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Title Phosphorous removal and recovery from urban wastewater: Current practices and new directions
ID_Doc 14641
Authors Di Capua, F; de Sario, S; Ferraro, A; Petrella, A; Race, M; Pirozzi, F; Fratino, U; Spasiano, D
Title Phosphorous removal and recovery from urban wastewater: Current practices and new directions
Year 2022
Published
DOI 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153750
Abstract Phosphate rocks are an irreplaceable resource to produce fertilizers, but their availability will not be enough to meet the increasing demands of agriculture for food production. At the same time, the accumulation of phosphorous discharged by municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is one of the main causes of eutrophication. In a perspective of circular economy, WWTPs play a key role in phosphorous management. Indeed, phosphorus removal and recovery from WWTPs can both reduce the occurrence of eutrophication and contribute to meeting the demand for phosphorus-based fertilizers. Phosphorous removal and recovery are interconnected phases in WWTP with the former generally involved in the mainstream treatment, while the latter on the side streams. Indeed, by reducing phosphorus concentration in the WWTP side streams, a further improvement of the overall phosphorus removal from the WWTP influent can be obtained. Many studies and patents have been recently focused on treatments and processes aimed at the removal and recovery of phosphorous from wastewater and sewage sludge. Notably, new advances on biological and material sciences are constantly put at the service of conventional or unconventional wastewater treatments to increase the phosphorous removal efficiency and/or reduce the treatment costs. Similarly, many studies have been devoted to the development of processes aimed at the recovery of phosphorus from wastewaters and sludge to produce fertilizers, and a wide range of recovery percentages is reported as a function of the different technologies applied (from 10-25% up to 70-90% of the phosphorous in the WWTP influent). In view of forthcoming and inevitable regu-lations on phosphorous removal and recovery from WWTP streams, this review summarizes the main recent advances in this field to provide the scientific and technical community with an updated and useful tool for choosing the best strategy to adopt during the design or upgrading of WWTPs.
Author Keywords Phosphorus removal; Phosphorus recovery; Sewage sludge; Urban wastewater; WWTP
Index Keywords Index Keywords
Document Type Other
Open Access Open Access
Source Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED)
EID WOS:000764974500006
WoS Category Environmental Sciences
Research Area Environmental Sciences & Ecology
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