Technical Papers
Jun 25, 2022

Influence of Different Metals on Production of Sewage Sludge–Based Biochar and Its Application for Ammonium and Phosphate Adsorption Removal from Wastewater

Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 148, Issue 9

Abstract

As the main solid waste of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), sewage sludge has the characteristics of large output and high contents of organic matter and inorganic metals. In this study, sewage sludge was used as raw material to prepare a unique sludge-based biochar. In order to obtain the best modification method for ammonium and phosphorus adsorption removal in wastewater, the sludge-based biochar was modified by loading four kinds of metal, respectively, including Mg, Al, Fe, and Mn, to improve the adsorption capacity of the biochar. A large number of adsorption experiments showed that Mg-modified sludge–based biochar (BC-Mg) had the best adsorption effect. At 25°C, the maximum adsorption capacity of NH4+ and PO43 reached 30.58 and 400.00  mg·g1, respectively. In the double-solute coadsorption experiment, Mg-BC also had the best adsorption effect. In addition, kinetics, isotherms, and various characterization analyses [Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET), scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and zeta potential, among others] were used to study the physicochemical properties of the modified sludge–based biochar and the adsorption mechanism of NH4+ and PO43. It mainly includes ligand exchange, ionic bond, deposition reaction, and electrostatic attraction to pollutants. This study not only provides a feasible strategy for efficient utilization of sewage sludge resources, but also provides a practical method for ammonium and phosphorus removal in water.

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Data Availability Statement

All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the grants for the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52000153), the Xuzhou Key Research and Development Plan Project (social development) (No. KC20163), the Jiangsu Association for Science and Technology Young Scientific and Technological Talents Project (TJ-2021-061), and the Water Conservancy Technology Project of Jiangsu Province (No. 2021077).

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Go to Journal of Environmental Engineering
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 148Issue 9September 2022

History

Received: Feb 18, 2022
Accepted: Apr 14, 2022
Published online: Jun 25, 2022
Published in print: Sep 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Nov 25, 2022

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Research Assistant, Policy Research Center for Environment and Economy, Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing 100000, China. Email: [email protected]
Weiliang Zhang [email protected]
Graduate Student, School of Environmental Engineering, Xuzhou Univ. of Technology, Xuzhou 221018, China. Email: [email protected]
Graduate Student, School of Environmental Engineering, Xuzhou Univ. of Technology, Xuzhou 221018, China. Email: [email protected]
Graduate Student, School of Environmental Engineering, Xuzhou Univ. of Technology, Xuzhou 221018, China. Email: [email protected]
Graduate Student, School of Environmental Engineering, Xuzhou Univ. of Technology, Xuzhou 221018, China. Email: [email protected]
Associate Professor, School of Environmental Engineering, Xuzhou Univ. of Technology, Xuzhou 221018, China (corresponding author). ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3385-1517. Email: [email protected]

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