title: Reverse osmosis brine for phosphorus recovery from source separated urine.
abstract: Phosphorus (P) recovery from waste streams has recently been recognized as a key step in the sustainable supply of this indispensable and non-renewable resource. The feasibility of using brine from a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane unit treating cooling water as a precipitant for P recovery from source separated urine was evaluated in the present study. P removal efficiency, process parameters and precipitate properties were investigated in batch and continuous flow experiments. More than 90% of P removal was obtained from both undiluted fresh and hydrolyzed urines by mixing with RO brine (1:1, v/v) at a pH over 9.0. Around 2.58 and 1.24 Kg of precipitates could be recovered from 1 m3hydrolyzed and fresh urine, respectively, and the precipitated solids contain 8.1-19.0% of P, 10.3-15.2% of Ca, 3.7-5.0% of Mg and 0.1-3.5% of ammonium nitrogen. Satisfactory P removal performance was also achieved in a continuous flow precipitation reactor with a hydraulic retention time of 3-6 h. RO brine could be considered as urinal and toilet flush water despite of a marginally higher precipitation tendency than tap water. This study provides a widely available, low - cost and efficient precipitant for P recovery in urban areas, which will make P recovery from urine more economically attractive.
authors.affiliation: Department of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Aqueous Typical Pollutants Control and Water Quality Safeguard, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China.
authors.forename: Xiujun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Department of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Aqueous Typical Pollutants Control and Water Quality Safeguard, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China; China Construction Technology Consulting Co. LTD., Beijing 100044, China.
authors.forename: Guotian
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Aqueous Typical Pollutants Control and Water Quality Safeguard, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China.
authors.forename: Detian
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.affiliation: Department of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Aqueous Typical Pollutants Control and Water Quality Safeguard, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China. Electronic address: lijy@bjtu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jiuyi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Aqueous Typical Pollutants Control and Water Quality Safeguard, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China.
authors.forename: Aimin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Aqueous Typical Pollutants Control and Water Quality Safeguard, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Aqueous Typical Pollutants Control and Water Quality Safeguard, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China.
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: China Construction Technology Consulting Co. LTD., Beijing 100044, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Environmental Protection Research Institute of Light Industry, Beijing Academy of Science and Technology, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhongguo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D005374:Filtration; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000032:analysis; D009995:Osmosis; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012492:Salts / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D014556:Urine / Q000737:chemistry*; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry; D018508:Water Purification
chemical_list: D009584:Nitrogen; D010758:Phosphorus; D012492:Salts; D062065:Wastewater; D014867:Water; C017082:brine
keywords: Nutrient; Phosphorus recovery; Precipitation; Reverse osmosis brine; Urine