27 research outputs found
Recent Advances in Bioelectrochemical Systems for Nitrogen and Phosphorus Recovery Using Membranes
Bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) have emerged as a technology that is able to recover resources from different kinds of substrates, especially wastewater. Nutrient recovery, mostly based on membrane reactor configuration, is a clear niche for BES application. The recovery of nitrogen or phosphorus allows for treatment of wastewater while simultaneously collecting a concentrated stream with nutrients that can be reintroduced into the system, becoming a circular economy solution. The aim of this study is to review recent advances in membrane-based BESs for nitrogen and phosphorus recovery and compare the recovery efficiencies and energy requirements of each system. Finally, there is a discussion of the main issues that arise from using membrane-based BESs. The results presented in this review show that it would be beneficial to intensify research on BESs to improve recovery efficiencies at the lowest construction cost in order to take the final step towards scaling up and commercialising this technology.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Ammonium and Phosphate Recovery in a Three Chambered Microbial Electrolysis Cell: Towards Obtaining Struvite from Livestock Manure
Ammonia and phosphate, which are present in large quantities in waste streams such as livestock manure, are key compounds in fertilization activities. Their recovery will help close natural cycles and take a step forward in the framework of a circular economy. In this work, a lab-scale three-chambered microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) has been operated in continuous mode for the recovery of ammonia and phosphate from digested pig slurry in order to obtain a nutrient concentrated solution as a potential source of fertilizer (struvite). The maximum average removal efficiencies for ammonium and phosphate were 20% ± 4% and 36% ± 10%, respectively. The pH of the recovered solution was below 7, avoiding salt precipitation in the reactor. According to Visual MINTEQ software modelling, an increase of pH value to 8 outside the reactor would be enough to recover most of the potential struvite (0.21 mmol L−1 d−1), while the addition of up to 0.2 mM of magnesium to the nutrient recovered solution would enhance struvite production from 5.6 to 17.7 mM. The application of three-chambered MECs to the recovery of nutrients from high strength wastewater is a promising technology to avoid ammonia production through industrial processes or phosphate mineral extraction and close nutrient natural cycles.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Effectiveness of precision feeding in reducing N excretion in dairy cattle
Two periods enrolling 56 (milk yield 36.2 ± 7.91 kg/d) and 58 (milk yield 32.4 ± 4.99 kg/d) grouped-fed dairy cows were performed to evaluate nutrient adjustment and N emissions of a precision feeding strategy. Pens blocked by parity were randomly assigned to a conventional (CONV) or to a precision feeding scheme (PREC) for a 21-d period. The CONV group was offered a total mixed ration (TMR, 6.82 and 6.65 MJ of NEl/kg of DM, in period 1 and 2, respectively, and 165 g of CP/kg of DM in both periods; whereas PREC cows were fed a partial mixed ration (PMR, 6.65 and 6.40 MJ of NEl/kg of DM, 135 and 137 g of CP/kg of DM, in period 1 and 2, respectively) and a concentrate feed supplemented twice daily in the milking parlour, which contained different quantities of soybean meal, corn meal, and wheat middling’s according to estimated nutritional needs of each cow above those supplied by the consumption of PMR. Individual daily nutritional needs and nutrients consumed from the PMR were calculated using a 10-d rolling average of performance data (milk yield and concentration of its components, and BW daily recorded in both periods). A N balance using urine and fecal spot sampling during the last 3 d of the study was performed in period 1, and stored manure gaseous emissions (ammonia, methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide) were measured for 2 wk in period 2. After 2 wk of adaptation to the diet, 82 cows homogeneously distributed in 4 DIM categories: early DIM ( 220) were used to assess how energy and protein requirements were adjusted using both feeding system. Dairy cows in both feeding systems were energetically overfed, and CONV cows tended to be more CP overfed in mid-late and late DIM cows than PREC fed cows. Total daily N urine excretion, and milk N urea concentration were greater in CONV than in PREC cows. There were no differences in ammonia and nitrous oxide emissions from the manure storage between PREC and CONV cows; however, methane and carbon dioxide emissions from manure increased by 55% and 15%, respectively in PREC fed cows. Precision feeding system based on preceding average daily milk yield and composition can reduce N excretion without affecting short-term milking performance but increasing C gaseous emissions from manure.This research was carried out in the framework of the project CIRCULAR AGRONOMICS (nº contract agreement 773649). IRTA thanks the support of the CERCA Program and the Consolidated Research Groups of Sustainability in Biosystems (ref. 2021 SGR 01568) and Sustainable Animal Husbandry (ref. 2021 SGR 01552), both from the Generalitat de Catalunya. Lluis Morey thanks Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya and the financial support of AGAUR, of the Generalitat de Catalunya (grant reference number 2019FI_B 00694)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Environmental accounting of closed-loop maize production scenarios: Manure as fertilizer and inclusion of catch crops
The agri-food sector has moved towards a more linear production economy, partly caused by worldwide food demand. One clear example is the intensification of livestock production, with consequent manure-management and feed-production challenges, the effects of which have led to large environmental problems. Currently, efforts are being made to move the agricultural sector towards closed-loop alternatives. To ensure high environmental performance of these alternatives, realistic quantification of environmental impacts is needed. Thus, using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tools, we analyzed the environmental profile of six closed-loop maize scenarios focusing on different combinations of mineral fertilizer, digested organic fertilizer (digestate) from a manure co-digestion biogas plant, and rotation with (or without) catch crops (CCs) as a strategy to prevent nitrate leaching to groundwater and as a co-substrate in the biogas plant.
Results demonstrated that replacing a large portion of the mineral fertilizers with digestate could help offset much of the total potential impact of global warming (by 25–35 %), resource depletion (by 94–96%), photochemical ozone formation (by 17–22 %), ozone depletion (by 96–99%) or even avoid it entirely as in freshwater eutrophication. However, digestate production and application contributed greatly to acidification (51%) and particulate matter (51–52%) categories, with minor differences depending on the species of CC used. An optimal combination of both digestate and mineral fertilizers is recommended. The incorporation of CCs in a maize rotation can reduce freshwater eutrophication impacts but increase global warming potential. Conclusions were drawn suggesting better management strategies to decrease environmental impacts of maize production.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio
Hydrophobic membranes for ammonia recovery from digestates in microbial electrolysis cells: Assessment of different configurations
The combination of hydrophobic membranes and microbial electrolysis cells (MEC)
was assessed in two different configurations in order to recover ammonia from anaerobically
digested pig slurry. Politetrafluorethilene (PTFE) hydrophobic membranes were inserted both
in an H-type three-chamber cell (MEC-H) and a two-chamber sandwich configuration MEC
(MEC-S), both fitted with a cationic exchange membrane (CEM) dividing the anode and
cathode compartments. The use of electrochemical techniques such as electrochemical
impedance spectroscopy was applied to monitor the increase of the biofilm on the anode,
related to the decrease of the charge transfer resistence.This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and
Competitiveness (INIA project RTA2015-00079-C02-01). The support of
the CERCA Program and of the Consolidated Research Group TERRA
(ref. 2017 SGR 1290), both from the Generalitat de Catalunya, is also
acknowledgedPostprint (updated version
Different approaches to assess the environmental performance of a cow manure biogas plant
In intensive livestock production areas, farmers must apply manure management systems to comply with governmental regulations. Biogas plants, as a source of renewable energy, have the potential to reduce environmental impacts comparing with other manure management practices. Nevertheless, manure processing at biogas plants also incurs in non-desired gas emissions that should be considered. At present, available emission calculation methods cover partially emissions produced at a biogas plant, with the subsequent difficulty in the preparation of life cycle inventories. The objective of this study is to characterise gaseous emissions: ammonia (NH3-N), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2Oindirect, and N2Odirect) and hydrogen sulphide (H2S) from the anaerobic co-digestion of cow manure by using different approaches for preparing gaseous emission inventories, and to compare the different methodologies used. The chosen scenario for the study is a biogas plant located next to a dairy farm in the North of Catalonia, Spain. Emissions were calculated by two methods: field measurements and estimation, following international guidelines. International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines were adapted to estimate emissions for the specific situation according to Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 approaches. Total air emissions at the biogas plant were calculated from the emissions produced at the three main manure storage facilities on the plant: influent storage, liquid fraction storage, and the solid fraction storage of the digestate. Results showed that most of the emissions were produced in the liquid fraction storage. Comparing measured emissions with estimated emissions, NH3, CH4, N2Oindirect and H2S total emission results were in the same order of magnitude for both methodologies, while, N2Odirect total measured emissions were one order of magnitude higher than the estimates. A Monte Carlo analysis was carried out to examine the uncertainties of emissions determined from experimental data, providing probability distribution functions. Four emission inventories were developed with the different methodologies used. Estimation methods proved to be a useful tool to determine emissions when field sampling is not possible. Nevertheless, it was not possible to establish which methodology is more reliable. Therefore, more measurements at different biogas plants should be evaluated to validate the methodologies more precisely.Postprint (author's final draft
Acidification and solar drying of manure-based digestate to produce improved fertilizing products
The increase in energy and fertilizer consumption makes it necessary to develop sustainable alternatives for
agriculture. Anaerobic digestion and digestates appeared to be suitable options. However, untreated digestates
still have high water content and can increase greenhouse gas emissions during storage and land application. In
this study, manure-derived digestate and solid fraction of digestate after separation were treated with a novel
solar drying technology to reduce their water content, combined with acidification to reduce the gaseous
emissions. The acidified digestate and acidified solid fraction of digestate recovered more nitrogen and ammonia
nitrogen than their respective non-acidified products (1.5–1.3 times for TN; 14 times for TAN). Ammonia and
methane emissions were reduced up to 94% and 72% respectively, compared to the non-acidified ones, while
N2O increased more than 3 times. Dried digestate and dried acidified digestate can be labeled as NPK organic
fertilizer regarding the European regulation, and the dried solid fraction and the improved dried acidified solid
fraction can be labeled as N or P organic fertilizer. Moreover, plant tests showed that N concentrations in fresh
lettuce leaves were within the EU limit with all products in all the cases. However, zinc concentration appeared
to be a limitation in some of the products as their concentration exceeded the European legal limitsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Evaluation of manure management systems in Europe
The gross value of the agricultural
goods in 2014 amounted up to 370 billion Euros.
Almost 50% of all agricultural production is provided by livestock farming.Postprint (published version
Circular Agronomics Overview_IRTA_20190227
Poster presentation on Circular Agronomics project at the 3rd European Nutrient Event during ECOMONDO (Rimini, Italy, 8-9 November 2018
Recent Advances in Bioelectrochemical Systems for Nitrogen and Phosphorus Recovery Using Membranes
Bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) have emerged as a technology that is able to recover resources from different kinds of substrates, especially wastewater. Nutrient recovery, mostly based on membrane reactor configuration, is a clear niche for BES application. The recovery of nitrogen or phosphorus allows for treatment of wastewater while simultaneously collecting a concentrated stream with nutrients that can be reintroduced into the system, becoming a circular economy solution. The aim of this study is to review recent advances in membrane-based BESs for nitrogen and phosphorus recovery and compare the recovery efficiencies and energy requirements of each system. Finally, there is a discussion of the main issues that arise from using membrane-based BESs. The results presented in this review show that it would be beneficial to intensify research on BESs to improve recovery efficiencies at the lowest construction cost in order to take the final step towards scaling up and commercialising this technology