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Valorization of Liquid Streams or Byproducts from Wastewater Treatments as High-Added-Value Products for a Resource Recovery Model

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A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Wastewater Treatment and Reuse".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 7965

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Dr. Xanel Vecino

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1. Chemical Engineering Department, School of Industrial Engineering (EEI), University of Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
2. Chemical Engineering Department, Escuela de Ingeniería de Barcelona Este (EEBE), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)-BarcelonaTECH, 08930 Barcelona, Spain
Interests: bioactive ingredients; surface-active compounds; natural products; cosmetic formulations; green technology; waste valorization; fermentation; Lactobacillus species; probiotic and prebiotic properties
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Dr. Mònica Reig

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Chemical Engineering Department, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)—Barcelona TECH, Campus Diagonal, Besòs, 08930 Barcelona, Spain
Interests: membranes; resource recovery; waste to product; acid water; seawater; nanofiltration; electrodialysis; liquid–liquid membrane contactors; ion-exchange resins; agro-food recovery
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The triple-R model—reduce, reuse, and recycle—is an essential concept of the circular economy. Today, due to population growth, the recovery of added-value products from wastes is a challenge. Liquid streams of different origin (urban, industrial, mining, textile, distillery, microbial cultures, among others) or byproducts from wastewater treatment (e.g., brines) are rich in energy, water, nutrients, and minerals sources that can be recovered and reused following a circular economy framework. In this context, different processes and/or technologies (adsorption, ion-exchange, membranes, among others) are being developed to be able to apply a model of resource recovery. Therefore, the aim of this Special Issue entitled “Valorization of Liquid Streams or Byproducts from Wastewater Treatments as High-Added-Value Products for a Resource Recovery Model” is to promote different processes as innovative and environmentally friendly alternatives for the recovery of secondary raw materials from byproducts or liquid waste streams. These processes could improve environmental, economic, and social impacts of the currently used wastewater treatment techniques. For that, original research articles, reviews, industrial cases, and short communications are welcomed and encouraged.

Dr. Xanel Vecino
Dr. Mònica Reig
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

adsorption technology
ion-exchange process
membrane technology
process integration
wastewater treatment
added-value products
resource recovery
circular economy
industrial application
waste to product

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 3387 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Potential Use of Precipitates from Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) as Arsenic Adsorbents

by Karina Torres-Rivero, Julio Bastos-Arrieta, Antonio Florido and Vicenç Martí

Water 2023, 15(18), 3179; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15183179 - 06 Sep 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1068

Abstract

The role of precipitates from acid mine drainage (AMD) in arsenic removal in water is a process to be investigated in more detail. The present study is focused on the potential use of two AMD precipitates using oxidation and Ca(OH)₂ (OxPFe1) or CaCO₃ (OxPFe2) as As(V) adsorbents and the comparison of their performance with two commercial adsorbents (nanohematite and Bayoxide^®). The AMD’s supernatants and precipitates were characterized using several techniques and assessed with theoretical speciation and mass balance methods. Gypsum was identified by XRD and assessed as the main component of the precipitates. Amorphous iron hydroxide was assessed as the second component (22% in mass), and jurbanite or aluminum hydroxide were present in the third likely phase. The equilibrium adsorption of As(V) in water at a pH between 4 and 6 was tested with the four adsorbents, and the Langmuir model correlated well. The maximum adsorption capacity (q_max) had the highest value for OxPFe1 and the lowest value for nanohematite (that could be explained in terms of the adsorbent surface speciation). The two precipitates have limited application to the adsorption of very low concentrations of arsenic because they have a binding constant (b) lower than the commercial adsorbents and could release a small amount of the arsenic contained in the precipitate. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Valorization of Liquid Streams or Byproducts from Wastewater Treatments as High-Added-Value Products for a Resource Recovery Model)

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13 pages, 1453 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Phosphorus Recovery from Sewage Sludge as Struvite

by Javier Cañas, Silvia Álvarez-Torrellas, Blanca Hermana and Juan García

Water 2023, 15(13), 2382; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15132382 - 28 Jun 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2133

Abstract

Environmental legislation on waste management coupled with the potential for nutrient recovery are key factors encouraging the use of advanced treatment technologies to manage biosolids waste. In this context, phosphorus recovery from sewage sludge treated by a wet oxidation (WO) process was carried out in this work. High organic matter (up to 85% in COD) and total solids content (up to 75%) removal values were achieved by the WO process at elevated temperature (up to 300 °C) and pressure (up to 200 bar) conditions. The liquid and solid fractions found in the oxidation process effluent contain high amounts of phosphorus that can be recovered. This research aims to maximize its recovery in both liquid and solid fractions. In the liquid effluent, phosphorus was recovered (up to 90 mg P/L) by chemical precipitation as struvite (MgNH₄PO₄∙6 H₂O), a slow-release fertilizer. In this case, P recoveries greater than 95% were achieved. Additionally, the solid fraction, analyzed after filtration and drying (68 mg P/g_solid), was treated by acid leaching, obtaining up to 60% phosphorus recovery. All phosphorus extracted was in orthophosphate form. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Valorization of Liquid Streams or Byproducts from Wastewater Treatments as High-Added-Value Products for a Resource Recovery Model)

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15 pages, 6348 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Metal Ions Removal from Contaminated Water Using Membranes Functionalized with Ionic Liquids

by Lavinia Lupa, Laura Cocheci, Adina Maria Dobos, Mihaela Dorina Onofrei, Petru Negrea and Anca Filimon

Water 2022, 14(24), 4105; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14244105 - 16 Dec 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1463

Abstract

The present work studies the efficiency of new innovative quaternized polysulfone (PSFQ)/ionic liquid (IL) membranes in the treatment process of water containing cadmium ions (Cd(II)). The design and development of the polysulfone membranes with morphology tailored by the use of ILs (Cyphos 101 IL and Aliquat 336) was based on the rheological study of the casting solutions that dictated the optimal compositions of ILs and facilitated the preparation of the membranes for performance tests. Thus, according to the variation of the rheological functions obtained (G′, G″), it was demonstrated that Aliquat 336 has better compatibility with PSFQ, facilitating the workability of the solution and improving the final properties of the membranes relative to Cyphos 101 IL. However, the casting solutions consisting of 5 wt.% Ph-IL and 15 wt.% Am-IL content produce membranes with superior physico-chemical properties. Also, the surface chemistry and morphology analysis of the membranes obtained were investigated in order to understand the relationship between the PSFQ and ILs, as well as their surface properties, as indicators for their future applications. Additionally, the results obtained from the kinetic studies regarding Cd(II) removal from aqueous solutions and the amount of Cd(II) accumulated onto the membranes showed that the ILs enhance the filtration efficiency of the membranes studied and underlined the positive effect of IL in the structure of the quaternized polysulfone membranes. A content of 15 wt.% Aliquat 336 in PSFQ membranes shows the best properties for Cd(II) removal from aqueous solutions; the maximum amount of Cd(II) accumulated on the membrane studied was 3300 mg/m². This behaviour was maintained for two cycles of washing/filtration, and then the efficiency decreased by 20%. The results obtained showed that the membranes functionalized with ionic liquid could be used efficiently in the treatment of water containing trace concentration of cadmium. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Valorization of Liquid Streams or Byproducts from Wastewater Treatments as High-Added-Value Products for a Resource Recovery Model)

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26 pages, 5028 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Coagulation and Flocculation Optimization Process Applied to the Sidestream of an Urban Wastewater Treatment Plant

by Arturo Barros, Xanel Vecino, Mònica Reig and José Luis Cortina

Water 2022, 14(24), 4024; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14244024 - 09 Dec 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2587

Abstract

Ammonium (NH₄⁺) recirculation from the streams generated in the dehydration stage of the sludge generated in the anaerobic digestion of urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), known as centrate or sidestream, produces a reduction in the efficiency of WWTPs. Given this scenario and the formulation that a WWTP should be considered a by-product generating facility (biofactory), solutions for ammonia/ammonium recovery are being promoted. These include a nitrogen source that reduces the need for ammonia production through the Haber–Bosch process. Therefore, the recovery of nutrients from urban cycles is a potential and promising line of research. In the case of nitrogen, this has been aimed at recovering NH₄⁺ to produce high-quality fertilizers through membrane or ion exchange processes. However, these techniques usually require a pretreatment, which could include an ultrafiltration stage, to eliminate suspended solids and organic matter. In this case, the coagulation/flocculation (C/F) process is an economical alternative for this purpose. In this work, the sidestream from Vilanova i la Geltrú WWTP (Barcelona, Spain) was characterized to optimize a C/F process before being treated by other processes for ammonium recovery. The optimization was performed considering a bibliographic and experimental analysis of several operating parameters: coagulant and flocculant agents, mixing velocity, and operation time, among others. Then, the removal efficiency of control parameters such as turbidity, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and total suspended solids (TSS) was calculated. This optimization resulted in the use of 25 mg/L of ferric chloride (FeCl₃) combined with 25 mg/L of a flocculant composed of silicon (SiO₂ 3%), aluminum (Al₂SO₄ 64.5%), and iron salts (Fe₂O₃ 32.5%), into a 1 min rapid mixing process at 200 rpm and a slow mixing for 30 min at 30 rpm, followed by a final 30 min settling process. The numerical and statistical results of the process optimization reached 91.5%, 59.1%, and 95.2% removal efficiency for turbidity, COD, and TSS, respectively. These efficiencies theoretically support the enhanced coagulation/flocculation process as a pretreatment for a higher NH₄⁺ recovery rate, achieving 570.6 mgNH₄⁺/L, and a reduction in the dimensioning or substitution of other membrane processes process due to its high TSS removal value. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Valorization of Liquid Streams or Byproducts from Wastewater Treatments as High-Added-Value Products for a Resource Recovery Model)

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