Nitrogen Recovery from Wastewater: Possibilities, Competition with Other Resources, and Adaptation Pathways
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Wastewater Treatment Plant Amsterdam-West
2.2. Nitrogen Balance and Water Balance
2.3. Selection of Alternatives
- The alternative has to be more sustainable with respect to energy use and N2O emissions;
- The alternative has to focus on the recovery of nitrogen in an applicable form;
- The alternative must be applicable in practice;
- The alternative has to be able to cope with nitrogen in the concentration range that is present in the wastewater treatment process (60–8800 mg/L, see Section 3: Results and Discussion).
2.4. Relation to Other Alternatives for Resource Recovery from Wastewater
2.5. Interdependencies between Nitrogen Recovery Alternatives
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Nitrogen Flow through the Wastewater Treatment Process
3.2. Nitrogen Recovery and Reuse: Technologies and Strategies
- technologies with the aim of recovering nitrogen directly from wastewater or digester reject water;
- technologies with the aim of concentrating nitrogen in wastewater or digester reject water to enhance recovery technologies;
- technologies to treat urine or sludge;
- technologies with the aim of incorporating nitrogen in biomass.
3.3. Competition with Biogas Production and Recovery of Phosphorus and Cellulose
3.4. Adaptation Pathway Maps for Nitrogen Recovery Alternatives
4. Conclusions
- Nitrogen recovery from wastewater with the existing wastewater treatment system as a starting point results in only limited improvement in sustainability.
- Radical changes in wastewater treatment, and the application of several nitrogen recovery technologies in parallel, are required to improve sustainability substantially. The separate collection and treatment of urine is an attractive option, but requires a completely new infrastructure for wastewater collection and wastewater treatment.
- Nitrogen recovery from wastewater does not negatively affect biogas production from wastewater, phosphorus recovery from wastewater, and cellulose recovery from wastewater.
- The use of adaptation pathways maps is an attractive method to compare and judge several combinations of nitrogen recovery technologies, especially when different strategies have to be analyzed, and technological and market developments are uncertain.
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Sustainability | Recovery of Nitrogen in an Applicable Form | Maturity of the Alternative | Concentration Range | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
++ | Specific product | ++ | Mature technology | ||||
+ | Lower energy use and lower N2O emissions | + | Concentrated stream separated from the wastewater | + | Available on the market | + | Within the range of 60–8800 mg/L and capable of treating large quantities |
+− | Lower energy use or lower N2O emissions | +− | Concentrated wastewater stream | +− | Successful pilot plant | ||
− | No lower energy use, no lower N2O emissions | − | Transfer to N2 gas in combination with energy production | − | Successful proof of concept | − | Outside the range of 60–8800 mg/L and/or not capable of treating large quantities |
−− | Transfer to N2 gas | −− | In conceptual phase |
Flow | Concentration (mg N/L) | Relative Contribution to Total N Inflow (%) |
---|---|---|
Urine | 8800 | 67 |
Digester reject water | 1030 | 27 |
WWTP influent | 61 | 84 |
WWTP effluent | 8.1 | 11 |
Technology | Sustainability | Recovery of Nitrogen in an Applicable Form | Maturity | Concentration Range | Selected for Further Evaluation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Membrane filtration | +− | +− | ++ | + | No |
Capacitive deionization | − | +− | − | + | No |
Struvite precipitation | − | ++ | ++ | + | Yes |
Steam stripping | − | ++ | +- | − | No |
Air stripping | − | ++ | + | + | Yes |
Vacuum distillation | − | ++ | − | + | No |
Thermal sludge drying with subsequent air treatment | − | ++ | ++ | + | Yes |
Digester stripping | − | ++ | − | + | No |
Microwave stripping | − | ++ | + | + | No |
Electrodialysis | − | + | +− | + | No |
Microbial electrolysis | − | ++ | − | + | No |
Microbial fuel cell | − | ++ | − | + | No |
Hydrophobic membranes | − | ++ | + | + | Yes |
Vacuum membranes | − | ++ | + | + | Yes |
Ion exchange | − | ++ | + | − | No |
Urine treatment | +− | ++ | + | + | Yes |
Sludge reuse | − | ++ | +− | + | Yes |
Technology | Application at Stream | Process Conditions | N Recovery | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mass (tons) | % of Total N Flow | |||
Struvite recovery | Digested sludge | Production of 900 ton struvite with 5.7% N | 51.3 | 1.1 |
Air stripping | Digester reject water | 90% efficiency | 1128 | 24 |
Thermal drying of sludge | Digested sludge | 531 ton N in sludge, 19% as ammonia, efficiency 99% | 99.9 | 2.1 |
Hydrophobic membranes | Digester reject water | 75% efficiency | 940 | 20 |
Vacuum membranes | Digester reject water | 75% efficiency | 940 | 20 |
Urine treatment | Incoming urine | 90% recovery | 2831 | 60 |
Sludge reuse | Digested sewage sludge | 100% application | 531 | 11 |
N-Recovery Technology | Effect on | ||
---|---|---|---|
Biogas Production | Phosphorus Recovery | Cellulose Recovery | |
Struvite precipitation | Nitrogen is recovered as struvite from the sludge after digestion, and does not affect the digestion of sludge and biogas production | Nitrogen and phosphorus are simultaneously removed as struvite, no interference | Nitrogen is recovered as struvite from the digested sludge and does not affect cellulose recovery as pretreatment |
Air stripping | Air stripping is applied on the digester reject water, and does not affect the digestion of sludge and biogas production | Air stripping is applied on the digester reject water and does not affect the recovery of phosphorus as struvite from the digested sludge | Air stripping is applied on the digester reject water and does not affect cellulose recovery as pretreatment |
Thermal drying of sludge | Thermal drying of sludge is applied after sludge digestion, and does not affect biogas production | Thermal drying of sludge is applied after struvite recovery and does not affect phosphorus recovery | Thermal drying of sludge takes place at the end of the treatment process and does not affect cellulose recovery as pretreatment |
Hydrophobic membranes and vacuum membranes | Hydrophobic and vacuum membranes are applied on the digester reject water, and do not affect the digestion of sludge and biogas production | Hydrophobic and vacuum membranes are applied on the digester reject water and do not affect the recovery of phosphorus as struvite from the digested sludge | Hydrophobic membranes and vacuum membranes are applied on the digester reject water and do not affect cellulose recovery as pretreatment |
Urine treatment | Urine hardly contains any organic material; separate urine collection and treatment does not affect biogas production | The total nitrogen load to the wastewater treatment system is that high (urine contributes for 80% to nitrogen mass in the influent, still 20% in other incoming flows) that the separate collection and treatment of urine does not affect phosphorus recovery through struvite precipitation | Urine contains no cellulose, so the separate collection and treatment of urine does not affect cellulose recovery |
Sludge reuse | In case the aim is to use sludge with a high organic carbon content, sludge digestion is not preferred, so it does affect biogas production | Sludge is used as a residual product, so it does not affect preceding phosphorus recovery | Sludge is used as a residual product so it does not affect cellulose recovery as pretreatment |
TERMF Recovery | Effect on N-Recovery Technology | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Struvite Precipitation | Air Stripping | Thermal Drying of Sludge | Hydrophobic and Vacuum Membranes | Urine Treatment | Sludge Reuse | |
Biogas production | Through the digestion of sludge, P and N are released in high concentrations, which is advantageous for struvite precipitation | Through the digestion of sludge, N is released in high concentrations as ammonium/ammonia, which is advantageous for air stripping | Through the digestion of sludge, N is released in high concentrations as ammonium/ammonia, which is advantageous for recovery during the drying of sludge | Through the digestion of sludge, N is released in high concentrations as ammonium/ammonia, which is advantageous for recovery during membrane filtration | Biogas is produced during sludge digestion and does not affect the separate collection and treatment of urine as the first step in the wastewater treatment system | Sludge digestion for biogas production reduces the amount of sludge and transfers nitrogen to the digester reject water, resulting in a lower N-content of the sludge |
Phosphorus recovery | Nitrogen recovery and phosphorus are simultaneously removed as struvite, no interference | Phosphorus recovery as struvite precipitation is applied after sludge digestion, and thus does not affect N-recovery through the air stripping of digester reject water | Phosphorus recovery through struvite precipitation lowers both N and P-concentrations in the sludge, so the N-recovery through sludge drying after struvite precipitation is lower | Phosphorus recovery as struvite precipitation is applied after sludge digestion, and thus does not affect N-recovery from digester reject water through membrane filtration | Phosphorus is recovered from the digested sludge, and does not affect the separate collection and treatment of urine as the first step in the wastewater treatment system | Phosphorus recovery through struvite precipitation lowers the N- and P-content of the sludge, but a low P-content may be attractive to market the product in agriculture |
Cellulose recovery | N and P are not recovered through cellulose recovery, so there is no effect on N recovery through struvite precipitation | N is not recovered through cellulose recovery, so there is no effect on N-recovery through the air stripping of digester reject water | The total amount of organic material that is introduced in the wastewater treatment system is reduced, so the amount of sludge is reduced. However, the N-mass in the sludge is not reduced | N is not recovered through cellulose recovery, so no effect on N-recovery through the membrane filtration of digester reject water | Urine is collected and treated prior to cellulose recovery, so no effect | The total amount of organic material that is introduced in the subsequent wastewater treatment system after cellulose recovery is reduced, so the amount of sludge is reduced. However, the N-mass in the sludge is not reduced |
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Van der Hoek, J.P.; Duijff, R.; Reinstra, O. Nitrogen Recovery from Wastewater: Possibilities, Competition with Other Resources, and Adaptation Pathways. Sustainability 2018, 10, 4605. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124605
Van der Hoek JP, Duijff R, Reinstra O. Nitrogen Recovery from Wastewater: Possibilities, Competition with Other Resources, and Adaptation Pathways. Sustainability. 2018; 10(12):4605. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124605
Chicago/Turabian StyleVan der Hoek, Jan Peter, Rogier Duijff, and Otto Reinstra. 2018. "Nitrogen Recovery from Wastewater: Possibilities, Competition with Other Resources, and Adaptation Pathways" Sustainability 10, no. 12: 4605. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124605