Pilot-Scale Demonstration of Membrane-Based Nitrogen Recovery from Swine Manure

Gas-permeable membranes technology presents a high potential for nitrogen (N) recovery from wastewaters rich in ammonia (NH<sub>3</sub>). The EU project Ammonia Trapping (AT) is aimed at transferring knowledge from the lab-scale level to on-farm pilot-scale level, using this technology t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Beatriz Molinuevo-Salces, Berta Riaño, Matias B. Vanotti, David Hernández-González, María Cruz García-González
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-10-01
Series:Membranes
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/10/10/270
Description
Summary:Gas-permeable membranes technology presents a high potential for nitrogen (N) recovery from wastewaters rich in ammonia (NH<sub>3</sub>). The EU project Ammonia Trapping (AT) is aimed at transferring knowledge from the lab-scale level to on-farm pilot-scale level, using this technology to recover NH<sub>3</sub> from livestock wastewaters. The goal of this study is to report the results of an on-farm pilot-scale demonstration plant using gas-permeable membranes to recover N from raw swine manure. After a setup optimization of the plant, stable, and continuous operation was achieved. The maximum NH<sub>3</sub> recovery rate obtained was 38.20 g NH<sub>3</sub>-N m<sup>−2</sup> membrane day<sup>−1</sup>. This recovery rate was greatly affected by the temperature of the process. In addition to its contribution to NH<sub>3</sub> emissions reduction, this technology contributes to the recovery of nutrients in the form of a concentrated stable ammonium sulphate solution. This solution contained 3.2% of N, which makes it suitable for fertigation. The economic approach revealed an economic feasibility of the technology, resulting in a cost of 2.07 € per kg N recovered.
ISSN:2077-0375