Removal of two macronutrients, nitrogen & phosphorus, from wastewater is critical before discharging the treated effluent to prevent eutrophication.  Since N & P are essential components of any fertilizer, their recovery from wastewater will be an added bonus.  This is especially critical for P since it is a non-renewable resource and its supply potential is getting diminished. Details of a process are provided where an inorganic zeolite and a polymeric anion exchanger impregnated with iron oxide nanoparticles are used to achieve selective N & P removal and their simultaneous extraction as a solid-phase fertilizer.  Three hybrid polymers were studied: HAIX, DOW-HFO, & DOW-HFO-Cu. Each material combines the durability, robustness, and ease-of-use of a polymeric ion-exchanger with the high sorption affinity of Hydrated Ferric Oxide (HFO) towards P. Laboratory experiments demonstrate that each material can selectively remove P from the background of competing anions (primarily sulfate) and also be efficiently regenerated, leading to a solid-phase fertilizer.

Macronutrient removal and recovery from tertiary treatment of wastewater

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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