Recovering Phosphorus from Human Urine by Electrochemical Precipitation Using Magnesium Alloy Tailings as Electrodes: Lab Scale and Pilot Scale Studies
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 150, Issue 4
Abstract
This study explored the recovery of phosphorus from human urine via electrochemical precipitation, employing magnesium alloy tailings as electrodes. The observed pH change during the process was primarily attributed to ammonium precipitation. However, the hydroxide produced by the cathode could potentially have a negative effect. There was a strong correlation between the amount of precipitate produced and pH, which can serve as a useful parameter for monitoring the effectiveness of the treatment. However, electrode corrosion significantly influenced the purity of the resultant struvite product. To counteract this, a device was designed to separate struvite from the electrode corrosion products using fluid flow, which led to an increase in purity. The pilot-scale application of magnesium electrodes proved to be an effective method for phosphorus recovery, achieving a high removal rate through adjustments to the residence time and current density. However, the limited source of wastewater resulted in a struvite production value that was considerably below the maintenance costs. Hence, the economic feasibility of this process necessitates further enhancement.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Fu-An Elementary School and Stantec Consulting Services Inc. for their assistance in the research process.
References
Antonini, S., S. Paris, T. Eichert, and J. Clemens. 2011. “Nitrogen and phosphorus recovery from human urine by struvite precipitation and air stripping in Vietnam.” CLEAN - Soil Air Water 39 (12): 1099–1104. https://doi.org/10.1002/clen.201100036.
Britton, A., R. Prasad, B. Balzer, and L. Cubbage. 2009. “Pilot testing and economic evaluation of struvite recovery from dewatering centrate at HRSD’s Nansemond WWTP.” In Proc., Int. Conf. on Nutrient Recovery from Wastewater Streams, 193–202. London: IWA.
Cordell, D., and S. White. 2015. “Tracking phosphorus security: Indicators of phosphorus vulnerability in the global food system.” Food Secur. 7 (2): 337–350. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-015-0442-0.
Dai, J., W. T. Tang, Y. S. Zheng, H. R. Mackey, H. K. Chui, M. C. M. van Loosdrecht, and G. H. Chen. 2014. “An exploratory study on seawater-catalysed urine phosphorus recovery (SUPR).” Water Res. 66 (May): 75–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2014.08.008.
Daneshgar, S., A. Callegari, A. Capodaglio, and D. Vaccari. 2018. “The potential phosphorus crisis: Resource conservation and possible escape technologies: A review.” Resources 7 (2): 37. https://doi.org/10.3390/resources7020037.
Dong, H., T. Lin, and A. K. SenGupta. 2020. “Field validation of multifunctional ion exchange process for reverse osmosis pretreatment and phosphate recovery during impaired water reuse.” J. Water Process Eng. 36 (Aug): 101347. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2020.101347.
El Diwani, G., S. El Rafie, N. N. El Ibiari, and H. I. El-Aila. 2007. “Recovery of ammonia nitrogen from industrial wastewater treatment as struvite slow releasing fertilizer.” Desalination 214 (1–3): 200–214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2006.08.019.
Etter, B., E. Tilley, R. Khadka, and K. M. Udert. 2011. “Low-cost struvite production using source-separated urine in Nepal.” Water Res. 45 (2): 852–862. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2010.10.007.
Forrest, A. L., K. P. Fattah, and D. S. Mavinic. 2008. “Optimizing struvite production for phosphate recovery in WWTP.” J. Environ. Eng. 134 (5): 395–402. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9372(2008)134:5(395).
Govindan, K., S. J. Im, V. Muthuraj, and A. Jang. 2021. “Electrochemical recovery of and nutrients (N, P) from synthetic source separate urine water.” Chemosphere 269 (Apr): 129361. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.129361.
Hug, A., and K. M. Udert. 2013. “Struvite precipitation from urine with electrochemical magnesium dosage.” Water Res. 47 (1): 289–299. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2012.09.036.
Jiang, S., J. Wang, S. Qiao, and J. Zhou. 2021. “Phosphate recovery from aqueous solution through adsorption by magnesium modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes.” Sci. Total Environ. 796 (Nov): 148907. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148907.
Kawasaki, N., F. Ogata, and H. Tominaga. 2010. “Selective adsorption behavior of phosphate onto aluminum hydroxide gel.” J. Hazard. Mater. 181 (1–3): 574–579. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2010.05.051.
Kok, D.-J. D., S. Pande, J. B. van Lier, A. R. C. Ortigara, H. Savenije, and S. Uhlenbrook. 2018. “Global phosphorus recovery from wastewater for agricultural reuse.” Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 22 (11): 5781–5799. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-5781-2018.
Korchef, A., H. Saidou, and M. Ben Amor. 2011. “Phosphate recovery through struvite precipitation by removal: Effect of magnesium, phosphate and ammonium concentrations.” J. Hazard. Mater. 186 (1): 602–613. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2010.11.045.
Kruk, D. J., M. Elektorowicz, and J. A. Oleszkiewicz. 2014. “Struvite precipitation and phosphorus removal using magnesium sacrificial anode.” Chemosphere 101 (Mar): 28–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2013.12.036.
Kumar, M., M. Badruzzaman, S. Adham, and J. Oppenheimer. 2007. “Beneficial phosphate recovery from reverse osmosis (RO) concentrate of an integrated membrane system using polymeric ligand exchanger (PLE).” Water Res. 41 (10): 2211–2219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2007.01.042.
Larsen, T. A., and W. Gujer. 1996. “Separate management of anthropogenic nutrient solutions (human urine).” Water Sci. Technol. 34 (3–4): 87–94. https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.1996.0420.
Lin, J.-Y., S.-F. Kan, C.-C. Ho, and C.-F. Chen. 2017. A study of sustainable water quality management for eutrophication potential reservoir. [In Chinese.] EPA-106-U1-02-A096. Taipei, Taiwan: Environment Protection Administration.
Lopez-Arredondo, D. L., M. A. Leyva-Gonzalez, S. I. Gonzalez-Morales, J. Lopez-Bucio, and L. Herrera-Estrella. 2014. “Phosphate nutrition: Improving low-phosphate tolerance in crops.” Annu. Rev. Plant Biol. 65 (Nov): 95–123. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-arplant-050213-035949.
Mayer, B. K., L. A. Baker, T. H. Boyer, P. Drechsel, M. Gifford, M. A. Hanjra, P. Parameswaran, J. Stoltzfus, P. Westerhoff, and B. E. Rittmann. 2016. “Total value of phosphorus recovery.” Environ. Sci. Technol. 50 (13): 6606–6620. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b01239.
Min, K. J., D. Kim, J. Lee, K. Lee, and K. Y. Park. 2019. “Characteristics of vegetable crop cultivation and nutrient releasing with struvite as a slow-release fertilizer.” Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 26 (33): 34332–34344. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-05522-2.
Moerman, W., M. Carballa, A. Vandekerckhove, D. Derycke, and W. Verstraete. 2009. “Phosphate removal in agro-industry: Pilot- and full-scale operational considerations of struvite crystallization.” Water Res. 43 (7): 1887–1892. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2009.02.007.
Morrissey, K. G., L. English, G. Thoma, and J. Popp. 2022. “Prospective life cycle assessment and cost analysis of novel electrochemical struvite recovery in a US wastewater treatment plant.” Sustainability 14 (20): 13657. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142013657.
Moulessehoul, A., D. Gallart-Mateu, D. Harrache, S. Djaroud, M. de la Guardia, and M. Kameche. 2017. “Conductimetric study of struvite crystallization in water as a function of pH.” J. Cryst. Growth 471 (Mar): 42–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2017.05.011.
Noe-Hays, A., et al. 2015. “Urine diversion for nutrient recovery and micropollutant management: Results from a regional urine recycling program.” In Proc., Water Environment Federation’s Technical Exhibition and Conf. Alexandria, VA: Weftec.
Ortueta, M., A. Celaya, F. Mijangos, and D. Muraviev. 2014. “Ion exchange synthesis of struvite accompanied by isothermal supersaturation: Influence of polymer matrix and functional groups type.” Solvent Extr. Ion Exch. 33 (1): 65–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/07366299.2014.951283.
Prasad, R., A. Britton, B. Balzer, and G. Schafran. 2007. “Nutrient recovery by struvite crystallization process: Virginia experience.” In Proc., Water Environment Federation’s Technical Exhibition and Conf. Alexandria, VA: Weftec.
Priya, E., S. Kumar, C. Verma, S. Sarkar, and P. K. Maji. 2022. “A comprehensive review on technological advances of adsorption for removing nitrate and phosphate from waste water.” J. Water Process Eng. 49 (Oct): 103159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2022.103159.
Raghothama, K. G. 2005. “Phosphorus and plant nutrition: An overview.” In Vol. 46 of Phosphorus: Agriculture and the environment, edited by J. T. Sims and A. N. Sharpley, 353–378. Madison, WI: American Society of Agronomy.
Rauch, W., D. Brockmann, I. Peters, T. A. Larsen, and W. Gujer. 2003. “Combining urine separation with waste design: An analysis using a stochastic model for urine production.” Water Res. 37 (3): 681–689. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0043-1354(02)00364-0.
Rubio-Rincón, F. J., C. M. Lopez-Vazquez, M. Ronteltap, and D. Brdjanovic. 2014. “Seawater for phosphorus recovery from urine.” Desalination 348 (Mar): 49–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2014.06.005.
Shaddel, S., T. Grini, S. Ucar, K. Azrague, J. P. Andreassen, and S. W. Osterhus. 2020. “Struvite crystallization by using raw seawater: Improving economics and environmental footprint while maintaining phosphorus recovery and product quality.” Water Res. 173 (Apr): 115572. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2020.115572.
Shih, Y. J., R. R. M. Abarca, M. D. G. de Luna, Y. H. Huang, and M. C. Lu. 2017. “Recovery of phosphorus from synthetic wastewaters by struvite crystallization in a fluidized-bed reactor: Effects of pH, phosphate concentration and coexisting ions.” Chemosphere 173 (Apr): 466–473. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.01.088.
Song, G. L., and A. Atrens. 1999. “Corrosion mechanisms of magnesium alloys.” Adv. Eng. Mater. 1 (1): 11–33. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1527-2648(199909)1:1%3C11::AID-ADEM11%3E3.0.CO;2-N.
Sun, H., A. N. Mohammed, and Y. Liu. 2020. “Phosphorus recovery from source-diverted blackwater through struvite precipitation.” Sci. Total Environ. 743 (Nov): 140747. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140747.
Tao, W., A. Bayrakdar, Y. Wang, and F. Agyeman. 2019. “Three-stage treatment for nitrogen and phosphorus recovery from human urine: Hydrolysis, precipitation and vacuum stripping.” J. Environ. Manage. 249 (Nov): 109435. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109435.
Tilley, E., J. Atwater, and D. Mavinic. 2008. “Effects of storage on phosphorus recovery from urine.” Environ. Technol. 29 (7): 807–816. https://doi.org/10.1080/09593330801987145.
Van Vuuren, D. P., A. F. Bouwman, and A. H. W. Beusen. 2010. “Phosphorus demand for the 1970–2100 period: A scenario analysis of resource depletion.” Global Environ. Change 20 (3): 428–439. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2010.04.004.
Wilfert, P., A. I. Dugulan, K. Goubitz, L. Korving, G. J. Witkamp, and M. C. M. Van Loosdrecht. 2018. “Vivianite as the main phosphate mineral in digested sewage sludge and its role for phosphate recovery.” Water Res. 144 (Nov): 312–321. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2018.07.020.
Wilfert, P., J. Meerdink, B. Degaga, H. Temmink, L. Korving, G. J. Witkamp, K. Goubitz, and M. C. M. van Loosdrecht. 2020. “Sulfide induced phosphate release from iron phosphates and its potential for phosphate recovery.” Water Res. 171 (Mar): 115389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2019.115389.
Wilsenach, J. A., C. A. Schuurbiers, and M. C. van Loosdrecht. 2007. “Phosphate and potassium recovery from source separated urine through struvite precipitation.” Water Res. 41 (2): 458–466. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2006.10.014.
Ye, Y., H. H. Ngo, W. Guo, Y. Liu, J. Li, Y. Liu, X. Zhang, and H. Jia. 2017. “Insight into chemical phosphate recovery from municipal wastewater.” Sci. Total Environ. 576 (Jan): 159–171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.10.078.
Ye, Y., H. H. Ngo, W. Guo, Y. Liu, X. Zhang, J. Guo, B. J. Ni, S. W. Chang, and D. D. Nguyen. 2016. “Insight into biological phosphate recovery from sewage.” Bioresour. Technol. 218 (Oct): 874–881. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2016.07.003.
Yu, C., W. Yin, Z. Yu, J. Chen, R. Huang, and X. Zhou. 2021. “Membrane technologies in toilet urine treatment for toilet urine resource utilization: A review.” RSC Adv. 11 (56): 35525–35535. https://doi.org/10.1039/D1RA05816A.
Yuan, Z., S. Pratt, and D. J. Batstone. 2012. “Phosphorus recovery from wastewater through microbial processes.” Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 23 (6): 878–883. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copbio.2012.08.001.
Zamora, P., T. Georgieva, I. Salcedo, N. Elzinga, P. Kuntke, and C. J. N. Buisman. 2017. “Long-term operation of a pilot-scale reactor for phosphorus recovery as struvite from source-separated urine.” J. Chem. Technol. Biotechnol. 92 (5): 1035–1045. https://doi.org/10.1002/jctb.5079.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 150 • Issue 4 • April 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 1, 2023
Accepted: Nov 8, 2023
Published online: Feb 10, 2024
Published in print: Apr 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Jul 10, 2024
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Alloys
- Business management
- Chemical compounds
- Chemical elements
- Chemicals
- Chemistry
- Climates
- Electrokinetics
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering materials (by type)
- Environmental engineering
- Human and behavioral factors
- Laboratory tests
- Magnesium
- Materials engineering
- Metals (material)
- Meteorology
- Nutrient pollution
- Phosphorus
- Pollution
- Practice and Profession
- Precipitation
- Tests (by type)
- Waste management
- Water pollution
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.