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Phosphorus (P) recovery is obligatory for all sewage sludges with more than 20 g P/kg dry matter (DM) from 2029 in Germany. Nine wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) were chosen to investigate variations of phosphorus contents and other parameters in sewage sludge over the year. Monthly sewage sludge samples from each WWTP were analyzed for phosphorus and other matrix elements (C, N, H, Ca, Fe, Al, etc.), for several trace elements (As, Cr, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sn) and loss of ignition. Among the nine WWTPs, there are four which have phosphorus contents both above and below the recovery limit of 20 g/kg DM along the year. Considering the average phosphorus content over the year, only one of them is below the limit. Compared to other matrix elements and parameters, phosphorus fuctuations are low with an average of 7% over all nine WWTPs. In total, only hydrogen and carbon are more constant in the sludge.
In several WWTPs with chemical phosphorus elimination, phosphorus fuctuations showed similar courses like iron and/or aluminum. WWTPs with chamber flter presses rather showed dilution efects of calcium dosage. As result of this study, monthly phosphorus measurement is highly recommended to determine whether a WWTP is below the
20 g/kg DM limit.
Stocks of high grade phosphate rock are becoming scarce, and there is growing concern about potentially harmful impurities in conventional phosphorus fertilizers. Sewage sludge ash is a promising secondary phosphorus source. However, to remove heavy metals and convert the phosphorus contained in sewage sludge ash into mineral phases available to plants, an after-treatment is required. Laboratory-scale calcination experiments of sewage sludge ash blended with sodium salts using dried sewage sludge as a reducing agent were carried out at 1000 °C. Thus, the Ca3(PO4)2 or whitlockite component of raw sewage sludge ash, which is not readily plant available, was converted to CaNaPO4 (buchwaldite). Consequently, nearly complete phosphorus solubility in ammonium citrate (a well-established indicator for plant availability) was achieved. Moreover, it was shown that Na2CO3 may be replaced by moderately priced Na2SO4. However, molar ratios of Na/P > 2 were required to achieve >80% phosphorus solubility. Such over-stoichiometric Na consumption is largely caused by side reactions with the SiO2 component of the sewage sludge ash – an explanation for which clear evidence is provided for the first time.
Phosphorus (P) for fertilizer use can be recovered from sewage sludge ash (SSA). To enhance the bioavailability of P and reduce the heavy metal content of SSA, it can be treated thermochemically with Na2CO3 or Na2SO4 at 950 °C in a rotary kiln using dry sewage sludge or lignite as reducing agent. These processes were investigated by thermogravimetry/differential thermal analysis coupled with gas analysis. Reducing conditions in this experimental setup were provided by 2 % hydrogen in the Ar carrier gas. During SSA + Na2CO3 treatment CO2, CO and water were detected in the off-gas. During SSA + Na2SO4 treatment SO2, some CO2 and water were detected. Heavy metal removal was more efficient for SSA + Na2CO3 compared to the sulfate variant. A SSA + Na2SO4 + lignite variant which also formed CO shifted the heavy metal removal to the results obtained with Na2CO3 which was obviously due to the additional reduction potential. However, Zn evaporation was not achieved with the Na2SO4 variants which were most probably due to immobilization as ZnS.
Sewage sludge incineration is extensively practiced in some European countries such as the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. A survey of German sewage sludge ash showed that the recovery potential is high, approx. 19,000 t of phosphorus per year. However, the survey also discovered that the bioavailability of phosphorus in the sewage sludge ash is poor and that more than half of the ashes cannot be used as fertilizers due to high heavy metal content. A new thermochemical process for sewage sludge ash treatment was developed that transforms the ash into marketable fertilizer products. Sewage sludge ash was thermochemically treated with sodium and potassium additives under reducing conditions, whereby the phosphate-bearing mineral phases were transformed into plant available phosphates. High P-bioavailability was achieved with a molar Na/P ratio > 1.75 in the starting materials. Sodium sulfate, carbonate and hydroxide performed comparably as additives for this calcination process. Potassium carbonate and -hydroxide have to be added in a molar K/P ratio > 2.5 to achieve comparable P-solubility. The findings of the laboratory scale investigations were confirmed by an industrial demonstration trial for an ash treatment with sodium sulfate. Simultaneously, the volatile transition metal arsenic (61% removal) as well as volatile heavy metals such as cadmium (80%), mercury (68%), lead (39%) and zinc (9%) were removed via the off-gas treatment system. The product of the demonstration trial is characterized by high bioavailability and a toxic trace element mass fraction below the limit values of the German fertilizer ordinance, thus fulfilling the quality parameters for a P-fertilizer.
Incineration of sewage sludge is expected to increase in the future due to growing concerns about the direct use of sludge in agriculture. Sewage sludge is the pollutant sink of wastewater treatment and thus loaded with contaminants that might pose environmental hazards. Incineration degrades organic pollutants efficiently, but since the ash is currently mostly disposed of, all valuable component like phosphorus (P) and technologically relevant metals present in the sewage sludge ash (SSA) are removed from the economic cycle entirely. We conducted a complete survey of SSA from German mono-incineration facilities and determined the theoretical recovery potential of 57 elements. German SSA contains up to 19,000 t/a P which equals approximately 13% of phosphorus applied in the German agriculture in form of phosphate rock based mineral fertilizers. Thus, SSA is an important secondary resource of P. However, its P-solubility in ammonium citrate solution, an indicator for the bioavailability, is only about 26%. Treatment of SSA is recommended to enhance P bioavailability and remove heavy metals before it is applied as fertilizer. The recovery potential for technologically relevant metals is generally low, but some of these elements might be recovered efficiently in the course of P recovery exploiting synergies.
Municipal sewage sludge is a carrier of nutrients most important phosphorus (P) but also contains organic pollutants and heavy metals. A two steps thermal treatment based on 1. mono-incineration of sewage sludge under destruction of organic pollutants and 2. thermochemical treatment of the resulting ashes to remove heavy metals and increase P-bioavailability is suggested by the authors. The process aims at P-fertilisers production from sewage sludge. Seven sewage sludge ashes of different origin and composition and one residue from gasification of sewage sludge were thermochemically treated. The raw ashes were mixed with a chlorine donor (e.g. MgCl2) and thermally treated in a gas tight lab-scale rotary furnace. The distributions of the heavy metals between solid and gas phase were determined. The heavy metals concentrations of the treated ashes matched the legislative limits in most cases. The products from thermochemical treatment are suited raw materials for P-fertiliser production. Relevant process parameters such as temperature, type and concentration of Cl-donor and retention time were optimised for the thermochemical treatment step.
The sequence of reactions accompanying the thermochemical treatment of an iron- and aluminium-bearing sewage sludge ash was ascertained by investigating two systematic series of samples. The ash was thermochemically treated in a lab-scale rotary furnace after mixing it with a chlorine-donor, either CaCl2 or MgCl2. Within each of these two sample series only a single process parameter, the reaction temperature, was varied, namely between 350 and 1050°C. It was found, that among the numerous crystalline phases present in the raw ash only quartz and hematite continue to exist after thermochemical treatments carried out at 1050°C, whereas all other components undergo at least one decomposition-recrystallization cycle. Some of the components re-crystallize even several times. It was proved that the restructuring of the calcium- and phosphorus-bearing mineral phases proceeds via the formation of chlorspodioside, Ca2PO4Cl. The influence of the type of chlorine-donor on the final product was elucidated in detail and - to the best of our knowledge - for the first time crystalline AlPO4 was found in a sewage sludge ash and its decomposition was investigated, too.
A new sewage sludge ordinance was set in force in Germany in 2017 that makes phosphorus recovery from sewage sludge mandatory. The technological possibilities for P-recovery from waste water, sewage sludge and sewage sludge ash were presented.