To date, phosphorus recovery as struvite in wastewater treatment plants has been mainly implemented on water phases resulting from dewatering processes of the sludge line. However, it is possible to recover struvite directly from sludge phases. Besides minimising the return loads of phosphorus from the sludge line to the water line, placing such a process within the sludge line is claimed to offer advantages such as a higher recovery potential, enhanced dewaterability of the treated sludge, and reduced speed of scaling in pipes and dewatering devices. In the wastewater treatment plant at Leuven (Belgium), a full-scale struvite recovery process from digested sludge has been tested for 1 year. Several monitoring campaigns and experiments provided indications of the efficiency of the process for recovery. The load of phosphorus from the sludge line returning to the water line as centrate accounted for 15% of the P-load of the plant in the reference situation. Data indicated that the process divides this phosphorus load by two. An improved dewaterability of 1.5% of dry solids content was achieved, provided a proper tuning of the installation. Quality analyses showed that the formed struvite was quite pure.
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Research Article|
January 22 2015
Full-scale phosphorus recovery from digested waste water sludge in Belgium – part I: technical achievements and challenges
A. Marchi;
1Aquafin NV, Dijkstraat 8, B-2630 Aartselaar, Belgium
E-mail: adrien.marchi@aquafin.be
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S. Geerts;
S. Geerts
1Aquafin NV, Dijkstraat 8, B-2630 Aartselaar, Belgium
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M. Weemaes;
M. Weemaes
1Aquafin NV, Dijkstraat 8, B-2630 Aartselaar, Belgium
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S. Wim;
S. Wim
2VITO NV, Boeretang 200, B-2400 Mol, Belgium
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V. Christine
V. Christine
2VITO NV, Boeretang 200, B-2400 Mol, Belgium
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Water Sci Technol (2015) 71 (4): 487–494.
Article history
Received:
August 12 2014
Accepted:
December 10 2014
Citation
A. Marchi, S. Geerts, M. Weemaes, S. Wim, V. Christine; Full-scale phosphorus recovery from digested waste water sludge in Belgium – part I: technical achievements and challenges. Water Sci Technol 1 February 2015; 71 (4): 487–494. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2015.023
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