Bubble Turbulent Gas-Permeable Membrane for Ammonia Recovery from Swine Wastewater: Mass Transfer Enhancement and Antifouling Mechanisms.

Recovering ammonium from swine wastewater employing a gas-permeable membrane (GM) has potential but suffers from the limitations of unattractive mass transfer and poor-tolerance antifouling properties. Turbulence is an effective approach to enhancing the release of volatile ammonia from wastewater while relying on interfacial disturbance to interfere with contaminant adhesion. Herein, we design an innovative gas-permeable membrane coupled with bubble turbulence (BT-GM) that enhances mass transfer while mitigating membrane fouling. Bubbles act as turbulence carriers to accelerate the release and migration of ammonia from the liquid phase, increasing the ammonia concentration gradient at the membrane-liquid interface. In comparison, the ammonium mass transfer rate of the BT-GM process applied to real swine wastewater is 38% higher than that of conventional GM (12 h). Through a computational fluid dynamics simulation, the turbulence kinetic energy of BT-GM system is 3 orders of magnitude higher than that of GM, and the effective mass transfer area is nearly 3 times that of GM. Seven batches of tests confirmed that the BT-GM system exhibits remarkable antifouling ability, broadens its adaptability to complex water quality, and practically promotes the development of sustainable resource recycling.

Nitrogen recovery from sludge centrate by membrane contactor: Influence of operating parameters and cleaning conditions.

In urban wastewater treatment, the sludge generated is treated by anaerobic digestion, to be subsequently dehydrated by centrifuges. Currently, the liquid fraction obtained in this dehydration process is recirculated at the head of the treatment plant. However, its high nitrogen and phosphorus content makes it an effluent with high added value. The recovery of these nutrients could be an excellent alternative for the production of fertilizers or other industrial applications. In this study, the use of a liquid-liquid phase membrane contactor is presented as a favorable solution for the recovery of ammoniacal nitrogen from sludge centrated. The polypropylene hollow fiber membrane was evaluated considering its ammonia removal and recovery capacity. For this, different parameters were evaluated: the influence of the type and concentration of the acid solution, the wastewater pH, the flow rates of feeding and the acid stripping solution, and the contact time. Results showed that with a contact time of 65 min, ammonia removal and recovery percentages of the order of 90% were achieved. The flow rates of the stripping and feed solutions together with the acid concentration did not have a significant influence on the removal but on the recovery. Concerning used acid, sulphuric and phosphoric acid solutions achieved better results than nitric acid solution. The most critical parameter was the pH, obtaining the highest removal and recovery of ammonium at the highest pH. Finally, a stable cleaning protocol was obtained, between preventive and moderate cleanings to avoid severe cleanings, keeping the membrane at its maximum capacity.

Armor-Structured Interconnected-Porous Membranes for Corrosion-Resistant and Highly Permeable Waste Ammonium Resource Recycling.

Ammonium recovery from wastewater by gas-permeable membranes is promising but suffers from the tradeoff between membrane stability and permeability under harsh operating conditions. Chemical-resistant membranes display modest permeability due to the poor solubility and processibility; chemically active membranes are easier to be endowed with better permeability however hinder by instability. To resolve such a problem, we cleverly design a novel membrane configuration via one-step solution-electrospinning, with the chemical-active component (low-strength fluorine polymer) as the inner skeleton to construct interconnected porous structures and the chemical-resistant component (high-strength fluorine polymer) as the outer armor to serve as a protective layer. Due to the significantly enhanced mass transfer coefficient, the interconnected-porous armor-structured membrane exhibited much higher permeability for NH4+-N recovery, which was 1.4 and 5 times that of the traditional PTFE membrane and PP membrane, respectively. Through long-term intermittent and consecutive experiments, the reusability and durability of the armor-structured nanofibrous membrane were verified. When treating actual hoggery wastewater with complicated water quality, the armor-structured nanofibrous membrane also displayed robust stable performance with excellent antiwettability. The mechanisms of membrane formation, corrosion resistance, and mass transfer were discussed in detail.

Screening plant growth effects of sheep slaughterhouse waste-derived soil amendments in greenhouse trials.

Ameliorative effects of sheep slaughterhouse waste-derived soil amendments (struvite, blood meal, bone meal) were explored and quantified by a series of comparative greenhouse trials. A scoring matrix system was developed for 25 different test plants using 300 agricultural measurements obtained for three basic growth parameters (fresh-dry plant weights and plant heights) and four different fertilizer sources including solid vermicompost. More than 70% of NH4+-N recovery from sheep slaughterhouse wastewater was achieved using a chemical combination of MgCl2.6H2O + NaH2PO4.2H2O, a molar ratio of Mg2+:NH4+-N:PO43-P = 1.2:1:1, a reaction pH of 9.0, an initial NH4+-N concentration of 240 mg/L, and a reaction time of 15 min. According to SEM micrographs, surface morphology of struvite exhibited a highly porous structure composed of irregularly shaped crystals of various sizes (11.34-79.38 µm). FTIR spectroscopy verified the active functional groups on the proximity of all fertilizer sources within the spectral range of 500-3900 cm-1. TGA-DTG-DSC thermograms of struvite revealed that the mass loss occurred in two temperature regions and reached a maximum mass loss rate of 1.63%/min at 317 °C. The average percentages of increase (57.55-100.62%) and performance points (69-79) corroborated that the fertility value of struvite ranked first on average in cultivation of the analyzed plant species. Findings of this agro-valorization study confirmed that sheep slaughterhouse waste-derived fertilizers could be a beneficial way to promote bio-waste management and environmentally friendly agriculture.

Donnan Dialysis-Osmotic Distillation (DD-OD) Hybrid Process for Selective Ammonium Recovery Driven by Waste Alkali.

This work proposed an innovative and energy-efficient Donnan Dialysis (DD) and Osmotic Distillation (OD) hybrid process for alkali-driven ammonium recovery from wastewater. The efficiency and feasibility of ammonium removal and recovery from synthetic and real wastewater using NaOH and waste alkali were investigated. Ammonium in the feed first transported across the cation exchange membrane and accumulated in the receiver chamber. It is then deprotonated as ammonia, passing through the gas permeable membrane and finally is fixed as ammonium salt in the acid chamber. Our results indicated that employing waste alkali (red mud leachate) as driving solution led to excellent ammonium recovery performances (recovery efficiency of >80%), comparable to those of NaOH solution. When the initial ammonium concentration was 5 and 50 mM, the waste alkali driven DD-OD process achieved acceptable NH4+-N flux density of 16.8 and 169 g N m-2 d-1, at energy cost as low as 8.38 and 2.06 kWh kg-1 N, respectively. Since this alkali driven DD-OD hybrid process is based on solute concentration (or partial pressure) gradient, it could be an energy-effective technology capable of treating wastewaters containing ammonium using waste alkali to realize nutrients recovery in a sustainable manner.

Application of Natural Clinoptilolite for Ammonium Removal from Sludge Water.

Sludge water (SW) arising from the dewatering of anaerobic digested sludge causes high back loads of ammonium, leading to high stress (inhibition of the activity of microorganisms by an oversupply of nitrogen compounds (substrate inhibition)) for wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). On the other hand, ammonium is a valuable resource to substitute ammonia from the energy intensive Haber-Bosch process for fertilizer production. Within this work, it was investigated to what extent and under which conditions Carpathian clinoptilolite powder (CCP 20) can be used to remove ammonium from SW and to recover it. Two different SW, originating from municipal WWTPs were investigated (SW1: c0 = 967 mg/L NH4-N, municipal wastewater; SW2: c0 = 718-927 mg/L NH4-N, large industrial wastewater share). The highest loading was achieved at 307 K with 16.1 mg/g (SW1) and 15.3 mg/g (SW2) at 295 K. Kinetic studies with different specific dosages (0.05 gCLI/mgNH4-N), temperatures (283-307 K) and pre-loaded CCP 20 (0-11.4 mg/g) were conducted. At a higher temperature a higher load was achieved. Already after 30 min contact time, regardless of the sludge water, a high load up to 7.15 mg/g at 307 K was reached, achieving equilibrium after 120 min. Pre-loaded sorbent could be further loaded with ammonium when it was recontacted with the SW.

An integrated physical-chemical system for concurrent carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus removal in municipal wastewater treatment plants.

A substantial quantity of suspended solids (SS) present in municipal wastewater leads to the swift depletion of the ion exchange (IE) capacity of natural zeolites like Clinoptilolite (CIO). This limitation has become the primary factor contributing to the limited adoption of the IE technique within municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). However, an extensive lab-scale and pilot-scale study conducted over approximately one year has made it possible to efficiently apply the IE system using CIO (main grain size of 0.5-1.0 mm) upstream of the primary sedimentation tank (PST). The primary treated wastewater (PTWW) was introduced to the IE system either by pre-straining or without any pre-treatment. The IE system's capabilities for removing total suspended solids (TSS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and phosphorus (P) while primarily focusing on ammonium (NH4+) recovery were undergone for a detailed investigation. Frequent backwashing, involving intermittent water and air injection, was used to mitigate clogging as the main problem of the IE system for treating PTWW. The results revealed a mean removal efficiency of 85 %, 60 %, 50 %, and 30 % for NH4+, TSS, TCOD, and total phosphorus (TP), respectively, per cycle exclusively for the IE system. As the system scaled up, a substantial reduction was observed in the adsorption capacity, shifting from approximately 12 to 1 g NH4+ (kgCIO)-1. Despite this drawback, the study's finding showed that prolonged treatment of PTWW for NH4+ removal and recovery in municipal WWTPs, besides substantially reducing carbonaceous pollutants, is applicable. Implementing this application will not only decrease the biological treatment costs for municipal wastewater but also yield valuable by-products, such as NH4Cl, which can serve as a foundational material for the production of ammonium chloride fertilizer. Therefore, transitioning to IE systems in municipal WWTPs will diminish the reliance on resource-intensive methods like the Harber-Bosch procedure for producing nitrogen fertilizer.

Post-treatment of high-rate activated sludge effluent via zeolite adsorption and recovery of ammonium-nitrogen as alternative fertilising products.

This study investigates the potential to connect nutrient flows between wastewater treatment and agriculture through a two-stage nitrogen (N) recovery system composed of high-rate activated sludge treatment in contact stabilisation mode (HRAS/CS) and column adsorption with zeolite. The HRAS/CS process removes organic matter and suspended solids in wastewater, leaving N behind in the effluent. The N was successfully recovered with the zeolite column under different scenarios, generating N and K-rich by-products. The regeneration effluent from the zeolite column with KCl contained 60-845 mg NH4+-N/L and 1.6-14.3 g K/L, having potential for use as fertigation water. The N-saturated zeolite contained 1.5-8.4 mg N/g and 14.3-19.3 mg K/g of the product fresh weight and low contaminant content, making it potentially eligible as various fertilising products. Adsorption can thus concentrate N from HRAS/CS effluent and produce by-products with potential agricultural value while meeting chemical oxygen demand and total nitrogen discharge standards.

Electrochemically selective ammonium recovery from wastewater via coupling hydrogen bonding and charge storage.

Electrochemical ammonium (NH4+) storage (EAS) has been established as an efficient technology for NH4+ recovery from wastewater. However, there are scientific difficulties unsolved regarding low storage capacity and selectivity, restricting its extensive engineering applications. In this work, electrochemically selective NH4+ recovery from wastewater was achieved by coupling hydrogen bonding and charge storage with self-assembled bi-layer composite electrode (GO/V2O5). The NH4+ storage was as high as 234.7 mg N g-1 (> 102 times higher than conventional activated carbon). Three chains of proof were furnished to elucidate the intrinsic mechanisms for such superior performance. Density functional theory (DFT) showed that an excellent electron-donating ability for NH4+ (0.08) and decrease of diffusion barrier (22.3 %) facilitated NH4+ diffusion onto electrode interface. Physio- and electro-chemical results indicated that an increase of interlamellar spacing (14.3 %) and electrochemical active surface area (ECSA, 388.9 %) after the introduction of GO were responsible for providing greater channels and sites toward NH4+ insertion. Both non-ionic chemical-bonding (V5+=O‧‧‧H, hydrogen-bonding) and charge storage were contributed to the higher capacity and selectivity for NH4+. This work offers underlying guideline for exploitation a storage manner for NH4+ recovery from wastewater.

Self-reporting electroswitchable colorimetric platform for smart ammonium recovery from wastewater.

Recovery of ammonium from wastewater represents a sustainable strategy within the context of global resource depletion, environmental pollution and carbon neutralization. The present study developed an advanced self-reporting electroswitchable colorimetric platform (SECP) to realize smart ammonium recovery based on the electrically stimulated transformation of Prussian blue/Prussian white (PB/PW) redox couple. The key to SECP was the selectivity of ammonium adsorption, sensitivity of desorption to electric signals and visualability of color change during switchable adsorption/desorption transformation. The results demonstrated the electrochemical intercalation-induced selective adsorption of NH4+ (selectivity coefficient of 3-19 versus other cations) and deintercalation-induced desorption on the PB-film electrode. At applied voltage of 1.2 V for 20 min, the negatively charged PB-film electrode achieved the maximum adsorption capacity of 3.2 mmol g-1. Reversing voltage to -0.2 V for 20 min resulted in desorption efficiency as high as 99%, indicating high adsorption/desorption reversibility and cyclic stability. The Fe(III)/Fe(II) redox dynamics were responsible for PB/PW transformation during reversible intercalation/deintercalation of NH4+. Based on the blue/transparence color change of PB/PW, the quantitative relationship was established between amounts of NH4+ adsorbed and extracted RGB values by multiple linear regression (R2 = 0.986, RMSE = 0.095). Then, the SECP was created upon the unique capability of real-time monitoring and feedback of color change of electrode to realize the automatic control of NH4+ adsorption/desorption. During five cycles of tests, the adsorption process consistently peaked at an average value of 3.15±0.04 mmol g-1, while desorption reliably approached the near-zero average of 0.06±0.04 mmol g-1. The average time of duration was 19.6±1.67 min for adsorption and 18.8±1.10 min for desorption, respectively. With electroswitchability, selectivity and self-reporting functionalities, the SECP represents a paradigm shift in smart ammonium recovery from wastewater, making wastewater treatment and resource recovery more efficient, more intelligent and more sustainable.

Overlooked in-situ sulfur disproportionation fuels dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium in sulfur-based system: Novel insight of nitrogen recovery.

Sulfur-based denitrification is a promising technology in treatments of nitrate-contaminated wastewaters. However, due to weak bioavailability and electron-donating capability of elemental sulfur, its sulfur-to-nitrate ratio has long been low, limiting the support for dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) process. Using a long-term sulfur-packed reactor, we demonstrate here for the first time that DNRA in sulfur-based system is not negligible, but rather contributes a remarkable 40.5 %-61.1 % of the total nitrate biotransformation for ammonium production. Through combination of kinetic experiments, electron flow analysis, 16S rRNA amplicon, and microbial network succession, we unveil a cryptic in-situ sulfur disproportionation (SDP) process which significantly facilitates DNRA via enhancing mass transfer and multiplying 86.7-210.9 % of bioavailable electrons. Metagenome assembly and single-copy gene phylogenetic analysis elucidate the abundant genomes, including uc_VadinHA17, PHOS-HE36, JALNZU01, Thiobacillus, and Rubrivivax, harboring complete genes for ammonification. Notably, a unique group of self-SDP-coupled DNRA microorganism was identified. This study unravels a previously concealed fate of DNRA, which highlights the tremendous potential for ammonium recovery and greenhouse gas mitigation. Discovery of a new coupling between nitrogen and sulfur cycles underscores great revision needs of sulfur-driven denitrification technology.

Selective recovery of lithium and ammonium from spent lithium-ion batteries using intercalation electrodes.

Recycling lithium-ion batteries has recently become a major concern. Ammonia leaching is commonly employed in such battery recycling methods since it has various advantages such as low toxicity and excellent selectivity toward precious metals. In this study, an electrochemical system with intercalation-type electrodes was used to investigate the selective recovery of lithium and ammonium from ammonia battery leachate. Using an activated carbon electrode as a counter electrode, the selectivity of lithium from the lithium manganese oxide (LMO) electrode and the selectivity of ammonium from the nickel hexacyanoferrate (NiHCF) electrode were examined within the system. The LMO//NiHCF system was next evaluated for lithium and ammonium recovery using a synthetic solution as well as real ammonia battery leachate. When compared to previous ammonium recovery methods, the results revealed good selectivity of lithium and ammonium from each LMO and NiHCF electrode with relatively low energy consumption for ammonium recovery (2.43 Wh g-N-1). The average recovery capacity of lithium was 1.39 mmol g-1 with a purity of up to 96.8% and the recovery capacity of ammonium was 1.09 mmol g-1 with 97.8% purity from the pre-treated leachate. This electrochemical method together with ammonia leaching can be a promising method for selective resource recovery from spent lithium-ion batteries.

Direct ammonium recovery from the permeate of a pilot-scale anaerobic MBR by biochar to advance low-carbon municipal wastewater reclamation and urban agriculture.

The rapidly evolving global climate change has an unprecedented impact sustainable water supply, but also challenges and water shortage global food security. In such a dynamic situation, this study explored direct recovery of ammonium from the effluent of a pilot-scale anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) treating actual municipal wastewater via biochar adsorption, while the use of produced ammonium-loaded biochar for urban agriculture was also demonstrated. Results showed that modified biochar could remove almost all ammonium in the pilot AnMBR permeate at an empty bed contact time of 30 mins. Results showed that ammonium extracted from the ammonium-loaded biochar could promote the germination of Daikon radish seeds. It was further observed that the fresh weight of Pak Choi (a typical leafy vegetable) planted in the soils augmented with the ammonium-loaded biochar was 42.5 g per vegetable versus 18.5 g per vegetable in the control, indicating a 130 % of increase in the Pak Choi productivity. In addition, the Pak Choi in grown the ammonium-loaded biochar augmented soils appeared to be much bigger with larger leaves compared to the control. It was also worth to note that the ammonium-loaded biochar could significantly stimulate the root development of Pak Choi, i.e., 20.7 cm over 10.5 cm obtained in the control. More importantly, the amount of carbon emission reduced through returning ammonium-loaded biochar to urban agriculture could offset the treatment process-associated direct and indirect carbon emission.

A novel sustainable N recycling process: Upcycling ammonia to ammonium fertilizer from dilute wastewater and simultaneously realizing phenol degradation via a visible solar-driven PECMA system with efficient Ag2S-BiVO4 photoanodes.

The selective recovery of NH4+ as N fertilizers from dilution wastewater is a promising but challenging topic. Herein, a novel visible-light driven photo-electrochemical membrane stripping cell (designated "PECMA") with Ag2S-BiVO4 heterojunction photoanode was proposed to recover ammonium from dilute wastewater, which comprised an anode chamber for organics treatment, intermediate chamber for separating ammonium, cathode chamber for upcycling NH4+ into NH3, and recovery chamber for converting NH3 into (NH4)2SO4. The NH4+ is concentrated by 21.5 times and recovered as (NH4)2SO4 with a concentration of 7103 mg L-1 after 10 cycles. At a current density of 3.86 A m-2, PECMA system achieves excellent NH4+ removal and recovery rates of 97.5 and 37.2 g N m-2 d-1 in 100 mgN L-1 wastewater. Moreover, PECMA degrades refractory organic pollutants through ClO· generated by Ag2S-BiVO4 photoanode, which effectively decompose phenol to CO2 with a degradation rate of 93 %. Although tested as a proof-of-concept, the hybrid system opens up a novel field involving a sunlight-water-energy nexus, promising high efficiency NH4+ recovery and wastewater remediation.

Simultaneous ammonium and water recovery from landfill leachate using an integrated two-stage membrane distillation.

Resources recovery from landfill leachate (LFL) has been attracting growing attention instead of merely purifying the wastewater. An integrated two-stage membrane distillation (ITMD) was proposed to simultaneously purify LFL and recover ammonia in this study. The results showed that organics could be always effectively rejected by the ITMD regardless of varying feed pH, with COD removal higher than 99%. With feed pH increased from 8.64 to 12, the ammonia migration (50-100%) and capture (36-75%) in LFL were considerably enhanced, boosting the separated ammonia enrichment to 1.3-1.7 times due to the improved ammonium diffusion. However, the corresponding membrane flux of the first MD stage decreased from 13.7 to 10.5 L/m2·h. Elevating feed pH caused the deprotonation of NOM and its binding with inorganic ions, constituting a complex fouling layer on the membrane surface in the first MD stage. In contrast, the membrane permeability and fouling of the second MD were not affected by feed pH adjustment because only volatiles passed through the first MD. More importantly, it was estimated that ITMD could obtain high-quality water and recover high-purity ammonium from LFL with relatively low ammonium concentration at an input cost of $ 2-3/m3, which was very competitive with existing techniques. These results demonstrated that the ITMD can be a valuable candidate strategy for simultaneous water purification and nutrient recovery from landfill leachate.

Self-sustained ammonium recovery from wastewater and upcycling for hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria-based power-to-protein conversion.

Microbial protein (MP) production by autotrophic hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria is regarded as a potentially sustainable approach to mitigate food crisis, water pollution, and climate change. Herein, a hybrid biological-inorganic (HBI) system which coupled energy-neutral ammonium recovery and in-situ upcycling for MP production was demonstrated. No energy and acids/bases were needed for ammonium recovery and pH control. The system was tested with different amounts of CO2 supply and operated at different operational modes (microbial fuel cell or microbial electrolysis cell mode). 0.381 g/L of biomass containing 64.79% of crude protein was produced using the recovered nitrogen and therefore led to 76.8% of ammonium recovery and 84.6% of COD removal from real municipal wastewater. The system although not yet optimal in terms of efficiency has a meaning in alleviating food crisis and environmental issues. Altogether, this study offers insight into developing an energy and resource-efficient power-to-protein process to supplement conventional food production globally.

Ammonium removal and recovery from municipal wastewater by ion exchange using a metakaolin K-based geopolymer.

Among the available technologies for ammonium removal from wastewater, ion exchange represents one of the most promising ones in the perspective to recover ammonium and produce a fertilizing product. However, the vast majority of previous studies on ammonium ion exchange did not evaluate the process robustness under real operational conditions nor optimized the desorption step. In this paper, tests of ammonium removal and recovery were conducted on a metakaolin K-based geopolymer, compared with a high-performing Italian natural zeolite in K-form. Real municipal and saline wastewater was treated in a continuous flow pilot plant equipped with a 60-cm adsorption bed (bed volume 203 mL, sorbent mass 145-173 g, empty bed contact time 10 min). Geopolymer granules showed higher performances in terms of selectivity towards ammonium, operating capacity (8.5 mgN g-1 dry adsorbent at an inlet concentration of 40 mgN L-1), bed volumes of wastewater treated at the selected breakpoint (149). Geopolymer resulted to be a cost-effective adsorbent for wastewater treatment capable to adsorb cations by ion exchange, allowing a fractionated desorption procedure that led to recover ammonium in a solution composed mainly by NH4NO3 (37%wt) and KNO3 (56%wt), potentially usable as fertilizer. The geopolymer robustness was assessed after repeated adsorption/regeneration cycles showing that the geopolymer mechanical and morphological properties did not deteriorate. The results make the tested geopolymer a very promising material for the optimization and scale-up of the ammonium recovery process in a circular economy perspective.

Bio-membrane integrated systems for nitrogen recovery from wastewater in circular bioeconomy.

Wastewater contains a significant amount of recoverable nitrogen. Hence, the recovery of nitrogen from wastewater can provide an option for generating some revenue by applying the captured nitrogen to producing bio-products, in order to minimize dangerous or environmental pollution consequences. The circular bio-economy can achieve greater environmental and economic sustainability through game-changing technological developments that will improve municipal wastewater management, where simultaneous nitrogen and energy recovery are required. Over the last decade, substantial efforts were undertaken concerning the recovery of nitrogen from wastewater. For example, bio-membrane integrated system (BMIS) which integrates biological process and membrane technology, has attracted considerable attention for recovering nitrogen from wastewater. In this review, current research on nitrogen recovery using the BMIS are compiled whilst the technologies are compared regarding their energy requirement, efficiencies, advantages and disadvantages. Moreover, the bio-products achieved in the nitrogen recovery system processes are summarized in this paper, and the directions for future research are suggested. Future research should consider the quality of recovered nitrogenous products, long-term performance of BMIS and economic feasibility of large-scale reactors. Nitrogen recovery should be addressed under the framework of a circular bio-economy.

Recovery of Ammonium Sulfate Solution by Regeneration of Loaded Clinoptilolite.

The zeolite clinoptilolite (CLI) is known to be a very good ion exchanger, as it consists of a three-dimensional structure formed of AlO4- and SiO4 tetrahedral, which are connected by a common oxygen atom. The micropores formed by this structure (with free diameters in the range of 0.40 nm and 0.72 nm) are fine enough to allow cations and water molecules to enter and be exchanged. CLI is a suitable, inexpensive, and globally available material for removing ammonium from highly-concentrated wastewater and is proven to be selective in ammonium uptake and regeneration since no effect of the provenance of the ammonium (matrix-free NH4Cl solution or sludge water) could be found. However, regeneration of the clinoptilolite is necessary to recover the adsorbed ammonium for further use and restore its capability for ion exchange. Within this work, the method by which clinoptilolite, loaded with ammonium (q = 8.1-16.6 mg/g) from different sludge waters and ammonium chloride solution, can be regenerated to yield a stoichiometric ammonium sulfate solution (ASS), that could be used, e.g., as a fertilizer, was investigated. A regeneration solution containing Na2SO4 (0.25 n(Na2SO4)/n(NH4+ads)) with a varying NaOH ratio (0-2.14 n(NaOH)/n(NH4+ads)) was tested. To obtain a high ammonium concentration in the eluate, a large mass fraction ω of 284 g/kg of CLI in the regeneration solution was applied. The effects of different ammonium loads, different origins of the ammonium, and residual moisture on the necessary components of the regeneration solution, in which an ASS is obtained within a contact time of 10 min at 22 °C, were studied. A stoichiometric ASS from CLI loaded up to a maximum of 13.5 mg/g was obtained with a mixture of 0.25 n(Na2SO4)/n(NH4+ads) together with 0.8-1.0 n(NaOH)/n(NH4+ads) for dry CLI, and 0.75 n(NaOH)/n(NH4+ads) for CLI with residual moisture.

Resource recovery from municipal wastewater: A critical paradigm shift in the post era of activated sludge.

The conventional activated sludge (CAS) process as one of the greatest engineering marvels has made irreplaceable contributions towards the human development in the past one hundred years. However, the underlying principle of CAS which is primarily based on biological oxidation has been challenged by accelerating global climate change. In such a situation, a fundamental question that urgently needs to be answered is what wastewater treatment technology would be in the post era of activated sludge? Thus, this article illustrates the necessity of a technology paradigm shift from the current linear economy to circular economy with the energy and resource recovery from municipal wastewater being a major driver. It is argued that ammonium recovery should be considered towards the sustainable municipal wastewater reclamation. Meanwhile, the potential novel processes with enhanced energy and resource recovery are also discussed, which may offer useful insights into the ways to achieve the carbon-neutral municipal wastewater reclamation.