School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), City Campus, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia.
School of Urban and Environmental Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), UNIST-gil 50, Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea.
J Hazard Mater. 2019 Oct 15;378:120724. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.06.001. Epub 2019 Jun 3.
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 NH. 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 h was recorded using real hydrolysed urine. Additionally, no support layer membrane fouling was noticed in over 20 h 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 h. 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.
尿液是一种独特的溶液，其组成成分恰到好处，既能对环境造成严重威胁，又是氮磷的丰富来源。事实上，尿液质量的 4-9%由离子组成，如 K、Cl、Na 或 NH。由于其高离子强度，尿液渗透压可高达 2000 kPa。有鉴于此，本工作旨在研究尿液作为正向渗透新型汲取液的有效性。使用新鲜或水解尿液研究了水通量、反向氮通量和膜污染。使用真正的水解尿液记录到高达 16.7 ± 1.1 L m h 的水通量。此外，在 20 多个小时的实验中，没有发现支撑层膜污染。尿液还用于浓缩小球藻培养液。在平均通量为 14.1 L m h 的情况下，藻细胞浓度增加了四倍。在藻类浓缩过程中，发现通量下降了约 19%；这主要是由于在膜的活性侧有一层薄薄的藻沉积。总的来说，人类尿液被发现是正向渗透的有效汲取液。
