Impact of Total Suspended Solids on Struvite Precipitation from Source-Diverted Blackwater
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 147, Issue 3
Abstract
Source-diverted blackwater, especially concentrated blackwater collected from vacuum toilet systems, has been demonstrated to be an ideal source for struvite () production. However, the impacts of total suspended solids (TSS) in blackwater toward struvite quality are not well addressed. In this study, a fluidized bed reactor (FBR) was operated in a batch mode to examine the influences of TSS in raw concentrated blackwater on phosphorus recovery efficiency as well as the purity and size of the produced struvite. The produced struvite was characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. The metal contents of the struvite product were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The results revealed that at appropriate water quality (e.g., ) and operating conditions [e.g., magnesium to phosphorus (Mg/P) molar ratio = 1.5], neither blackwater TSS nor FBR upflow velocity significantly affected the phosphorus recovery efficiency. TSS had a significant impact on the purity and size of the struvite product. The struvite purity increased with the decrease of TSS concentration within the studied range of . At higher TSS levels (), the struvite crystal remained small () with the FBR upflow velocity ranging from 18 to . When the TSS concentration was lower than , the struvite crystal was able to grow continuously (up to 100 μm), and its size was directly impacted by the FBR upflow velocity. A greater upflow velocity was unfavorable to the agglomeration of struvite crystals.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the financial support from an Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Industrial Research Chair Program in Sustainable Urban Water Development through the support by EPCOR Water Services, EPCOR Drainage Operation, and Alberta Innovates, and the Canada Research Chairs in Future Water Services.
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Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 147 • Issue 3 • March 2021
Copyright
© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 11, 2020
Accepted: Oct 12, 2020
Published online: Dec 18, 2020
Published in print: Mar 1, 2021
Discussion open until: May 18, 2021
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