Simha, Prithvi
- Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Abstract
Fresh human urine, after it is alkalized to prevent the enzymatic hydrolysis of urea, can be dehydrated to reduce its volume and to produce a solid fertilizer. In this study, we investigated the suitability of MgO to alkalize and dehydrate urine. We selected MgO due to its low solubility (90% and N recovery of 80%, and yielded products with high concentrations of macronutrients (7.8% N, 0.7% P and 3.9% K). By modeling the chemical speciation in urine, we also showed that ammonia stripping rather than urea hydrolysis limited the N recovery, since the urine used in our study was partially hydrolyzed. To maximize the recovery of N during alkaline urine dehydration using MgO, we recommend treating fresh/un-hydrolysed urine a temperature
Keywords
ammonia; fertilizer; nitrogen recycling; urine source separation; wastewater; urine dehydration; sanitation; MgO
Published in
Frontiers in Environmental Science
2021, volume: 8, article number: 619901
Publisher: FRONTIERS MEDIA SA
SLU Authors
Vinnerås, Björn
- Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Global goals (SDG)
SDG6 Clean water and sanitation
SDG12 Responsible consumption and production
UKÄ Subject classification
Water Treatment
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2020.619901
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/110779