Nutrient recovery from swine wastewater at full-scale: An integrated technical, economic and environmental feasibility assessment

Soomin Shim; Arif Reza; Seungsoo Kim; Seunggun Won; Changsix Ra

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130309

Nutrient recovery from swine wastewater at full-scale: An integrated technical, economic and environmental feasibility assessment

Chemosphere. 2021 Aug:277:130309. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130309. Epub 2021 Mar 18.

Authors

Soomin Shim¹, Arif Reza², Seungsoo Kim¹, Seunggun Won³, Changsix Ra⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Animal Industry Convergence, College of Animal Life Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, 24341, South Korea.
² Department of Animal Industry Convergence, College of Animal Life Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, 24341, South Korea; Department of Environmental Science, College of Agricultural Sciences, International University of Business Agriculture and Technology, Dhaka, 1230, Bangladesh.
³ Department of Animal Resources, College of Natural and Life Sciences, Daegu University, Gyeongsan, 38453, South Korea.
⁴ Department of Animal Industry Convergence, College of Animal Life Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, 24341, South Korea. Electronic address: changsix@kangwon.ac.kr.

PMID: 34384179
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130309

Abstract

In this study, the technical, economic and environmental attributes of a full-scale nutrient recovery process connected to the centralized swine wastewater treatment facility (CSWTF) were evaluated. The performance of the process was assessed by introducing influent to the recovery reactor from different components of the CSWTF such as sedimentation tank (swine wastewater) and biological treatment reactor (biologically oxidized material and supernatant of the biologically oxidized material). The results of technical performance assessment revealed that the O-P recovery (87.1-90.7%) and NH₄-N removal (66.9-72.1%) efficiencies from the influent of biological treatment reactor were significantly higher than the influent from sedimentation tank (81.7 and 19.8%, respectively, p < 0.05). The economic evaluation elucidated that by increasing the treatment capacity of the recovery reactor from 30 m³/d to 100 m³/d, operating expenses could be covered through the commercialization of struvite, while it would take around seven years to get back the capital investment. Additional economic savings could also be possible when using the recovered struvite as a fertilizer raw material along with other environmental benefits. Considering the current farming practices in Korea, the complete recovery of O-P from CSWTFs as struvite could drop the soil phosphorus surplus by 40%, minimize the phosphatic fertilizer consumption by 6.4% and ultimately reduce CO₂ equivalent emissions of 6522 tons/year in comparison to chemical fertilizer production. However, during the continuous operation of the full-scale nutrient recovery process, influent characteristics need to be incessantly monitored and adjusted to the optimum conditions to improve the economics of recovered products. Overall, the nutrient recovery process at full-scale not only solves the problem of treating highly polluted swine wastewater but also helps to ensure societal and environmental sustainability.

Keywords: Full-scale; Nutrient recovery; Performance; Struvite; Swine wastewater.

MeSH terms

Animals
Feasibility Studies
Magnesium Compounds*
Nutrients
Phosphates
Phosphorus
Struvite
Swine
Waste Disposal, Fluid
Wastewater*

Substances

Magnesium Compounds
Phosphates
Waste Water
Phosphorus
Struvite