Fertiliser recovery from source-separated urine via membrane bioreactor and heat localized solar evaporation.
Jiawei Ren, Derek Hao, Jiaxi Jiang, Sherub Phuntsho, Stefano Freguia, Bing-Jie Ni, Pan Dai, Jing Guan, Ho Kyong Shon
Author Information
Jiawei Ren: ARC Research Hub in Nutrients in a Circular Economy, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), City Campus, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia; College of Architecture & Civil Engineering, Faculty of Urban Construction, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China.
Derek Hao: ARC Research Hub in Nutrients in a Circular Economy, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), City Campus, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia.
Jiaxi Jiang: ARC Research Hub in Nutrients in a Circular Economy, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), City Campus, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia.
Sherub Phuntsho: ARC Research Hub in Nutrients in a Circular Economy, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), City Campus, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia.
Stefano Freguia: Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010 Australia.
Bing-Jie Ni: ARC Research Hub in Nutrients in a Circular Economy, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), City Campus, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia.
Pan Dai: Beijing Origin Water Membrane Technology Company Ltd., Beijing 101400, China.
Jing Guan: Beijing Origin Water Membrane Technology Company Ltd., Beijing 101400, China.
Ho Kyong Shon: ARC Research Hub in Nutrients in a Circular Economy, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), City Campus, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia. Electronic address: Hokyong.Shon-1@uts.edu.au.
Urine with its abundant macronutrients (N-P-K) is an ideal resource for the production of fertiliser. However, the odor and pathogens in the raw urine must be removed to meet the public acceptance of urine collection systems and to enable its safe reuse as a fertiliser. In this work, real urine was collected and treated through a pilot-scale gravity-driven membrane bioreactor (GDMBR) to remove the malodorous organics and to nitrify almost 50% of the ammonia into nitrate. The stablised urine was subsequently distilled via low-cost heat localized solar evaporation (HLSE) to produce a non-odorous solid fertiliser. The developed HLSE with a small footprint can attract bulk solution into a vertical insulated space and quickly heat it up to 68 °C within 1 h. The HLSE process had vapour flux at 1.3 kg m h as well as high solar to vapour conversion efficiency at 87%. Based on the EDX mapping and XRD analysis, the generated crystals are mainly NaNO, NHCl, NaCl, NHHPO and KHPO, which are ideal nutrients for vegetation. In this study, the produced urine-derived fertilisers have a better performance on the growth of the leafy basil than the all-purpose commercial fertilisers. Generally, the GDMBR-HLSE is a promising cost-effective and green technology for nutrients recovery from urine.
