An Economic and Environmental Evaluation of the Opportunities for Substituting Phosphorus Recovered from Wastewater Treatment Works in Existing UK Fertiliser Markets

Gaterell, Mark; Gay, Renaud; Wilson, Randy; Gochin, R.J.; Lester, J. N.

doi:10.1080/09593332108618050

Cited by 131 publications

(64 citation statements)

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“…Therefore, higher efficiency would be expected for the crystallization from urine than from mixed wastewater. The theoretical potential has been estimated to be 67,000 tons of P2O5 fertilizer per year from the UK alone and 270,000 tons from Western Europe [124]. The nutrient recovery from urine will, at larger scale, make material acyclic processes become more cyclic, which is what natural biogeochemical cycles do.…”

Section: Nutrient Recoverymentioning

confidence: 95%

Sustainable Water Systems for the City of Tomorrow—A Conceptual Framework

Xue

González-Mejía

et al. 2015

Sustainability

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Urban water systems are an example of complex, dynamic human-environment coupled systems which exhibit emergent behaviors that transcend individual scientific disciplines. While previous siloed approaches to water services (i.e., water resources, drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater) have led to great improvements in public health protection, sustainable solutions for a growing global population facing increased resource constraints demand a paradigm shift based on holistic management to maximize the use and recovery of water, energy, nutrients, and materials. The objective of this review paper is to highlight the issues in traditional water systems including water demand and use, centralized configuration, sewer collection systems, characteristics of mixed wastewater, and to explore alternative solutions such as decentralized water systems, fit for purpose and water reuse, OPEN ACCESSSustainability 2015, 7 12072 natural/green infrastructure, vacuum sewer collection systems, and nutrient/energy recovery. This review also emphasizes a system thinking approach for evaluating alternatives that should include sustainability indicators and metrics such as emergy to assess global system efficiency. An example paradigm shift design for urban water system is presented, not as the recommended solution for all environments, but to emphasize the framework of system-level analysis and the need to visualize water services as an organic whole. When water systems are designed to maximize the resources and optimum efficiency, they are more prevailing and sustainable than siloed management because a system is more than the sum of its parts.

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Section: Nutrient Recoverymentioning

confidence: 95%

Sustainable Water Systems for the City of Tomorrow—A Conceptual Framework

Xue

González-Mejía

et al. 2015

Sustainability

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“…Several previous research studies have exhibited a similar conclusion. 8,20 Compared to other fertilizers, the benefits of using struvite are low leaching rates and prolonged release of nutrients throughout the growing season of plants, 36 which resulted in low leaching losses of nutrients in soil with irrigation and rain. It was also found that higher soil Olsen P could be seen with struvite treatment in both soils.…”

Section: Journal Of Agricultural and Food Chemistrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Soil and Irrigation Water pH on the Availability of Phosphorus in Struvite Derived from Urine through a Greenhouse Pot Experiment

Liu

Tao²,

Wen

et al. 2016

J. Agric. Food Chem.

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One greenhouse pot experiment was used to investigate the availability of phosphorus in struvite derived from urine affected by soil pH (cinnamon soil, pH 7.3; paddy soil, pH 5.3) and irrigation water (pH 6.0 and 7.5) with bird rapeseed (Brassica campestris L.). The biomass of applied struvite in paddy soil was significantly greater than that of applied calcium superphosphate. However, statistically significant differences were not observed in cinnamon soil. Soil-applied struvite had a higher Olsen P compared to soil-applied calcium superphosphate irrespective of soil type. The biomass of applied struvite and irrigation with pH 6.0 water was greater compared to that with irrigation with pH 7.3 water irrespective of soil type, accompanied with significantly higher leaf chlorophyll concentration. Therefore, struvite has the potential to be an effective P fertilizer, and acidic irrigation water has greater influence on the availability of phosphorus in struvite than does acidic soil. KEYWORDS: struvite, phosphorus, plant availability, soil, irrigation water ■ INTRODUCTIONPhosphorus (P), as an indispensable resource, is an essential nutrient for crop growth. The depletion timeline of P rock reserves ranges from 30 to 300 years.1 Although this estimation provides substantial uncertainty and more accurate data are lacking, there is no doubt regarding the irreversible depletion of high-concentration rock P reserves and the decline of the quality of the reserves (such as % P and presence of impurities) over time, 1 resulting in higher economic and energy cost for P exploitation. If P can be recovered in an economical way, it can re-enter the agricultural supply chain, displacing the consumption of traditional P fertilizer. It helps to create an ecofriendly environment by reducing the need for P rock 2 and to alleviate the P load emissions to water bodies. Human urine accounts for approximately 50% of the total P load in municipal wastewater, with <1% of the total wastewater volume.3 Direct application of urine in agriculture is feasible in practice. 4 However, huge quantities of separated urine are often difficult to transport and to store due to its unpleasant odor. Furthermore, health risk due to micropollutants and nitrogen (N) loss due to ammonia volatilization will be unavoidable during the application of urine to soil. Therefore, P recovery from urine in the form of struvite crystals will be a promising option with easy transportation, hygiene safety, and less nutrient loss.Struvite crystal is formed with an equal molar concentrations of magnesium (Mg), ammonium, and phosphate combined with six water molecules (MgNH 4 PO 4 ·6H 2 O), which contains 5.7% N, 12.6% P, and 9.9% Mg by weight. The solubility of struvite is highly dependent on pH, 5 and it is sparingly soluble in neutral and alkaline solutions, but readily soluble in acid solution. The P in the urine is mainly present as inorganic phosphate, and struvite obtained from urine has the advantages of higher P 2 O 5 content (28.9%) compared to common ...

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“…Struvite precipitated in wastewater treatment plants make some problems causing deposits in pipe walls [Gaterell et al, 2000;Priestley et.al., 1997]. It is also known as a bio-mineral in urinary tracts and kidney.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synthesis and Characterisation of Struvite Family Crystals by An Aqueous Precipitation Method

Sutiyono

Edahwati

Perwitasari

et al. 2016

MATEC Web of Conferences

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Struvite (NH4MgPO4•6H2O) is a mineral often found as a scale deposit in an industrial process and piping. The common occurrence of struvite formation is a wide variety of environments. pH solution and environmental temperature are important parameters that control precipitation and subsequent decomposition of struvite. The study aims to characterise the struvite precipitated out the solution through chemical and mineralogical analysis. In this work, struvite solution was prepared by mixing NH4OH , MgCl2 and H3PO4 with the different purity grade (A and B) in the mol ratio of 1 : 1 : 1 in the stirred glass vessel tank with volume of 500 ml, and then stirred at 200 rpm for 70 minutes. Temperature of 30 O C and an initial pH of 10 were selected. The precipitated deposit was dried at room temperature for 48 hours of being analyzed. Material characterization of the deposits was conducted using XRPD Rietveld method of qualitative and quantitative mineralogical phase analysis. XRF was employed for bulk chemical elemental analysis of the scale obtained. The sample A using analytical grade powder provided the major phases of struvite-(K) and struvite. In constrast, the major phase of newberyite and minor phases of lepidocrocite (FeOOH) and niter (KNO3) was observed by following changes in the lowest purity of powder (Sample B). Analysis of the experimental data suggests a solution mediated transformation process as a possible mechanism of struvite transformation.

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An Economic and Environmental Evaluation of the Opportunities for Substituting Phosphorus Recovered from Wastewater Treatment Works in Existing UK Fertiliser Markets

Cited by 131 publications

References 0 publications

Sustainable Water Systems for the City of Tomorrow—A Conceptual Framework

Sustainable Water Systems for the City of Tomorrow—A Conceptual Framework

Influence of Soil and Irrigation Water pH on the Availability of Phosphorus in Struvite Derived from Urine through a Greenhouse Pot Experiment

Synthesis and Characterisation of Struvite Family Crystals by An Aqueous Precipitation Method

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