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Effective removal of ammonia nitrogen from waste seawater using crystal seed enhanced struvite precipitation technology with response surface methodology for process optimization

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Abstract

Traditional biological treatment was not effective for removing nitrogen from saline wastewater due to the inhibition of high salinity on biomass activity. In this context, a method of removing ammonia nitrogen from waste seawater was proposed by struvite precipitation which was enhanced by seeding technique. The abundant magnesium contained in waste seawater was used as the key component of struvite crystallization without additional magnesium. The effects of pH and P:N molar ratio on ammonia nitrogen removal efficiency were studied. The results showed that optimum pH value was in range of 8.5–10 and the P:N molar ratio should be controlled within 2:1–3:1. XRD and SEM-EDS analyses of the precipitates proved that Ca2+ and excess Mg2+ contained in waste seawater inhibited the struvite crystallization by competing PO4 3− to form by-products. Then, seeding technique for enhancing the struvite crystallization was investigated, and the results indicated that using preformed struvite as crystal seed significantly improved the ammonia nitrogen removal efficiency, especially when initial ammonia nitrogen concentration was relatively low. Moreover, response surface optimization experiment following a Box-Behnken design was conducted. A response surface model was established, based on which optimum process conditions were determined and interactions between various factors were clarified. At last, economic evaluation demonstrated this proposed method was economic feasible.

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Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Fund of China (No. 51408158), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No.HIT.NSRIF.2016098), and the scientific research foundation of Harbin Institute of Technology at Weihai (HIT(WH)201403).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, China

    Weilong Song, Feng Liu, Peishi Qi & Hong You

  2. School of Marine Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology at Weihai, Weihai, 264209, China

    Zhipeng Li, Feng Liu & Hong You

  3. Marine College, Shandong University at Weihai, Weihai, 264209, China

    Yi Ding

  4. Department of Systems Design Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, N2L 3G1, Canada

    Chao **

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  1. Weilong Song
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  2. Zhipeng Li
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  3. Feng Liu
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  4. Yi Ding
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  5. Peishi Qi
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  6. Hong You
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  7. Chao **
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Correspondence to Zhipeng Li or Peishi Qi.

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Responsible editor: Bingcai Pan

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Song, W., Li, Z., Liu, F. et al. Effective removal of ammonia nitrogen from waste seawater using crystal seed enhanced struvite precipitation technology with response surface methodology for process optimization. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 628–638 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-0441-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-0441-0

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