Potentials of using nanofiltration to recover phosphorus from sewage sludge
C Niewersch1, C N Koh, T Wintgens
1Department of Chemical Engineering, RWTH-Aachen University, Turmstrasse 46, 52056 Aachen, Germany. niewersch@ivt.rwth-aachen.de
Abstract:
Due to the depletion of mineral phosphorus resources there is an increasing demand for efficient phosphorus recovery technologies. In this study the potential of nanofiltration to recover phosphorus from pre-treated sewage sludge is investigated. The efficiency of three commercial nanofiltration membranes (Desal 5DK, NP030; MPF34) was tested using model solutions. Desal 5DK showed the best selectivity for phosphorus. A pH of lower than 1.5 was found to be most suitable. Desal 5DK was used on four different sewage sludge ash eluates and on one sewage sludge. In these experiments it was shown that a separation of phosphorus from undesired components such as heavy metals was possible with significant variations in the efficiency for the different ash and sludge types. Additionally the achievable product recovery was investigated with model solutions. A product recovery of 57.1% was attained for pH 1 and 41.4% for pH 1.5.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Biological Treatment of Effluent and Waste Water
Factors Affecting Solubility
Microbial Wastewater Treatment
Microbial Bioremediation of Uranium


