Jiahui Liu

Recovery and removal of nutrients from swine wastewater by using a novel integrated reactor for struvite decomposition and recycling.

In the present study, struvite decomposition was performed by air stripping for ammonia release and a novel integrated reactor was designed for the simultaneous removal and recovery of total ammonia-nitrogen (TAN) and total orthophosphate (PT) from swine wastewater by internal struvite recycling. Decomposition of struvite by air stripping was found to be feasible. Without supplementation with additional magnesium and phosphate sources, the removal ratio of TAN from synthetic wastewater was maintained at >80% by recycling of the struvite decomposition product formed under optimal conditions, six times. Continuous operation of the integrated reactor indicated that approximately 91% TAN and 97% PT in the swine wastewater could be removed and recovered by the proposed recycling process with the supplementation of bittern. Economic evaluation of the proposed system showed that struvite precipitation cost can be saved by approximately 54% by adopting the proposed recycling process in comparison with no recycling method.

Removal of ammonium from swine wastewater by zeolite combined with chlorination for regeneration

This study investigated a process using ammonium ion (NH4(+)) exchange on zeolite in combination with chlorination regeneration for the safe treatment of simulated swine wastewater. Two stages i) 120-min zeolite ion-exchange and ii) 10-min exchanged zeolite regeneration facilitated NH4(+) ion removal from wastewater. Solution pH, contact time, adsorbent dosage, and competitive cations were the significant factors influencing the entire process. The effect of competitive cations on NH4(+) removal effectively followed the order of preference as Na(+)>K(+)>Ca(2+)>Mg(2+) at equivalent concentrations. The chlorination method experimentally removed approximately 99% of the NH4(+) exchanged on the zeolite, without remaining NH4(+) in the regeneration solution. Our analysis revealed that, in this process, the NH4(+) exchanged on the zeolite was first replaced by Na(+) and then oxidized to nitrogen gas. Reuse of the regenerated zeolite (GZ) indicated that the removal efficiency of NH4(+) ions was equal to that of the fresh zeolite modified with NaCl. Results of kinetic analysis revealed that the NH4(+) exchange on the GZ followed the pseudo-second-order model and the intraparticle diffusion model only for the first 60 min. The ion-exchange isotherm results demonstrated that the Langmuir model provided a slightly more consistent fit to the equilibrium data as compared with the Freundlich model. Repetitive experimental results confirmed that the proposed zeolite recycling process was stable and usable in simulated swine wastewater treatment.

Crystallization and precipitation of phosphate from swine wastewater by magnesium metal corrosion

This paper presents a unique approach for magnesium dosage in struvite precipitation by Mg metal corrosion. The experimental results showed that using an air bubbling column filled with Mg metal and graphite pellets for the magnesium dosage was the optimal operation mode, which could significantly accelerate the corrosion of the Mg metal pellets due to the presence of graphite granules. The reaction mechanism experiments revealed that the solution pH could be used as the indicator for struvite crystallization by the process. Increases in the Mg metal dosage, mass ratio of graphite and magnesium metal (G:M) and airflow rate could rapidly increase the solution pH. When all three conditions were at 10 g L–1, 1:1 and 1 L min–1, respectively, the phosphate recovery efficiency reached 97.5%. To achieve a high level of automation for the phosphate recovery process, a continuous-flow reactor immersed with the graphite-magnesium air bubbling column was designed to harvest the phosphate from actual swine wastewater. Under conditions of intermittently supplementing small amounts of Mg metal pellets, approximately 95% of the phosphate could be stably recovered as struvite of 95.8% (±0.5) purity. An economic analysis indicated that the process proposed was technically simple and economically feasible.