Dairy Wastewater for Production of Chelated Biodegradable Zn Micronutrient Fertilizers

Abstract

Zinc containing organic materials were synthesized using dairy wastewater and solid zinc waste derived from zinc nitrate with the goal of obtaining biodegradable, slow release, micronutrient containing fertilizers. The developed synthesis procedure involved heating at mild 55 °C temperature, followed by pH adjustment to 7, precipitation, and drying. The resulting solid materials were characterized using weight analysis, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Higher wastewater-to-zinc nitrate ratios of 1: 1 / 5 yielded amorphous materials with no inorganic zinc compounds detected. TGA analysis showed very complex thermal behavior due to the large amount of organics present while FTIR analysis suggested the presence of both coordinated and uncoordinated carboxylic acid and ester groups. The developed process can have a variety of applications in recovering Zn from waste sources, such as tire crumb, while returning this valuable micronutrient into soil as a slow release biodegradable fertilizer.

Calcium Chelation of Lignin from Pulping Spent Liquor for Water-Resistant Slow-Release Urea Fertilizer Systems

“…Utilization of waste streams for fertilizer production is important for advancing sustainability of industry and transition to circular economy. Recently, wastewaters from metal and dairy processing plants were used to produce zinc-containing chelated micronutrient fertilizers . Production of nitrogen-based fertilizers consumes energy, for example in the cryogenic distillation of N 2 from air, and additionally, requires hydrogen derived from fossil carbon sources.…”

“…Recently, wastewaters from metal and dairy processing plants were used to produce zinc-containing chelated micronutrient fertilizers. 1 Production of nitrogenbased fertilizers consumes energy, for example in the cryogenic distillation of N 2 from air, and additionally, requires hydrogen derived from fossil carbon sources. Urea is one of the most widely used N-fertilizers today, but its microbial decomposition and uncontrolled leaching from soil are major hurdles that need attention.…”

Effect of Operational Parameters in the Continuous Anaerobic Fermentation of Cheese Whey on Titers, Yields, Productivities, and Microbial Community Structures

“…CW is composed by lactose (44-52 g.L -1 ), proteins (6-10 g.L -1 , primarily β-lactoglobulin) and lipids (4-5 g.L -1 ) 13,14 , has a high COD (50-102 gO 2 .L -1 ), and contains some hardly biodegradable proteins which require CW to be treated before being discharged 11 . Several studies about CW treatment were reported 11,15 , including its valorization through the production of: H2 20,23,25 , micronutrient fertilizers 15 , VFAs 5,19,27,29,31 or biogas production using immobilized cells 16 . Regarding this last, cell immobilization has several advantages as compared to suspended cultures since: (i)-it prevents microbes washout in continuous process by separating dilution rate and hydraulic retention time (HRT), (ii)-it allows to work at higher cell density, (iii)-it confers an advantage for the microbial consortium against adverse conditions 13 , and (iv)-it helps downstream processes as cells are retained within the support material and separated from the liquid.…”

Studies on the Possibilities of Processing Buckwheat Husks and Ash in the Production of Environmentally Friendly Fertilizers

“…This suggests a potential for a cradle-to-cradle type of regenerative engineering process design [1,2,12] where the end product of the buckwheat processing of the husk ash can be returned back to the soil to replenish the nutrients, resulting in an overall sustainable process. The sustainable use of solid waste in agriculture is of crucial importance, and prior attempts have also been made to recover the micronutrients [13].…”