• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.5-12
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• 2006

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of operational parameters such as dosage of magnesium and phosphate, pH, reaction time and existence crystal core for the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus in anaerobic fermentation supernatant by struvite crystallization. Optimal mole ratio of $Mg^{2+}:NH_4{^+}:PO_4{^{3-}}$ was 1.2:1.0:1.2. Under the optimal molar ratio, removal ratio and reaction rate constant of $NH_4{^+}-N$ and $PO_4{^{3-}}-P$ were 79.2, 96.8%, 0.157 and $0.344min^{-1}$, respectively. Optimal pH and reaction time were 11 and 10 minutes, respectively, in the optimal molar ratio. Residual concentration of $NH_4{^+}-N$ and $PO_4{^{3-}}-P$ showed lowest value with 1 g/L of crystal core addition. SEM analysis of struvite crystallization with crystal core showed higher crystal core growth than that of without crystal core. Struvite precipitate proved to be orthorhomic crystal structure by XRD analysis.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.39 no.8
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• pp.462-469
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• 2017

Eutrophication and shortage of phosphate ore raise the necessity of phosphate removal and recovery from wastewater treatment plants. Especially, a sludge treatment system containing highly concentrated phosphate should be targeted for phosphate removal and recovery. This study thus aimed to evaluate the capability of the struvite crystallization process for phosphate removal and recovery from a sludge treatment system of a wastewater treatment plant. Analysis on phosphate concentrations and masses in the sludge treatment system revealed that digested sludge and centrate have phosphate concentrations and masses, high enough to adopt the struvite crystallization process. Chemical equilibrium modeling indicated that the struvite crystallization reaction substantially occurred with pH higher than 8 and $Mg^{2+}$ concentration 1.2 times higher than its theoretical requirement. A series of batch tests with digested sludge and centrate indicated that the phosphate removal reaction by struvite crystallization followed a first-order kinetics and reached over 80% removal efficiency at equilibrium. Aeration in the batch tests was found to purge $CO_2$ in sludge or centrate and increase pH up to 8.7, without adding NaOH. Thus, we concluded that the struvite crystallization process could be an efficient and economical process for phosphate removal and recovery from a wastewater treatment plant.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.875-884
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• 2003

Operational parameters for struvite crystallization, as a process to recover nitrogen and phosphorus resources from animal wastewater, were studied in this research. Crystallization distinctive of NH$_4$-N and PO$_4$$^{3-}$ in accordance to chemical sources, influent pH, aeration and stirring was examined using 2L of working volume of struvite reactor. Also, to find an effective treatment process combining with electrolysis method, removal characteristics of NH$_4$-N and PO$_4$$^{3-}$ in 6 different processes was tested. As chemical sources for the derivation of struvite formation, MgSO$_4$ and MgCl$_2$ were superior to CaCO$_3$ and CaCl$_2$. From experiment which was conducted to know the effects of aeration and stirring on struvite formation, it was revealed that aeration stimulated the crystallization reaction by inducing faster pH increase. While 90% of P removal was achieved within 1 hour under aeration, 14 hours was consumed under stirring condition. Struvite formation under aeration was affected by influent pH. No crystallization was observed at pH 5 level, but active crystallization reaction was induced over pH 6.0. 95% of P removal by struvite formation at pH 6, 7 and 9 was achieved within 3h, 2h and 10 min., respectively. However, over pH 10, operational problem due to excessive foam formation occurred, and blunting of crystallization reaction was observed at pH 11. When consider the pH range of animal wastewater, pH 7 to 9, efficient struvite formation could be achieved by simple aeration, without any chemical usage for pH adjustment. Among tested processes, the treatment process which electrolyzing the supernatant from struvite reactor, providing air to both reactors, showed best pollutant removal efficiencies. In this combined process, the removal efficiencies of NH$_4$-N and PO$_4$$^{3-}$ was 86% and 98%, respectively, and 92.4% of color removal was obtained.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.664-672
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• 2010

This study was performed to evaluate the feasibility of industrial by-products such as converter slag, olivine, red mud and fly ash as a seed crystal of struvite crystallization for the removal of highly concentrated $NH_4-N$ and $PO_4-P$. In the kinetic experiments, more than 90% of $NH_4-N$ and $PO_4-P$ was eliminated by struvite crystallization within 30 minutes of reaction time. The pH range in meta-stable region of struvite crystallization was found to be pH 7.0~9.0 under the Mg:N:P=1:1:1 equi-molar condition with 100 mg/L of $NH_4-N$. Total removal efficiencies of $NH_4-N$ and $PO_4-P$ by both struvite precipitation and crystallization were increased with the increase of pH. Removal efficiencies of $NH_4-N$ and $PO_4-P$ were significantly enhanced by struvite crystallization using industrial by-products as a seed crystal compared with those by struvite precipitation without seed crystal. Red mud, converter slag, olivine and fly ash enhanced the removal efficiencies of $NH_4-N$ by 40.9%, 37.7%, 28.4% and 16.4%, respectively. Removal efficiencies of $PO_4-P$ for converter slag, red mud, fly ash, olivine were increased by 3.7 times, 2.6 times, 72.4% and 68.0%, respectively. Converter slag and red mud showed higher feasibility as a seed crystal than others for the removal of highly concentrated $NH_4-N$ and $PO_4-P$. In particular, converter slag might have a high capacity of phosphorus removal.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.207-212
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• 2008

This study focused on shorten the period of the struvite crystal birth and development by adding seed materials. For this purpose, three different seed materials were selected: sand, anthracite and struvite. The experiments has been conducted to evaluate the effect of the particle size of the selected seed material on the struvite crystallization, and to study the mixing effect which can be expressed by the value of $G{\cdot}t_d$(the multiple of mean velocity gradient(G) and mixing time($t_d$)). It was observed in this study that the removal efficiency of ammonia nitrogen increased by 9%, 11%, and 20% for sand, anthracite, and struvite added as the seed material, respectivley. This indicated that the struvite crystallization efficiency had a close correlation with the specific surface area of the seed particle. It was found that when struvite was selected as the seed material, the struvite crystallization proceeded at lower $G{\cdot}t_d$ value as compared with other seed materials. This observation implied that the secondary crystal birth would be dominated in this reaction. It was concluded in this study that the particle size was not significant factor on the struvite crystallization, while the $G{\cdot}t_d$ value was a considerably important factor in terms of the theory of the struvite crystal birth.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.745-753
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• 2007

By struvite and hydroxyapatite crystallization, was high concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus in wastewater simultaneously. Particularly, removal of nitrogen and phosphate for crystallization have been applied to landfill leachates and animal wastewater. The purpose of this study is to decide the optimum struvite crystallization factors, sequence of $Mg^{2+}$ addition, pH control and the molar ratio of $Mg^{2+}$ over $PO_4^{3-}$. In conclusion, dosage of the magnesium followed by pH control formed magnesium hydroxide, so pH was decreased. Therefore, pH adjustment should followed by after magnesium dosage and then pH should be adjusted to 11. Over pH 10, it was not good for struvite crystallization efficiency by side reaction. Following of the $Mg^{2+}$ and the $PO_4^{3-}$ are dosed excessively, the removal efficiency of the $NH_4^+$ increased. A molar ratio of $Mg^{2+}:NH_4^+:PO_4^{3-}$, 1.3:1:1.3 was the most on effective for $NH_4^+$ removal at pH 9.5. But for the perfect removal $NH_4^+$, it is thought to be that molar ratio should be 2:1:2.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.916-921
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• 2009

This study was aimed to both enhance the fluoride removal and to reduce the phosphorus removal in treating semiconductor wastewater using $Ca(OH)_2$ at low pH so as to facilitate struvite crystallization reaction. The struvite crystallization could be introduced after fluoride removal by retaining the phosphorus source. As the results, the method applied in this study achieved high fluoride removal efficiency (about 91%) with retardation of phosphorus removal at pH 4, compared to conventional methods where the removal of fluoride and phosphorus were done at pH 11. Therefore, the fluoride removal at low pH would contribute to the enhancement of nitrogen and phosphorus removals in a consecutive struvite crystallization reactor. Treatment of semiconductor wastewater at low pH using $Ca(OH)_2$ also had lower (about 20%) water content of precipitated sludge compared to conventional method. As the molar ratio of Ca to F increased the removal efficiencies of fluoride and phosphorus increased. Although the amount of seed dosage didn't affect the removal of fluoride and phosphorus, its increase reduced the water content of precipitated matter. Finally, considering consecutive struvite reaction, the optimum condition for the removal of fluoride and phosphorus was as follow: pH: 4, the molar ratio of Ca:F: 1:1.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.1053-1060
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• 2015

In this study, the optimal operation factors for struvite crystallization for removing and recovering nitrogen and phosphorus from anaerobic digestive fluid of swine manure containing highly concentrated nitrogen was determined. Every experiment for the struvite crystallization reaction was conducted by placing 1,000 mL of digestion fluid in a 2,000 mL Erlenmeyer flask at various temperatures, pH, and mixing speed. Except for special circumstances, the digestion fluid was centrifuged (10,000 rpm, 10 min) and then the supernatant was used for the experiment at room temperature and 100 rpm. The optimal mole ratio of $PO_4{^{3-}}:Mg^{2+}$ was 1:1.5, and the pH effect ranging from 9 to 11 was similar, when mixed for 1 hour. Under this condition, the removal efficiency of $NH_4{^+}-N$ and $PO_4{^{3-}}-P$ was 40% and 88.6%, respectively. X-shaped crystal was observed by light and scanning electron microscopy. In addition, struvite crystal structure was confirmed through X-ray diffraction analysis.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.54-62
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• 2011

This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of bone waste on the conservation of nitrogen in aerobic composting process by inducing the struvite crystallization, which was known as a powerful method for conservation of nitrogen in composting reaction. Bone waste was dried at oven and crushed to less than 3 mm prior to use. It was found phosphorus content in bone waste was about 20.9% of the fixed solids from the leaching experiments using sulfuric acid. Addition of seed compost affected the progress of composting reaction substantially. In case seed compost was not used, the duration of initial low pH was greater than seed compost was added. This prolonged acidic pH may have a beneficial effect on the leaching of P from the bone waste and struvite crystallization. The struvite crystallization and resulting conservation of nitrogen by addition of bone waste was confirmed by both reduction in ammonia loss and increased ammonia content in compost. However the level of struvite crystallization observed with bone waste addition may be less than the cases water-soluble phosphate salts were used.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.730-737
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• 2010

It is very important to remove fluoride ion before treating semiconductor wastewater containing high concentration of ammonia, phosphates, and fluoride ions by struvite formation. Calcium ion was generally added for the removal of fluoride ion. However, calcium ions remained after removal of fluoride ion can deteriorate the performance of struvite crystalization. It should be removed completely before struvite formation. In this study, the effect of fluoride and calcium ion concentration on the struvite crystalization was investigated. Removal efficiencies of ortho-phosphate with struvite formation were more abruptly decreased than those of ammonium nitrogen, as increase of fluoride ion concentration in synthetic wastewater. The structures of struvite formed in synthetic wastewater containing calcium ion of up to 500 mg/L were identical. Purity of struvite was deteriorated as increase of calcium ion over 500 mg/L. Removal efficiencies of ammonium nitrogen were more decreased than those of phosphate ions as increase of cacium ion in synthetic wastewater.