Nutrient Recovery from Agricultural Wastewater by Integrated Electrokinetic Processes

Agricultural wastewater including anaerobic digestate is annually generated in a huge quantity in Taiwan. The management of agricultural wastewater should be emphasized on the recovery and production of value-added resources, such as macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium), for realizing the circular bioeconomy. In this paper, we will illustrate the development of energy-efficient electrokinetic processes for nutrient recovery from agricultural wastewater. First, we evaluate the performance of electrokinetic separations processes for recovery of macronutrients. We also discuss major challenges in managing nutrient reuse by the developed electrokinetic methods. Then, we elucidate the process chemistry and reaction kinetics by the processes. Lastly, we consider the interconnectivity among water, energy and the produced macronutrients in the context of large-scale deployment.