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Nutrient Removal and Recovery

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2014) | Viewed by 48378

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Prof. Dr. Miklas Scholz

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Division of Water Resources Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Lund University, 22100 Lund, Sweden
Interests: water resources engineering; agricultural water management; pollution control; wastewater treatment; decision support systems; treatment wetlands; integrated constructed wetlands; hydrology; storm water management; sustainable flood retention basins; sustainable drainage systems; permeable pavement systems; ponds
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Dear Colleagues,

Water and environmental management has changed over the last ten years, transforming from building, for example, traditional wastewater treatment systems to implementing sustainable methods for nutrient removal and recovery. Nutrient removal with sustainable systems, such as integrated constructed wetlands, address water quality and quantity challenges, and should enhance the local biodiversity while also being acceptable to the public. The recovery of nutrients, such as phosphorus, and subsequent recycling as fertilizer, should help to address anticipated shortfalls in natural resources vital to feed future generations in a sustainable and cost-effective manner.

Barriers for the implementation of nutrient removal and recovery systems, technologies and methodologies include the lack of finance for innovation, sustainable system adoption problems, negative public perception and a lack of decision support tools addressing, particularly, the retrofitting of these systems. Therefore, I would like to call for papers to disseminate and share findings on current challenges facing the nutrient removal and recovery community.

Papers are selected by a rigorous peer review procedure with the aim of rapid and wide dissemination of research results, development and application. Original research papers or reviews are invited in the following, and related, areas:

Sustainable infrastructure management
Solid waste collection and management
Waste treatment
Water and wastewater treatment
Nutrient removal processes
Process analyzing and modeling
Limiting nutrients
Nutrient recovery technology
Decision-support systems and frameworks
Public perception and stakeholder engagement

Yours sincerely,

Prof. Dr. Miklas Scholz
Guest Editor

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Keywords

sustainability
solid waste
waste treatment
wastewater treatment
nutrient removal
process modeling
phosphorus
nitrogen
nutrient recovery
decision-support

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

2157 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Nitrogen and Phosphorus Removal from Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluent via Bacterial Sulfate Reduction in an Anoxic Bioreactor Packed with Wood and Iron

by Takahiro Yamashita and Ryoko Yamamoto-Ikemoto

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2014, 11(9), 9835-9853; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110909835 - 22 Sep 2014

Cited by 74 | Viewed by 11358

Abstract

We investigated the removal of nitrogen and phosphate from the effluent of a sewage treatment plant over a long-term operation in bioreactors packed with different combinations of wood and iron, with a trickling filter packed with foam ceramics for nitrification. The average nitrification rate in the trickling filter was 0.17 kg N/m³∙day and remained at 0.11 kg N/m³∙day even when the water temperature was below 15 °C. The denitrification and phosphate removal rates in the bioreactor packed with aspen wood and iron were higher than those in the bioreactor packed with cedar chips and iron. The bioreactor packed with aspen wood and iron continued to remove nitrate and phosphate for >1200 days of operation. The nitrate removal activity of a biofilm attached to the aspen wood from the bioreactor after 784 days of operation was 0.42 g NO₃-N/kg dry weight wood∙ day. There was no increase in the amount of dissolved organic matter in the outflow from the bioreactors. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrient Removal and Recovery)

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1060 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Application of Magnesium Modified Corn Biochar for Phosphorus Removal and Recovery from Swine Wastewater

by Ci Fang, Tao Zhang, Ping Li, Rong-feng Jiang and Ying-cai Wang

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2014, 11(9), 9217-9237; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110909217 - 05 Sep 2014

Cited by 192 | Viewed by 13314

Abstract

The recycling of lost phosphorus (P) is important in sustainable development. In line with this objective, biochar adsorption is a promising method of P recovery. Therefore, our study investigates the efficiency and selectivity of magnesium modified corn biochar (Mg/biochar) in relation to P adsorption. It also examines the available P derived from postsorption Mg/biochar. Mg/biochar is rich in magnesium nanoparticles and organic functional groups, and it can adsorb 90% of the equilibrium amount of P within 30 min. The Mg/biochar P adsorption process is mainly controlled by chemical action. The maximum P adsorption amount of Mg/biochar is 239 mg/g. The Langmuir-Freundlich model fits the P adsorption isotherm best. Thermodynamics calculation shows ∆H > 0, ∆G < 0, ∆S > 0, and it demonstrates the P adsorption process is an endothermic, spontaneous, and increasingly disordered. The optimal pH is 9. The amounts of P adsorbed by Mg/B300, Mg/B450, and Mg/B600 from swine wastewater are lower than that adsorbed from synthetic P wastewater by 6.6%, 4.8%, and 4.2%, respectively. Mg/biochar is more resistant to pH and to the influence of coexisting ions than biochar. Finally, postsorption Mg/biochar can release P persistently. The P release equilibrium concentrations are ordered as follows: Mg/B600 > Mg/B450 > Mg/B300. The postsorption Mg/B300, Mg/B450, and Mg/B600 can release 3.3%, 3.9%, and 4.4% of the total adsorbed P, respectively, per interval time. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrient Removal and Recovery)

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922 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Nitrogen Removal over Nitrite by Aeration Control in Aerobic Granular Sludge Sequencing Batch Reactors

by Samuel Lochmatter, Julien Maillard and Christof Holliger

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2014, 11(7), 6955-6978; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110706955 - 08 Jul 2014

Cited by 37 | Viewed by 7409

Abstract

This study investigated the potential of aeration control for the achievement of N-removal over nitrite with aerobic granular sludge in sequencing batch reactors. N-removal over nitrite requires less COD, which is particularly interesting if COD is the limiting parameter for nutrient removal. The nutrient removal performances for COD, N and P have been analyzed as well as the concentration of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria in the granular sludge. Aeration phase length control combined with intermittent aeration or alternate high-low DO, has proven to be an efficient way to reduce the nitrite-oxidizing bacteria population and hence achieve N-removal over nitrite. N-removal efficiencies of up to 95% were achieved for an influent wastewater with COD:N:P ratios of 20:2.5:1. The total N-removal rate was 0.18 kgN·m⁻³·d⁻¹. With N-removal over nitrate the N-removal was only 74%. At 20 °C, the nitrite-oxidizing bacteria concentration decreased by over 95% in 60 days and it was possible to switch from N-removal over nitrite to N-removal over nitrate and back again. At 15 °C, the nitrite-oxidizing bacteria concentration decreased too but less, and nitrite oxidation could not be completely suppressed. However, the combination of aeration phase length control and high-low DO was also at 15 °C successful to maintain the nitrite pathway despite the fact that the maximum growth rate of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria at temperatures below 20 °C is in general higher than the one of ammonium-oxidizing bacteria. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrient Removal and Recovery)

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1037 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Sludge Retention Times on Nutrient Removal and Nitrous Oxide Emission in Biological Nutrient Removal Processes

by Bo Li and Guangxue Wu

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2014, 11(4), 3553-3569; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110403553 - 27 Mar 2014

Cited by 54 | Viewed by 7637

Abstract

Sludge retention time (SRT) is an important factor affecting not only the performance of the nutrient removal and sludge characteristics, but also the production of secondary pollutants such as nitrous oxide (N₂O) in biological nutrient removal (BNR) processes. Four laboratory-scale sequencing batch reactors (SBRs), namely, SBR5, SBR10, SBR20 and SBR40 with the SRT of 5 d, 10 d, 20 d and 40 d, respectively, were operated to examine effects of SRT on nutrient removal, activated sludge characteristics and N₂O emissions. The removal of chemical oxygen demand or total phosphorus was similar under SRTs of 5–40 d, SRT mainly affected the nitrogen removal and the optimal SRT for BNR was 20 d. The molecular weight distribution of the effluent organic matters was in the range of 500–3,000 Da under SRTs of 5–40 d. The lowest concentration of the effluent soluble microbial products concentration was obtained at the SRT of 5 d. Nitrifier growth was limited at a short SRT and nitrite existed in the effluent of SBR5. With increasing SRTs, mixed liquor suspended solids concentration increased while the excess sludge production was reduced due to the high endogenous decay rate at high SRTs. Endogenous decay coefficients were 0.020 d⁻¹, 0.036 d⁻¹, 0.037 d⁻¹ and 0.039 d⁻¹ under SRTs of 5–40 d, respectively. In BNR, the N₂O emission occurred mainly during the aerobic phase and its emission ratio decreased with increasing SRTs. The ratio between the N₂O-N emission and the removed ammonium nitrogen in the aerobic phase was 5%, 3%, 1.8% and 0.8% at the SRT of 5 d, 10 d, 20 d and 40 d, respectively. With low concentrations of dissolved oxygen and high concentrations of oxidized nitrogen, the N₂O emission was significantly accelerated due to heterotrophic denitrification activities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrient Removal and Recovery)

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607 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Structure Analysis of Aerobic Granule from a Sequencing Batch Reactor for Organic Matter and Ammonia Nitrogen Removal

by Jun Li, Ang Cai, Danjun Wang, Chao Chen and Yongjiong Ni

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2014, 11(3), 2427-2436; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110302427 - 26 Feb 2014

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 7484

Abstract

Aerobic granules were cultivated in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR). COD and ammonia nitrogen removal rate were 94% and 99%, respectively. The diameter, settling velocity and SVI₁₀ of granules ranged from 2 to 5 mm, 80 to 110 m/h and about 40 mL/g, respectively. Freezing microtome images, DO concentration profiles by microelectrode, distribution of bacteria and EPS by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) show that the aerobic granules have a three-layer structure. Each layer has different thickness, character, bacteria, and DO transfer rate. A hypothesis for granule structure is proposed: the first layer, the surface of the granule, is composed mostly of heterotrophic organisms for organic matter removal, with a thickness range from 150 to 350 μm; the second layer, mostly composed of autotrophic organisms for ammonia nitrogen removal, with a thickness range from 250 to 450 μm; the third layer, located in the core of the granule, has mostly an inorganic composition and contains pores and channels. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrient Removal and Recovery)

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