Improvement of sludge dewaterability by ammonium sulfate and the potential reuse of sludge as nitrogen fertilizer

Kangyue Pei; Keke Xiao; Huijie Hou; Shuangyi Tao; Qi Xu; Bingchuan Liu; Zecong Yu; Wenbo Yu; Hui Wang; Ying Xue; Sha Liang; Jingping Hu; Huali Deng; Jiakuan Yang

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2020.110050

Improvement of sludge dewaterability by ammonium sulfate and the potential reuse of sludge as nitrogen fertilizer

Kangyue Pei, Keke Xiao^*, Huijie Hou^*, Shuangyi Tao, Qi Xu, Bingchuan Liu, Zecong Yu, Wenbo Yu, Hui Wang, Ying Xue, Sha Liang, Jingping Hu, Huali Deng, Jiakuan Yang

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

A novel method to enhance sludge dewaterability with ammonium sulfate ((NH₄)₂SO₄) was proposed, and the potential reuse of dewatered sludge cake and filtrate as nitrogen fertilizers was evaluated. Compared with raw sludge, 87.91% reduction of capillary suction time (CST) and 88.02% reduction of specific resistance to filtration (SRF) after adding 80% (m/m) (NH₄)₂SO₄ were achieved, with 38.49% of protein precipitated simultaneously. The (NH₄)₂SO₄ dose destroyed cell membrane, resulting in the release of intracellular water by converting bound water into free water, thus enhancing sludge dewaterability. In the solid phase, the content of protein-N increased, and larger protein aggregates were formed. The (NH₄)₂SO₄ dose destroyed the hydration shell, making proteins to exhibit hydrophobic interactions, and to be aggregated, and precipitated from the liquid phase. When incubated Pennisetum alopecuroides L. with the dewatered sludge cake and filtrate after dewatering and conditioning with (NH₄)₂SO₄, the germination rate of grass seed and shoot lengths both increased while compared with those incubated with dewatered sludge cake and filtrate of the raw sludge. This study might provide insights into sustainable sludge treatment by integrating sludge dewatering and the potential reuse of dewatered sludge cake and filtrate as nitrogen fertilizer via treatment with (NH₄)₂SO₄.

Original language	English
Article number	110050
Journal	Environmental Research
Volume	191
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.110050
State	Published - Dec 2020
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Ammonium sulfate
Nitrogen fertilizer
Protein precipitation
Sludge dewatering
Solid and liquid phases

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.envres.2020.110050

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@article{7ec83043e6a4406c9af4771937e4ecb1,

title = "Improvement of sludge dewaterability by ammonium sulfate and the potential reuse of sludge as nitrogen fertilizer",

abstract = "A novel method to enhance sludge dewaterability with ammonium sulfate ((NH4)2SO4) was proposed, and the potential reuse of dewatered sludge cake and filtrate as nitrogen fertilizers was evaluated. Compared with raw sludge, 87.91% reduction of capillary suction time (CST) and 88.02% reduction of specific resistance to filtration (SRF) after adding 80% (m/m) (NH4)2SO4 were achieved, with 38.49% of protein precipitated simultaneously. The (NH4)2SO4 dose destroyed cell membrane, resulting in the release of intracellular water by converting bound water into free water, thus enhancing sludge dewaterability. In the solid phase, the content of protein-N increased, and larger protein aggregates were formed. The (NH4)2SO4 dose destroyed the hydration shell, making proteins to exhibit hydrophobic interactions, and to be aggregated, and precipitated from the liquid phase. When incubated Pennisetum alopecuroides L. with the dewatered sludge cake and filtrate after dewatering and conditioning with (NH4)2SO4, the germination rate of grass seed and shoot lengths both increased while compared with those incubated with dewatered sludge cake and filtrate of the raw sludge. This study might provide insights into sustainable sludge treatment by integrating sludge dewatering and the potential reuse of dewatered sludge cake and filtrate as nitrogen fertilizer via treatment with (NH4)2SO4.",

keywords = "Ammonium sulfate, Nitrogen fertilizer, Protein precipitation, Sludge dewatering, Solid and liquid phases",

author = "Kangyue Pei and Keke Xiao and Huijie Hou and Shuangyi Tao and Qi Xu and Bingchuan Liu and Zecong Yu and Wenbo Yu and Hui Wang and Ying Xue and Sha Liang and Jingping Hu and Huali Deng and Jiakuan Yang",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 Elsevier Inc.",

year = "2020",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1016/j.envres.2020.110050",

language = "英语",

volume = "191",

journal = "Environmental Research",

issn = "0013-9351",

publisher = "Academic Press Inc.",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Improvement of sludge dewaterability by ammonium sulfate and the potential reuse of sludge as nitrogen fertilizer

AU - Pei, Kangyue

AU - Xiao, Keke

AU - Hou, Huijie

AU - Tao, Shuangyi

AU - Xu, Qi

AU - Liu, Bingchuan

AU - Yu, Zecong

AU - Yu, Wenbo

AU - Wang, Hui

AU - Xue, Ying

AU - Liang, Sha

AU - Hu, Jingping

AU - Deng, Huali

AU - Yang, Jiakuan

PY - 2020/12

Y1 - 2020/12

N2 - A novel method to enhance sludge dewaterability with ammonium sulfate ((NH4)2SO4) was proposed, and the potential reuse of dewatered sludge cake and filtrate as nitrogen fertilizers was evaluated. Compared with raw sludge, 87.91% reduction of capillary suction time (CST) and 88.02% reduction of specific resistance to filtration (SRF) after adding 80% (m/m) (NH4)2SO4 were achieved, with 38.49% of protein precipitated simultaneously. The (NH4)2SO4 dose destroyed cell membrane, resulting in the release of intracellular water by converting bound water into free water, thus enhancing sludge dewaterability. In the solid phase, the content of protein-N increased, and larger protein aggregates were formed. The (NH4)2SO4 dose destroyed the hydration shell, making proteins to exhibit hydrophobic interactions, and to be aggregated, and precipitated from the liquid phase. When incubated Pennisetum alopecuroides L. with the dewatered sludge cake and filtrate after dewatering and conditioning with (NH4)2SO4, the germination rate of grass seed and shoot lengths both increased while compared with those incubated with dewatered sludge cake and filtrate of the raw sludge. This study might provide insights into sustainable sludge treatment by integrating sludge dewatering and the potential reuse of dewatered sludge cake and filtrate as nitrogen fertilizer via treatment with (NH4)2SO4.

AB - A novel method to enhance sludge dewaterability with ammonium sulfate ((NH4)2SO4) was proposed, and the potential reuse of dewatered sludge cake and filtrate as nitrogen fertilizers was evaluated. Compared with raw sludge, 87.91% reduction of capillary suction time (CST) and 88.02% reduction of specific resistance to filtration (SRF) after adding 80% (m/m) (NH4)2SO4 were achieved, with 38.49% of protein precipitated simultaneously. The (NH4)2SO4 dose destroyed cell membrane, resulting in the release of intracellular water by converting bound water into free water, thus enhancing sludge dewaterability. In the solid phase, the content of protein-N increased, and larger protein aggregates were formed. The (NH4)2SO4 dose destroyed the hydration shell, making proteins to exhibit hydrophobic interactions, and to be aggregated, and precipitated from the liquid phase. When incubated Pennisetum alopecuroides L. with the dewatered sludge cake and filtrate after dewatering and conditioning with (NH4)2SO4, the germination rate of grass seed and shoot lengths both increased while compared with those incubated with dewatered sludge cake and filtrate of the raw sludge. This study might provide insights into sustainable sludge treatment by integrating sludge dewatering and the potential reuse of dewatered sludge cake and filtrate as nitrogen fertilizer via treatment with (NH4)2SO4.

KW - Ammonium sulfate

KW - Nitrogen fertilizer

KW - Protein precipitation

KW - Sludge dewatering

KW - Solid and liquid phases

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U2 - 10.1016/j.envres.2020.110050

DO - 10.1016/j.envres.2020.110050

M3 - 文章

C2 - 32828760

AN - SCOPUS:85089662395

SN - 0013-9351

VL - 191

JO - Environmental Research

JF - Environmental Research

M1 - 110050

ER -

Improvement of sludge dewaterability by ammonium sulfate and the potential reuse of sludge as nitrogen fertilizer

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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