Struvite precipitation causes important operational problems during the sludge treatment process, especially when EBPR sludge is treated. Predicting struvite formation is critical to be able to design process alternative that best minimizes struvite precipitation. With this aim, phosphorus precipitation in an anaerobic digestion pilot plant was studied using experimental data and mass balance analysis. The results obtained showed significant phosphorus precipitation as struvite (58% of the fixed phosphorus) and a low precipitation of calcium phosphates (15%), forming mainly hydroxyapatite (HAP). The rest of the phosphorus fixed in the digester (27%) was attributed to adsorption processes on solid surfaces. The effect of pH and available phosphorus concentration on phosphorus fixation in the digester was also studied, indicating that a decrease of available PO4-P concentration in the digester can minimise phosphorus precipitation, reducing the maintenance problems associated with struvite deposits.

Nutrient recovery technologies are rapidly expanding due to the need for the appropriate recycling of key elements from waste resources in order to move towards a truly sustainable modern society based on the Circular Economy.Nutrient recycling is a promising strategy for reducing the depletion of non-renewable resources and the environmental impact linked to their extraction and manufacture. However, nutrient recovery technologies are not yet fully mature, as further research is needed to optimize process efficiency and enhance their commercial applicability. This paper reviews state-of-the-art of nutrient recovery, focusing on frontier technological advances and economic and environmental innovation perspectives. The potentials and limitations of different technologies are discussed, covering systems based on membranes, photosynthesis, crystallization and other physical and biological nutrient recovery systems (e.g. incineration, composting, stripping and absorption and enhanced biological phosphorus recovery).

Phosphorus recovery by struvite (MgNH(4)PO(4).6H(2)O) crystallization is one of the most widely recommended technologies for treating sludge digester liquors especially in wastewater treatments plants (WWTP) with enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR). In this paper, phosphorus recovery by struvite crystallization is assessed using the rejected liquors resulting from four different operational strategies of the sludge treatment line. Phosphorus precipitation and recovery efficiencies of between 80-90% and 70-85%, respectively, were achieved in the four experiments. The precipitates formed were mainly struvite, followed by amorphous calcium phosphate and, in some experiments, by calcite. The highest global phosphorus recovery taking into account both the sludge line and the crystallizer was achieved when mixed thickening and high elutriation were carried out (8.4 gP/kg treated sludge). However, low struvite content was obtained in the crystallizer with this operation scheme due to the high calcium content in the elutriation stream. Therefore, if the final purpose is to obtain struvite, the reduction of the elutriation flowrate is widely recommended in the case of high water hardness.

The influence of separate and mixed thickening of primary and secondary sludge on struvite recovery was studied. Phosphorus precipitation in the digester was reduced from 13.7 g of phosphorus per kg of treated sludge in the separate thickening experiment to 5.9 in the mixed thickening experiment. This lessening of the uncontrolled precipitation means a reduction of the operational problems and enhances the phosphorus availability for its later crystallization. High phosphorus precipitation and recovery efficiencies were achieved in both crystallization experiments. However, mixed thickening configuration showed a lower percentage of phosphorus precipitated as struvite due to the presence of high calcium concentrations. In spite of this low percentage, the global phosphorus mass balance showed that mixed thickening experiment produces a higher phosphorus recovery as struvite per kg of treated sludge (i.e., 3.6 gP/kg sludge vs. 2.5 gP/kg sludge in separate thickening).

A primary sludge fermentation-elutriation pilot plant was operated using in-line and side-stream schemes. The influence of solids retention time, recirculation sludge flow-rate and solids concentration on the fermentation-elutriation process performance has been assessed in this paper. The use of high elutriation flows (12% of influent flow) improved the volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentration in the effluent stream. Suspended solids removal efficiency decreased in the primary settler when the solids retention time (SRT) was increased from 4 to 8 days. Disintegration step during hydrolysis process was pointed out as the main reason for that decrease. Maximum VFA productions were achieved at SRT between 6 and 8 days at the highest elutriation flow tested for both configurations. Propionic, butyric and valeric volatile fatty acids percentage increased when total solids sludge concentrations above 23,000mgl(-1) were used. Hydrogen accumulation, causing acetogenic bacteria inhibition, was indicated as the reason for C(3)-C(5) fatty acids accumulation.