Urban Phosphorus Mining in the Canton of Zurich: Phosphoric Acid from Sewage Sludge Ash

Schlumberger, Stefan; Adam, Fabiola E.; Nogueira, G. Díaz

doi:10.1007/978-981-10-8031-9_10

Cited by 12 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…Yet according to propositional logic, anything may be concluded from a wrong proposition. The potential costs of an incorrect phosphorus scarcity claim may lead to promoting overly expensive and (environmentally) inefficient phosphorus recycling technologies whereas ignoring investments with higher potential efficiencies at other stages of the supply chain or places that may achieve higher efficacies (Kraus et al 2016 ; Morf et al 2019 ). This seems obvious given the perceived impact of scarcity assertion on policy actors (see Table 2 , No.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Endangering the integrity of science by misusing unvalidated models and untested assumptions as facts: General considerations and the mineral and phosphorus scarcity fallacy

Scholz

Wellmer

2021

Sustain Sci

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There is increasing demand for science to contribute to solving societal problems (solutionism). Thereby, scientists may become normative activists for solving certain problems (advocacy). When doing this, they may insufficiently differentiate between scientific and political modes of reasoning and validation (de-differentiationism), which is sometimes linked to questionable forms of utilizing the force of facts (German: Faktengewalt). Scientific findings are simplified and communicated in such a way that they acquire a status as unfalsifiable and absolutely true (truth to power). This becomes critical if the consistency and validation of the findings are questionable and scientific models underlying science activists’ actions are doubtful, oversimplified, or incorrect. Herein, we exemplarily elaborate how the integrity of science is endangered by normative solutionist and sociopolitically driven transition management and present mineral scarcity claims that ignore that reserves or resources are dynamic geotechnological-socioeconomic entities. We present the main mineral scarcity models and their fallacious assumptions. We then discuss the phosphorus scarcity fallacy, which is of particular interest as phosphorus is non-substitutable and half of all current food production depends on fertilizers (and thus phosphorus). We show that phosphorus scarcity claims are based on integrating basic geoeconomic knowledge and discuss cognitive and epistemological barriers and motivational and sociopolitical drivers promoting the scarcity fallacy, which affects high-level public media. This may induce unsustainable environmental action. Scientists as honest knowledge brokers should communicate the strengths but also the constraints and limits of scientific modeling and of applying it in reality.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Endangering the integrity of science by misusing unvalidated models and untested assumptions as facts: General considerations and the mineral and phosphorus scarcity fallacy

Scholz

Wellmer

2021

Sustain Sci

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“…Hence it is an important component of many fertilizers. However, phosphorus is a limited resource, which calls for recycling of phosphorus from waste streams and byproducts. , Knowledge about high-temperature phosphorus chemistry is therefore also important for the understanding and development of phosphorus recovery technologies from biomass residues.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of Phosphorus Chemistry in the Thermal Conversion of Biomass: Progress and Perspectives

et al. 2023

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Phosphorus is vital for all life, which means that phosphorus is present in all biomass to some extent. Some types of biomass, such as certain agricultural residues, animal biomass, and sewage sludge, contain high levels of phosphorus. In thermal conversion of biomass, high levels of phosphorus can cause various operational problems. Extensive work has been carried out to understand the phosphorus chemistry taking place at higher temperatures. However, until now, knowledge about transformation chemistry and fate of phosphorus during thermal conversion of biomass was not easily accessible in one place. In this work, the outcome of an extensive literature review has been summarized. First, an introduction to the role of phosphorus in biomass, and in what forms it may be present, is given. Different analytical techniques relevant for characterization of phosphorus in biomass, biomass char, and biomass ash are described. A classification of phosphorus-rich biomass is proposed, and the potential of different phosphorus-rich biomass types is presented. To provide a common basis for the field of high-temperature phosphorus chemistry, fundamental chemistry relevant for thermal conversion of biomass is first discussed. This includes the gas phase chemistry and reaction pathways of light phosphorus species, pyrolysis, and combustion of organophosphorus compounds, and solid, liquid, and gaseous interactions with other ash-forming elements. Thereafter, an in-depth review of phosphorus transformations in biomass, including decomposition of organic phosphorus, ash transformations in the condensed phase, release to the gas phase, and formation of particulate matter in the flue gas follows. Finally, the review covers research focusing on phosphorus in different application aspects, such as the use of phosphorus as an additive to mitigate operational problems related to slag and deposit formation, the behavior of phosphorus in fluidized bed technologies, corrosion, and the deactivation of SCR catalysts.

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“…The basicity is less than unity and is lower compared to steelmaking slag. This property would make it difficult to apply pyrotreatment as a mass process to sewage sludge; therefore, most of the phosphorus recovery processes from sewage sludge are based on the wet technique using leaching [19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Basic Evaluation of Phase Relation in a Phosphorus-Containing System Saturated with CaSiO3 at Elevated Temperatures for the Utilization of Steelmaking Slag and Sewage Sludge as Phosphorus Resources

2022

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In view of obtaining fundamental information on phosphorus recovery from steelmaking slag and sewage sludge, a laboratory experiment using the model specimen of a slag/sludge mixture prepared at 1573 K was carried out to investigate phase relation in a [CaO-SiO2-P2O5]-based system. The triangular compositional region, comprising of apices CaO·SiO2 (CS), 3CaO·P2O5 (C3P), and 2CaO·SiO2-3CaO·P2O5 solid solution (C2S-C3Pss), was considered with particular interest. In this region, using SEM-EDX observation it was found that solid saturated CS and the solid C2S-C3Pss with a relatively high phosphorus content can coexist. With the addition of Al2O3 or Fe2O3 to the same specimens, the liquidus phase appeared as a third phase; however, CS and C2S-C3Pss phases were still observed for up to 5mass% addition. The further addition of Al2O3 or Fe2O3 to 10mass% resulted in dissolution of the solid CS phase, although C2S-C3Pss remained as the phosphorus concentrated phase. These results show that phase equilibria based on the ternary system would be stable and be beneficial for phosphorus recovery.

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Urban Phosphorus Mining in the Canton of Zurich: Phosphoric Acid from Sewage Sludge Ash

Cited by 12 publications

References 1 publication

Endangering the integrity of science by misusing unvalidated models and untested assumptions as facts: General considerations and the mineral and phosphorus scarcity fallacy

Endangering the integrity of science by misusing unvalidated models and untested assumptions as facts: General considerations and the mineral and phosphorus scarcity fallacy

Review of Phosphorus Chemistry in the Thermal Conversion of Biomass: Progress and Perspectives

Basic Evaluation of Phase Relation in a Phosphorus-Containing System Saturated with CaSiO3 at Elevated Temperatures for the Utilization of Steelmaking Slag and Sewage Sludge as Phosphorus Resources

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