Ammonia inhibition can be a major problem during anaerobic digestion of manure and municipal and industrial sludges. Anaerobic digestion is sensitive to higher NH3-N concentrations, which are inhibiting and at certain levels even toxic for methanogen bacteria. The Nijhuis Ammonium Recovery (AECO-NAR) system can solve this problem and removes ammonium from digestate or other substrate for digestion. The AECO-NAR is a physical-chemical process based on stripping of ammonia. The ammonium is recovered as ammonium sulphate, which can be used as a fertilizer for agricultural purposes. The AECO-NAR was proven to be a robust process with a stable ammonium removal efficiency of 85–90% for anaerobic digested manure, municipal and other organic waste waters. The cost effectiveness mainly depends on the concentration of NH4-N in the influent, scale of the installation, the availability of residual heat and the local value and market for ammonium sulphate. Above 2 g/l NH4-N the AECO-NAR system is competitive and at higher NH4-N concentrations more cost efficient compared to other state of the art nitrogen removal technologies and ranges between 1 and 3 €/kg N.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
Research Article|
August 01 2017
Recovery of ammonium from digestate as fertilizer
H. W. H. Menkveld;
H. W. H. Menkveld
*
1Nijhuis Water Technology B.V., P.O. Box 44, Doetinchem 7000 AA, The Netherlands
*Corresponding author. E-mail: wilbert.menkveld@nijhuisindustries.com
Search for other works by this author on:
E. Broeders
E. Broeders
1Nijhuis Water Technology B.V., P.O. Box 44, Doetinchem 7000 AA, The Netherlands
Search for other works by this author on:
Water Practice and Technology (2017) 12 (3): 514–519.
Citation
H. W. H. Menkveld, E. Broeders; Recovery of ammonium from digestate as fertilizer. Water Practice and Technology 1 August 2017; 12 (3): 514–519. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/wpt.2017.049
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Client Account
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
Could not validate captcha. Please try again.