TY - JOUR
T1 - Nutrient recovery from source-separated urine via sorption and a comparative investigation on the improvement of the residual liquid quality
AU - Akdag, Yasemin
AU - Altinbas, Mahmut
AU - Beler-Baykal, Bilsen
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2024/11
Y1 - 2024/11
N2 - Human urine, a highly saline solution rich in plant-available nutrients, leaves behind significant organic matter after nutrient recovery, necessitating additional treatment for environmental protection. While nutrient recovery from human urine is well-documented in the literature, research on the safe handling of the residual liquid phase is notably lacking. This study investigates nutrient recovery from source-separated human urine using clinoptilolite for the ion exchange/adsorption process and evaluates the safe management of the residual liquid through anaerobic granular sludge and a second-stage of sorption. The results indicated that the ion exchange/adsorption process, using an ammonium loading of 15 mg NH4+/g clinoptilolite, removed the majority of nutrients, achieving 82% ammonium removal and 100% phosphorus removal, along with 30% removal of organic matter. The residual liquid phase from the nutrient removal stage was treated separately with anaerobic digestion and a second-stage of sorption for further processing. Results showed that anaerobic processing removed 68%–84% of organic matter, with no additional nitrogen removal observed as expected, and produced 0.20–0.46 L CH4/L urine. The second-stage of sorption removed 59%–62% of organic matter and nearly all nitrogen. Both processes effectively removed organic matter, with sorption also eliminating nitrogen and anaerobic processing potentially generating biogas, making them recommended for improving the quality of the residual liquid phase before final disposal.
AB - Human urine, a highly saline solution rich in plant-available nutrients, leaves behind significant organic matter after nutrient recovery, necessitating additional treatment for environmental protection. While nutrient recovery from human urine is well-documented in the literature, research on the safe handling of the residual liquid phase is notably lacking. This study investigates nutrient recovery from source-separated human urine using clinoptilolite for the ion exchange/adsorption process and evaluates the safe management of the residual liquid through anaerobic granular sludge and a second-stage of sorption. The results indicated that the ion exchange/adsorption process, using an ammonium loading of 15 mg NH4+/g clinoptilolite, removed the majority of nutrients, achieving 82% ammonium removal and 100% phosphorus removal, along with 30% removal of organic matter. The residual liquid phase from the nutrient removal stage was treated separately with anaerobic digestion and a second-stage of sorption for further processing. Results showed that anaerobic processing removed 68%–84% of organic matter, with no additional nitrogen removal observed as expected, and produced 0.20–0.46 L CH4/L urine. The second-stage of sorption removed 59%–62% of organic matter and nearly all nitrogen. Both processes effectively removed organic matter, with sorption also eliminating nitrogen and anaerobic processing potentially generating biogas, making them recommended for improving the quality of the residual liquid phase before final disposal.
KW - Anaerobic processing
KW - Human urine
KW - Ion exchange/adsorption
KW - Nutrient recovery
KW - Waste management
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85204074728&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122507
DO - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122507
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85204074728
SN - 0301-4797
VL - 370
JO - Journal of Environmental Management
JF - Journal of Environmental Management
M1 - 122507
ER -