Overview and description of technologies for recovering phosphorus from municipal wastewater

Egle, Lukas; Rechberger, Helmut; Zessner, Matthias

doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2015.09.016

Cited by 248 publications

(139 citation statements)

References 90 publications

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“…Technological approaches to P recovery from secondary materials such as sewage sludge and meat and bone meal have been receiving growing attention in recent years [53][54][55]. Since in Switzerland the ban of direct application of sewage sludge on agricultural land in 2006 led to an increase in P losses via mono-or co-incineration of sewage sludge, the Swiss government amended the Swiss Ordinance on Avoidance and Disposal of Waste (VVEA) to re-create the P cycles between the waste sector and the agri-food system [1].…”

Section: Scenario Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To date, more than 50 technologies have been or are still being developed in various countries recovering P from the aqueous (i.e., wastewater) or the solid phase (i.e., sewage sludge and sewage sludge ash from mono-incineration) of the wastewater treatment process as well as from meat and bone meal [53,56,57]. They are currently at different stages of implementation ranging from bench-scale to fully operating recovery plants at large scale.…”

Section: Scenario Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…P recovery from meat and bone meal is still at a very early stage, but several recovery technologies for sewage sludge (ash) are expected to also work with meat and bone meal (ash) [57]. Besides the technical process, infrastructural requirements, and the material outcome, the recovery technologies differ with regard to their P recovery rate, financial costs, carbon footprint, practicability, residual materials, and plant availability of the recovered material [53,56,[58][59][60]. For our SFA-based calculation of P scenarios, the P recovery rate is an important issue.…”

Section: Scenario Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Transition of the Swiss Phosphorus System towards a Circular Economy—Part 2: Socio-Technical Scenarios

Jedelhauser¹,

Mehr

Binder

2018

Sustainability

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Abstract:A transition towards a circular economy of phosphorus (P) in Switzerland is a multi-faceted challenge as P use is subject to a variety of influencing factors comprising policy interventions, consumption trends, or technological innovations on different spatial scales. Therefore, scenarios for P use that take into account both the social and the technical dimension of change are needed for investigating possible pathways of a transition towards more sustainable P futures. Drawing on the multi-level perspective of transition theory, we develop scenarios on the landscape level, i.e., a balanced and healthy human diet, on the regime level, i.e., P recovery from sewage sludge (ash) and meat and bone meal, and on the niche level, i.e., urine separation. Based on the P system of the year 2015, we assess the quantitative implications of the scenarios for the Swiss P system. While scenario 1 mainly affects the agricultural system by reducing the overall P throughput, scenario 2 significantly changes P use in waste management, because P losses to landfills and cement plants decrease and the production of secondary P increases. Scenario 3 shows little quantitative impact on the national P system. From a qualitative transition perspective, however, urine separation entails fundamental socio-technical shifts in the wastewater system, whereas P recovery from sewage sludge (ash) represents an incremental system adaptation. The combination of flow-and transition-oriented research provides more general insights into how a circular economy of P can be reached. Furthermore, the analysis of P recycling scenarios reveals that transition processes in Switzerland are embedded in a global resource economy. Thus, a sole focus on concepts of national P self-sufficiency and the reduction of Switzerland's P import dependency tend to fall short when analysing the economisation of secondary P materials in the face of transnational resource flows and markets.

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Section: Scenario Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Scenario Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Scenario Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Transition of the Swiss Phosphorus System towards a Circular Economy—Part 2: Socio-Technical Scenarios

Jedelhauser¹,

Mehr

Binder

2018

Sustainability

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“…Through fertilization it ends up in surface water bodies or it is irretrievably lost by coincineration in municipal solid waste incinerators, power plants or cement kilns (Egle et al 2015(Egle et al , 2016. At the current rate of extraction, phosphate rock reserves could peak in 2033 (Cordell and White 2011) and will be exhausted in the next few centuries (Elser 2012;Desmidt et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term soil accumulation of potentially toxic elements and selected organic pollutants through application of recycled phosphorus fertilizers for organic farming conditions

Weissengruber

Möller

Puschenreiter

et al. 2018

Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst

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The pollutant input and the risk of contamination by long-term application of recycled P fertilizers (RPFs) in European agricultural soils were estimated by a mass balance approach. Calculations based on literature data were carried out for the potentially toxic elements (PTEs) Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn and for the persistent organic pollutants (POPs) PCBs, PAHs and polychlorinated dibenzo-dioxins and -furans. The PTE accumulation estimation during 200 years of fertilizer application, equivalent to 11 kg P ha -1 year -1 , the mean P export via harvested products on European stockless organic farms, regarded soil background concentrations and proposed threshold concentrations. For PTEs, inputs were fertilizer application, atmospheric deposition and liming, output processes were leaching and crop harvest. The effect of varying site conditions was assessed by considering two precipitation excess (F) values and two soil pH values. For POPs, fertilizer application and the half-life time were considered. The PTE accumulation risk was low for most RPFs. For the analysed POPs no accumulation was found. The highest accumulation was found for all PTEs at pH 7 and F = 0.1 m year -1 , the lowest at pH 5 and F = 0.3 m year -1 . A high P concentration in fertilizers resulted in a low PTE flow per unit of P. Composts had the highest PTE accumulation risk due to lowest P contents. Struvite, meat and bone meal, digestate of catering waste, ash and biosolids would be better suited as P fertilizers. The use of fertilizers should be regulated based on their pollutant-to-nutrient ratio.

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“…Numerous studies have demonstrated that phosphorus recovery might reduce scaling problems (pipes, pumps) [33], lower pollution levels linked to excess discharge of nutrients (N and P) in wastewater effluents [43,108], and even produce financial gains for wastewater companies when it is sold as fertilizer [32]. There are an increasing number of technologies capable to capture P from the aqueous phase of anaerobic digester supernatants, sewage sludge and sewage sludge ash [109,110]. The selection of a certain technology is not an easy task and it must be evaluated on the basis of the achieved P recovery rates, removal and destruction of potentially hazardous materials (heavy metals, organic micropollutants and pathogens), the quality of the obtained product (environmental risk, fertilizing effects) and process economics [111].…”

Section: Example 2: Phosphorus Recoverymentioning

confidence: 99%

Perspectives on Resource Recovery from Bio-Based Production Processes: From Concept to Implementation

Udugama

Mansouri

Mitić³

et al. 2017

Processes

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Abstract:Recovering valuable compounds from waste streams of bio-based production processes is in line with the circular economy paradigm, and is achievable by implementing "simple-to-use" and well-established process separation technologies. Such solutions are acceptable from industrial, economic and environmental points of view, implying relatively easy future implementation on pilot-and full-scale levels in the bio-based industry. Reviewing such technologies is therefore the focus here. Considerations about technology readiness level (TRL) and Net Present Value (NPV) are included in the review, since TRL and NPV contribute significantly to the techno-economic evaluation of future and promising process solutions. Based on the present review, a qualitative guideline for resource recovery from bio-based production processes is proposed. Finally, future approaches and perspectives toward identification and implementation of suitable resource recovery units for bio-based production processes are discussed.

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Overview and description of technologies for recovering phosphorus from municipal wastewater

Cited by 248 publications

References 90 publications

Transition of the Swiss Phosphorus System towards a Circular Economy—Part 2: Socio-Technical Scenarios

Transition of the Swiss Phosphorus System towards a Circular Economy—Part 2: Socio-Technical Scenarios

Long-term soil accumulation of potentially toxic elements and selected organic pollutants through application of recycled phosphorus fertilizers for organic farming conditions

Perspectives on Resource Recovery from Bio-Based Production Processes: From Concept to Implementation

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