Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Gdańsk University of Technology, Gdańsk, Poland.
Advanced Membrane Technology Research Centre (AMTEC), Faculty of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia.
Sci Total Environ. 2023 Jan 15;856(Pt 2):159283. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159283. Epub 2022 Oct 5.
Global food security, which has emerged as one of the sustainability challenges, impacts every country. As food cannot be generated without involving nutrients, research has intensified recently to recover unused nutrients from waste streams. As a finite resource, phosphorus (P) is largely wasted. This work critically reviews the technical applicability of various water technologies to recover macro-nutrients such as P, N, and K from wastewater. Struvite precipitation, adsorption, ion exchange, and membrane filtration are applied for nutrient recovery. Technological strengths and drawbacks in their applications are evaluated and compared. Their operational conditions such as pH, dose required, initial nutrient concentration, and treatment performance are presented. Cost-effectiveness of the technologies for P or N recovery is also elaborated. It is evident from a literature survey of 310 published studies (1985-2022) that no single technique can effectively and universally recover target macro-nutrients from liquid waste. Struvite precipitation is commonly used to recover over 95 % of P from sludge digestate with its concentration ranging from 200 to 4000 mg/L. The recovered precipitate can be reused as a fertilizer due to its high content of P and N. Phosphate removal of higher than 80 % can be achieved by struvite precipitation when the molar ratio of Mg/PO ranges between 1.1 and 1.3. The applications of artificial intelligence (AI) to collect data on critical parameters control optimization, improve treatment effectiveness, and facilitate water utilities to upscale water treatment plants. Such infrastructure in the plants could enable the recovered materials to be reused to sustain food security. As nutrient recovery is crucial in wastewater treatment, water treatment plant operators need to consider (1) the costs of nutrient recovery techniques; (2) their applicability; (3) their benefits and implications. It is essential to note that the treatment cost of P and/or N-laden wastewater depends on the process applied and local conditions.
全球粮食安全已成为可持续发展的挑战之一，影响到每个国家。由于没有营养物质就无法生产食物，因此最近研究人员加紧从废物流中回收未使用的营养物质。作为一种有限的资源，磷（P）大量浪费。这项工作批判性地回顾了各种水技术从废水中回收宏量营养素（如 P、N 和 K）的技术适用性。通过沉淀、吸附、离子交换和膜过滤来回收营养物质。评估并比较了它们在应用中的技术优势和缺点。还介绍了它们的操作条件，如 pH 值、所需剂量、初始营养浓度和处理性能。还详细阐述了这些技术回收 P 或 N 的成本效益。从 1985 年至 2022 年 310 篇已发表研究的文献调查中可以明显看出，没有一种单一的技术可以有效地从液体废物中普遍回收目标宏量营养素。通过共沉淀法从污泥消化液中回收磷，磷的浓度范围为 200 至 4000mg/L，回收率超过 95%。由于沉淀中含有高浓度的 P 和 N，因此可将其再用作肥料。当 Mg/PO 的摩尔比在 1.1 到 1.3 之间时，通过共沉淀法可去除 80%以上的磷酸盐。人工智能（AI）的应用可收集关键参数控制优化的数据，提高处理效果，并方便水务公司扩大水处理厂的规模。工厂中的此类基础设施可使回收材料得到再利用，以维持粮食安全。由于营养物质回收在废水处理中至关重要，因此水处理厂的操作人员需要考虑（1）营养物质回收技术的成本；（2）其适用性；（3）其效益和影响。需要注意的是，含 P 和/或 N 的废水的处理成本取决于所应用的工艺和当地条件。
