Vol. 24, No. 1 (2025), IA24318 https://doi.org/10.24275/rmiq/IA24318

Struvite solubility equilibria calculations for the recovery of nutrients from uasb reactor effluent treating municipal wastewater

 

Authors

M.L. Salazar-Peláez, D.A. Zaragoza-Ayala, U. Rojas-Zamora

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the nutrient recovery potential as struvite from the UASB reactor effluent used to treat municipal wastewater through chemical equilibrium calculations. pH and Mg2+, NH4+, and PO3−4 concentrations were obtained from a pilot-scale UASB reactor treating actual municipal wastewater. This reactor operated for six months under environmental temperature and two hydraulic retention times (HRT): 8 and 12 hours and 150-day solids retention time (SRT). The conditional solubility product (Ps) for struvite and the reaction quotients (Qs) in the UASB effluent were calculated using solubility equilibria equations. Results revealed that UASB effluent was undersaturated regarding Mg2+, NH4+, and PO3−4 concentrations, and pH was around 7.5. Thus, spontaneous struvite precipitation is unlikely due to the disparity among the molar concentrations of nutrients in UASB effluent. The proposed strategies of adjusting the pH to 8.5 and adding magnesium and phosphorus ions to achieve struvite precipitation would be necessary to fulfill environmental regulations for phosphate and ammonium discharges. Before implementing experiments on a laboratory or full-scale basis, it is imperative to thoroughly evaluate the influence of calcium ions on struvite precipitation. This fact is particularly crucial due to the elevated alkalinity concentrations in the UASB reactor, which have the potential to impede struvite precipitation.

Keywords

Nutrient recovery, Solubility Product, Struvite, UASB effluent.

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