Simultaneous phosphorous and nitrogen recovery from source-separated urine: A novel application for fertiliser drawn forward osmosis
Name:
1-s2.0-S0045653518306210-main.pdf
Size:
1.372Mb
Format:
PDF
Description:
Accepted Manuscript
Name:
1-s2.0-S0045653518306210-fx1.jpg
Size:
49.13Kb
Format:
JPEG image
Description:
Graphical abstract
Type
ArticleAuthors
Volpin, FedericoChekli, Laura
Phuntsho, Sherub
Cho, Jaeweon
Ghaffour, NorEddine

Vrouwenvelder, Johannes S.

Shon, H.K.

KAUST Department
Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) DivisionEnvironmental Science and Engineering Program
Water Desalination and Reuse Research Center (WDRC)
Date
2018-03-30Online Publication Date
2018-03-30Print Publication Date
2018-07Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/627537
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Re-thinking our approach to dealing with wastes is one of the major challenges in achieving a more sustainable society. However, it could also generate numerous opportunities. Specifically, in the context of wastewater, nutrients, energy and water could be mined from it. Because of its exceptionally high nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) concentration, human urine is particularly suitable to be processed for fertiliser production. In the present study, forward osmosis (FO) was employed to mine the P and N from human urine. Two Mg2+-fertilisers, i.e. MgSO4 and Mg(NO3)2 were selected as draw solution (DS) to dewater synthetic non-hydrolysed urine. In this process, the Mg2+ reverse salt flux (RSF) were used to recover P as struvite. Simultaneously, the urea was recovered in the DS as it is poorly rejected by the FO membrane. The results showed that, after 60% urine concentration, about 40% of the P and 50% of the N were recovered. XRD and SEM – EDX analysis confirmed that P was precipitated as mineral struvite. If successfully tested on real urine, this process could be applied to treat the urine collected in urban areas e.g., high-rise building. After the filtration, the solid struvite could be sold for inland applications whereas the diluted fertiliser used for direct fertigation of green walls, parks or for urban farming. Finally, reduction in the load of N, P to the downstream wastewater treatment plant would also ensure a more sustainable urban water cycle.Citation
Volpin F, Chekli L, Phuntsho S, Cho J, Ghaffour N, et al. (2018) Simultaneous phosphorous and nitrogen recovery from source-separated urine: A novel application for fertiliser drawn forward osmosis. Chemosphere 203: 482–489. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.03.193.Sponsors
This research was supported by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia, CPF program, by the Australian Research Council (ARC) through the ARC Research Hub for Energy-efficient Separation (IH170100009) and by the Korean Government (MSIP) (No. NRF-2015R1A5A7037825 and No. NRF-2016R1A2B4012214).Publisher
Elsevier BVJournal
ChemospherePubMed ID
29635160Additional Links
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0045653518306210ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.03.193
Scopus Count
Related articles
- Techno-economic feasibility of recovering phosphorus, nitrogen and water from dilute human urine via forward osmosis.
- Authors: Volpin F, Heo H, Hasan Johir MA, Cho J, Phuntsho S, Shon HK
- Issue date: 2019 Mar 1
- Seawater-driven forward osmosis for enriching nitrogen and phosphorous in treated municipal wastewater: effect of membrane properties and feed solution chemistry.
- Authors: Xue W, Tobino T, Nakajima F, Yamamoto K
- Issue date: 2015 Feb 1
- Mining nutrients (N, K, P) from urban source-separated urine by forward osmosis dewatering.
- Authors: Zhang J, She Q, Chang VW, Tang CY, Webster RD
- Issue date: 2014 Mar 18
- Recovery of phosphorus and nitrogen from human urine by struvite precipitation, air stripping and acid scrubbing: A pilot study.
- Authors: Wei SP, van Rossum F, van de Pol GJ, Winkler MH
- Issue date: 2018 Dec
- Reverse osmosis brine for phosphorus recovery from source separated urine.
- Authors: Tian X, Wang G, Guan D, Li J, Wang A, Li J, Yu Z, Chen Y, Zhang Z
- Issue date: 2016 Dec