorus(P)recovery and management from sewage sludge are practiced in North America and Europe,such practices are not yet to be implemented in China.Here,we evaluated the environmental sustainability opportunity and socio-economic costs of recovering P from sewage sludge by replacing the current-day treatments(CT;sludge treatment and landfill)and P chemical fertilizer application(CF)in China using life cycle assessment and life cycle costing methods.Three potential P recovery scenarios(PR1‒PR3:struvite,vivianite,and treated sludge)and corresponding current-day scenarios(CT1‒CT3 and CF)were considered.Results indicated that PR1 and PR2 have smaller environmental impacts than the current-day scenarios,whereas PR3 has larger impacts in most categories.PR3 has the lowest net costs(sum of internal costs and benefits,39.1-54.7 CNY per kg P),whereas PR2 has the lowest external costs(366.8 CNY per kg P).Societal costs for production and land use of 1 kg P by P recovery from sewage sludge(e.g.,∼527 CNY for PR1)are much higher than those of P chemical fertilizers(∼20 CNY for CF).However,considering the costs in the current-day treatments(e.g.,∼524 CNY for CT1),societal costs of P recovery scenarios are close to or slightly lower than those of current-day scenarios.Among the three P recovery scenarios,we found that recovering struvite as P fertilizer has the highest societal feasibility.This study will provide valuable information for improved sewage sludge management and will help promote the sustainable supply of P in China.

Study on the Recycling of P in Phosphogypsum Leachate

After washing and curing, P is transported from the phosphogypsum to the leachate during the phosphogypsum detoxification process, providing two ideas for phosphorus recovery from phosphogypsum leachate: 1) preparation of calcium hydrogen phosphate for feed;2) preparation of calcium phosphate. A ready-to-use calcium oxide slurry was used to recover P from phosphogypsum leachate at a slurry concentration of 20% and a quantitative link between calcium to phosphorus ratio and fixation rate was fitted by mixed use batch experiments, reaction kinetics and thermodynamics, and theoretical calculations were used to demonstrate that phosphorus cannot be completely reused in the preparation of calcium hydrogen phosphate. The findings demonstrated that: a) the residual phosphorus concentration was in the range of 1300 - 1500 mg/L for the preparation of type I feed grade calcium hydrogen phosphate from phosphogypsum leachate;b) the P removal effect could reach 99.99% for the preparation of calcium phosphate from phosphogypsum using the theoretical equation: fixation rate = 87.91 - 10.96(Ca/P) + 3.22(Ca/P)2 (R2 = 0.9954);c) The procedure follows the suggested secondary kinetics, and according to the Freundlich isothermal model, the reaction process is under the control of the chemical reaction, with a reaction index of 0.7605. This study can be used as a theoretical guide for the recovery of P from phosphogypsum leachate, the preparation of products to bring about economic by-products, and the purification of wastewater for reuse.

Phosphorus recovery from wastewater by struvite crystallization:Property of aggregates

Struvite crystallization is a promising method to remove and recover phosphorus from wastewater to ease both the scarcity of phosphorus rock resources and water eutrophication worldwide. To date, although various kinds of reactor systems have been developed, supporting methods are required to control the stmvite fines flushing out of the reactors. As an intrinsic property, aggregation is normally disregarded in the struvite crystallization process, although it is the key factor in final particle size and therefore guarantees phosphorus recovery efficiency. The present study developed a method to analyze the characteristics of struvite aggregates using fractal geometry, and the influence of operational parameters on struvite aggregation was evaluated. Due to its typical orthorhombic molecular structure, struvite particles are prone to crystallize into needle or rod shapes, and aggregate at the comers or edges of crystals. The determined fractal dimension （Dpf） of struvite aggregates was 1.52-1.31, with the corresponding range of equivalent diameter （d0.5） at 295.9-85.4 Ixm. Aggregates formed in relatively low phosphorus concentrations （3.0-5.0 mmol/L） and mildly alkaline conditions （pH 9.0-9.5） displayed relatively compact structures, large aggregate sizes and high aggregation strength. Increasing pH values led to continuous decrease of aggregate sizes, while the variation of Dpf was insignificant. As to the aggregate evolution, fast growth in a short time followed by a long steady stage was observed.

Phosphorus recovery from municipal and fertilizer wastewater:China's potential and perspective

Phosphorus（P） is a limited resource, which can neither be synthesized nor substituted in its essential functions as nutrient. Currently explored and economically feasible global reserves may be depleted within generations. China is the largest phosphate fertilizer producing and consuming country in the world. China’s municipal wastewater contains up to 293,163 Mg year of phosphorus, which equals approximately 5.5% of the chemical fertilizer phosphorus consumed in China. Phosphorus in wastewater can be seen not only as a source of pollution to be reduced, but also as a limited resource to be recovered. Based upon existing phosphorus-recovery technologies and the current wastewater infrastructure in China, three options for phosphorus recovery from sewage sludge, sludge ash and the fertilizer industry were analyzed according to the specific conditions in China.