Human urine as a forward osmosis draw solution for the application of microalgae dewatering
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Urine FO DS Hazmat 2019 online version.pdf
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ArticleAuthors
Volpin, FedericoYu, Hyeonjung
Cho, Jaeweon
Lee, Changsoo
Phuntsho, Sherub
Ghaffour, NorEddine

Vrouwenvelder, Johannes S.

Shon, Ho Kyong
KAUST Department
Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) DivisionEnvironmental Science and Engineering
Environmental Science and Engineering Program
Water Desalination & Reuse Center
Water Desalination and Reuse Research Center (WDRC)
Date
2019-06Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/655514
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Human urine is a unique solution that has the right composition to constitute both a severe environmental threat and a rich source of nitrogen and phosphorous. In fact, between 4-9% of urine mass consists of ions, such as K+, Cl-, Na+ or NH4+. Because of its high ionic strength, urine osmotic pressure can reach values of up to 2000 kPa. With this in mind, this work aimed to study the effectiveness of real urine as a novel draw solution for forward osmosis. Water flux, reverse nitrogen flux and membrane fouling were investigated using fresh or hydrolysed urine. Water flux as high as 16.7 ± 1.1 L.m-2. h-1 was recorded using real hydrolysed urine. Additionally, no support layer membrane fouling was noticed in over 20 hours of experimentation. Urine was also employed to dewater a Chlorella vulgaris culture. A fourfold increase in algal concentration was achieved while having an average flux of 14.1 L.m-2. h-1. During the algae dewatering, a flux decrease of about 19% was noticed; this was mainly due to a thin layer of algal deposition on the active side of the membrane. Overall, human urine was found to be an effective draw solution for forward osmosis.Citation
Volpin, F., Yu, H., Cho, J., Lee, C., Phuntsho, S., Ghaffour, N., … Shon, H. K. (2019). Human urine as a forward osmosis draw solution for the application of microalgae dewatering. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 378, 120724. doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.06.001Sponsors
This research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korean Grant funded by the Korean Government (MSIP) (No. NRF-2015R1A5A7037825) and by the Australian Research Council through Future Fellowship (FT140101208). HY and CL are grateful for the support of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) through the “Human Resources Program in Energy Technology” project (No. 20164030201010) funded by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Republic of Korea.Publisher
Elsevier BVJournal
Journal of Hazardous MaterialsAdditional Links
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304389419306673ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.06.001