Recovery of ammonia from swine manure using gas-permeable membranes: effect of waste strength and pH

Nitrogen recovery from swine manure was investigated using gas-permeable membranes. The process involved a continuous recirculation of an acidic solution through a gas-permeable membrane submerged in manure. Ammonia from manure was concentrated in the acidic solution increasing its pH, while pH decreased in manure. In the first set of experiments, nitrogen recovery efficiency was evaluated with no pH adjustment of manure; whereas in the second, manure with three different ammonia (NH3) concentrations (from 1070 to 2290 mg/L) was used adjusting their pH to 9 whenever pH decreased below 7.7. With no pH adjustment, NH3 recovery from manure was 55%, while NH3 recovery averaged 81% when pH of manure was adjusted. This work showed that as waste strength and available NH3 content increased in manure, more N was captured by the membrane. These results suggested that the gas-permeable membranes are a useful technology for NH3 recovery from manure, reducing environmental pollution whilst converting NH3 into a valuable ammonium (NH4(+)) salt fertilizer.