Cost assessment of different routes for phosphorus recovery from wastewater using data from pilot and production plants

Abstract

Phosphorus (P) recovery from wastewater has considerable potential to supplement limited fossil P reserves. Reliable cost data are essential for investor and policymaker decisions. In this study, investment and operational costs for nine P recovery processes were calculated from the investor's perspective, taking into account all relevant side effects on the sludge treatment or the wastewater treatment plant. The assessment was based on pilot and full-scale data which were thoroughly consolidated and standardized with technical and cost data from the German wastewater-sludge treatment train to enable direct comparison. The cost influence of precipitation processes on the current wastewater-sludge treatment train ranges from -0.14 (generating profit) to 0.23 EUR per population equivalent (PE) and year, while the cost influence of sludge leaching processes is around 2.50 EUR/(PE y). The cost influence of processes using dry sludge and mono-incineration ash varies between 0.33 and 3.13 EUR/(PE y), depending on existing disposal pathways, mono-incineration, co-incineration or agricultural use of sludge. The specific costs per kg P recovered (-4 to 10 EUR/kg P) are in general higher than conventional fertilizer production (1.6 EUR/kg P). However, annual costs per PE represent less than 3% of the total costs for wastewater disposal.

Transition of the Swiss Phosphorus System towards a Circular Economy—Part 2: Socio-Technical Scenarios

“…P recovery from meat and bone meal is still at a very early stage, but several recovery technologies for sewage sludge (ash) are expected to also work with meat and bone meal (ash) [57]. Besides the technical process, infrastructural requirements, and the material outcome, the recovery technologies differ with regard to their P recovery rate, financial costs, carbon footprint, practicability, residual materials, and plant availability of the recovered material [53,56,[58][59][60]. For our SFA-based calculation of P scenarios, the P recovery rate is an important issue.…”

Kennisvragen Nutriëntenkringloop & Bodemvruchtbaarheid : Cijfers en inzichten ten behoeve van de transitieagenda voor de Werkgroep Nutriëntenkringloop & Bodemvruchtbaarheid

“…Indien de P precipitatie tijdens het proces van de waterzuivering verbeterd, dan kunnen de kosten fors worden verminderd. De meerkosten vormen zo'n 3% van de kosten voor waterzuivering (Nättorp et al, 2017). Voor de recycling van P uit zuiveringsslibben via struviet of calciumfosfaat is het relevant te vermelden dat bij de terugwinning relatief veel grondstoffen (Mg, Ca) en energie gebruikt wordt (Nättorp et al, 2017).…”

“…Herwonnen nutriënten (Nättorp et al, 2017) zijn momenteel vaak duurder dan nutriënten in kunstmeststoffen. De afzet van recyclede nutriënten als substitutie van kunstmest buiten Nederland, is mogelijk als storten of verbranden niet toegestaan is, of recycling verplicht wordt (P recycling uit RWZI slib zoals nu verplicht is gesteld in Duitsland), of door interventies die het kosteneffectief maken.…”

Wastewater To Resource: Design of a Sustainable Phosphorus Recovery System

“…Therefore, to maximise the potential of wastewater resources, a robust and integrative approach is needed to quantitatively compare the economic and environmental attributes of diverse technology options and consider the whole system over the long‐term. While environmental impact studies of nutrient removal technologies have been published (for example an assessment of 27 nutrient removal technologies was carried out by Rahman, Eckelman, Onnis‐Hayden and Gu (2016)), little research has been published on such a comparative sustainability assessment of both recovery and removal of P from wastewater …”

“…While environmental impact studies of nutrient removal technologies have been published (for example an assessment of 27 nutrient removal technologies was carried out by Rahman, Eckelman, Onnis-Hayden and Gu (2016) [20] ), little research has been published on such a comparative sustainability assessment of both recovery and removal of P from wastewater. [10,21] A challenge that emerges when attempting to develop transferrable findings from such multi-technology assessments is the varying context in which the technologies are placed, with the need for careful inventories of resource flows emphasised by Heimersson, Svanström, Laera and Peters (2016). [22] Approaches building on static data hinder the transferability of the assessment approach for universal application.…”