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Phosphorus recovery from process waste water made by the hydrothermal carbonisation of spent coffee grounds
Oliver P Crossley1, Rex B Thorpe1, Dominik Peus2
1Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XH, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
This study investigates the recovery of phosphorus from the process water obtained through hydrothermal carbonisation (HTC) of a 'wet' biomass waste, namely spent coffee grounds. HTC was shown to liberate more than 82% of the total phosphorus in the grounds in the form of dissolved ortho-phosphate. Nanofiltration was used to concentrate the inorganic nutrients of the HTC process water, achieving a mass concentration factor of 3.9 times. The natural stoichiometry of phosphorus, magnesium and ammoniacal nitrogen in the nanofiltration retentate was favourable for struvite precipitation. 92.8% of aqueous phosphorus was recovered as struvite through simple pH adjustment, yielding a total phosphorus recovery of 75% from the feedstock spent coffee grounds.
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