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A Thermodynamic Feasibility Evaluation Model for the Efficient Struvite Production from Livestock Waste
Citation:
Martín-Hernández, E., M. Martín, AND G. Ruiz-Mercado. A Thermodynamic Feasibility Evaluation Model for the Efficient Struvite Production from Livestock Waste. Foundations of Computer-Aided Process Design, Copper Mountain Resort, CO, July 15 - 18, 2019.
Impact/Purpose:
Organic waste uncontrolled disposal results in environmental impact such as water contamination by nutrients, including eutrophication. Thus, adequate management strategies for organic waste and the recovery of nutrients, energy, and products are necessary to achieve a more comprehensive and permanent solution for nutrient pollution, energy security, and reduce the human impact on the environment. This conference poster presentation describes a thermodynamic feasibility evaluation model to inform decision-makers, the technical feasibility for optimal nutrient recovery as a valuable product (struvite) from livestock waste. In the long-term, this tool improves the management of nutrients from organic waste which has broad-scale implications for the environment in the United States, with interest for Regions, states, communities, and the public looking for feasible solutions to address quality of life challenges, ecological impairments, and economic impacts caused by inefficient management of organic waste, nutrient pollution, and HABs.
Description:
Inefficient management of anthropogenic organic waste from agricultural sources (e.g., animal manure) results in nutrient pollution and can negatively affect public health and increase human impact on the environment. Therefore, an effective management strategy for livestock waste processing is necessary. This presentation describes a thermodynamic model to design feasible and efficient struvite production as a technology for nutrient recovery from cattle digestate. Cattle digestate presents a high concentration of calcium ions which compete with magnesium for the struvite precursor ions, being able to inhibit struvite formation. An additional hindrance is variability in the composition of cattle manure, which largely affects the formation of struvite due to the changes in the distribution of the reagent compounds. This feedstock composition variability is studied through a probabilistic framework. Struvite formation is found as a suitable method to recover nutrients from digestate, achieving efficiencies up to 80%, although an individual analysis of raw material for each case is desirable to adjust the operational parameters and optimize the recovery of nutrients from livestock waste.