CCR Seminar: Electrochemical Treatment of Wastewater Sludge for Nutrient Recovery

Abstract: The mining of non-renewable phosphate rock is currently the primary source of phosphorus for food production. Phosphorus recovery from secondary wastes is a key component of the circular economy. Municipal digested anaerobic sludge, or digestate, is a liquid-solid mixed liquor produced from anaerobic digestion that is enriched with phosphorus (P). Around 40% of the phosphorus discharged by anthropogenic activities ends up in wastewater sludge, making digestate a promising phosphorus source. Conventional methods for phosphorus recovery from digestate, such as struvite precipitation, are practically challenging. One of the main reasons is the heavy chemical consumption and the high risk of handling corrosive acids/bases. Electrochemical methods have garnered strong research interest lately due to the elimination of chemical use, flexible process control, and low environmental impact. In such a system, phosphorus leaching and recovery may be driven by the same electrical input, and/or incorporated with other chemical/biological methods. This talk aims…