skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Synergistic Removal of Zinc and Copper in Greenhouse Waste Effluent by Struvite

Journal Article · · ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering

Struvite (MgNH4PO4·6H2O) can be recovered from wastewaters for mitigation of phosphorus content. However, the interaction of dissolved constituents with struvite is rarely evaluated. Removal of heavy metals and total organic carbon (TOC) in a greenhouse wastewater (GW) by struvite was investigated in this work. Presynthesized struvite was added to GW and removal of Zn (689 μg/L), Cu (151 μg/L), and TOC (51 mg/L) monitored from 1 to 26 d. Metal uptake in sodium nitrate solutions was used to assess competition, and the influence of other GW constituents on sorption. Struvite was also directly precipitated from GW (PPT). Recovered GW solids had 64–247 mg/kg Zn, 12–54 mg/kg Cu, and 1721–8806 mg/kg TOC, with lowest loadings for PPT and highest for 26 d solids. X-ray absorption spectroscopy detected polymerized Zn-phosphate, induced by dissolved phosphorus in GW, and Cu copolymerization, initially limited by aqueous Cu-organic complexation. Sorbed Cu shifts Fourier transform infrared-sensitive phosphate bands and changes the intensities of reflections in X-ray diffraction patterns of struvite more so than Zn. Struvite from GW is more susceptible to thermal decomposition than unreacted struvite, evolving CO(g), CO2(g), NH3(g), and H2O(g). Therefore, struvite from GW sorbs metals and organics, and can release sorbed and structural components to the aqueous and gas phases.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
EAR-1506653; AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
1241060
Journal Information:
ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, Vol. 4, Issue 3; ISSN 2168-0485
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
ENGLISH
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 28 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (45)

Phosphorus Recovery from Wastewater by Struvite Crystallization: A Review journal June 2009
A broken biogeochemical cycle journal October 2011
Sustainability Challenges of Phosphorus and Food: Solutions from Closing the Human Phosphorus Cycle journal February 2011
Agglomeration of struvite crystals journal January 2007
A 31 P NMR and TG/DSC-FTIR Investigation of the Influence of Initial pH on Phosphorus Recovery as Struvite journal January 2014
Removal and recovery of phosphorous from swine wastewater by demonstration crystallization reactor and struvite accumulation device journal May 2007
Recovery of ammonium nitrogen from the effluent of UASB treating poultry manure wastewater by MAP precipitation as a slow release fertilizer journal July 2009
The determination of fertilizer quality of the formed struvite from effluent of a sewage sludge anaerobic digester journal September 2010
Recovery of nitrogen and phosphorus by struvite crystallization from swine wastewater journal August 2011
Recovery of struvite from animal wastewater and its nutrient leaching loss in soil journal February 2011
Phosphorus recovery from urine and anaerobic digester filtrate: comparison of adsorption–precipitation with direct precipitation journal January 2015
The behaviour of pharmaceuticals and heavy metals during struvite precipitation in urine journal May 2007
Influence of pH and Oxidation State on the Interaction of Arsenic with Struvite During Mineral Formation journal August 2012
Sorption of Chromium with Struvite During Phosphorus Recovery journal November 2012
Temperature-dependent phosphorus precipitation and chromium removal from struvite-saturated solutions journal February 2013
Zinc Interaction with Struvite During and After Mineral Formation journal May 2014
Phase changes on heating ammonium magnesium phosphate hydrates journal July 1988
Thermal decomposition of struvite journal January 2004
Thermal decomposition of struvite and its phase transition journal February 2008
An investigation of the thermal behavior of magnesium ammonium phosphate hexahydrate journal July 2015
The use of TG/DSC–FT-IR to assess the effect of Cr sorption on struvite stability and composition journal December 2011
Impact of nitrogen and climate change interactions on ambient air pollution and human health journal September 2012
Nitrogen losses from the soil/plant system: a review: Nitrogen losses journal February 2013
Recovery of Ammonia as Struvite from Anaerobic Digester Effluents journal November 2001
The Effects of Magnesium and Ammonium Additions on Phosphate Recovery from Greenhouse Wastewater journal March 2005
The use of Artificial Wetlands to Treat Greenhouse Effluents journal April 2011
Treatment of drainage solution from hydroponic greenhouse production with microalgae journal May 2013
Treatment of hydroponic wastewater by denitrification filters using plant prunings as the organic carbon source journal May 2008
Removal of plant pathogens from recycled greenhouse wastewater using constructed wetlands journal January 2013
Wetland Technologies for Nursery and Greenhouse Compliance with Nutrient Regulations journal September 2013
Removal of nitrate and phosphorus from hydroponic wastewater using a hybrid denitrification filter (HDF) journal July 2009
Evaluation of Specific Ultraviolet Absorbance as an Indicator of the Chemical Composition and Reactivity of Dissolved Organic Carbon journal October 2003
IFEFFIT  : interactive XAFS analysis and FEFF fitting journal March 2001
ATHENA , ARTEMIS , HEPHAESTUS : data analysis for X-ray absorption spectroscopy using IFEFFIT journal June 2005
Comparing Spectroscopic Techniques for the Measurement of Phosphorus in Wastewater journal August 2014
In situ dehydration behavior of veszelyite (Cu,Zn)2Zn(PO4)(OH)3{middle dot}2H2O: A single-crystal X-ray study journal July 2013
The crystal structure of hopeite, Zn 3 (PO 4 ) 2 .4H 2 O journal August 1975
The long-term fate of Cu2+, Zn2+, and Pb2+ adsorption complexes at the calcite surface: An X-ray absorption spectroscopy study journal June 2006
An extended X-ray absorption spectroscopy study of copper(II) sorption by oxides journal December 2005
Competitive sorption of metal ions onto a north-eastern France soil. Isotherms and XAFS studies journal April 2007
Crystal chemistry of struvite analogs of the type MgMPO4.6H2O (M+ = potassium(1+), rubidium(1+), cesium (1+), thallium(1+), ammonium(1+) journal July 1975
Contributions of Stratospheric Water Vapor to Decadal Changes in the Rate of Global Warming journal January 2010
Model-simulated trend of surface carbon monoxide for the 2001–2010 decade journal January 2014
Predicting struvite formation in digestion journal December 1998
Struvite formation, control and recovery journal September 2002

Cited By (2)

Struvite Crystallisation and the Effect of Co2+ Ions journal August 2019
Phosphorous in the environment: characteristics with distribution and effects, removal mechanisms, treatment technologies, and factors affecting recovery as minerals in natural and engineered systems journal May 2019