1. Near-Complete Phosphorus Recovery from Challenging Water Matrices Using Multiuse Ceramsite Made from Water Treatment Residual (WTR)
- Author
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Jianfei Chen, Jinkai Xue, Jinyong Liu, Seyed Hesam-Aldin Samaei, and Leslie J. Robbins
- Subjects
Eutrophication ,circular economy ,sludge valorization ,waste valorization ,water treatment ,adsorbent ,Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering ,TD1-1066 - Abstract
Water treatment residual (WTR) is a burden for many water treatment plants due to the large volumes and associated management costs. In this study, we transform aluminum-salt WTR (Al-WTR) into ceramsite (ASC) to recover phosphate from challenging waters. ASC showed remarkably higher specific surface area (SSA, 70.53 m2/g) and phosphate adsorption capacity (calculated 47.2 mg P/g) compared to previously reported ceramsite materials (< 40 m2/g SSA and < 20 mg P/g). ASC recovered over 94.9% of phosphate across a wide pH range (3 – 11) and generally sustained > 90% of its phosphate recovery at high concentrations of competing anions (i.e., Cl-, F-, SO42-, or HCO3-) or humic acid (HA). We challenged the material with real municipal wastewater at 10°C and achieved simultaneous phosphate (>97.1%) and COD removal (71.2%). Once saturated with phosphate, ASC can be repurposed for landscaping or soil amendment. The economic analysis indicates that ASC can be a competitive alternative to natural clay-based ceramsite, biochar, or other useful materials. Therefore, ASC is an eco-friendly, cost-effective adsorbent for phosphate recovery from complex waters, shedding light upon a circular economy in the water sector.
- Published
- 2024
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