IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i5p2112-d1350628.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Advances in Nitrogen-Rich Wastewater Treatment: A Comprehensive Review of Modern Technologies

Author

Listed:
  • Abdullah Omar

    (Chemical Engineering Department, Qatar University, Doha P.O. Box 2713, Qatar)

  • Fares Almomani

    (Chemical Engineering Department, Qatar University, Doha P.O. Box 2713, Qatar)

  • Hazim Qiblawey

    (Chemical Engineering Department, Qatar University, Doha P.O. Box 2713, Qatar)

  • Kashif Rasool

    (Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI), Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, Doha P.O. Box 34110, Qatar)

Abstract

Nitrogen-rich wastewater is a major environmental issue that requires proper treatment before disposal. This comprehensive overview covers biological, physical, and chemical nitrogen removal methods. Simultaneous nitrification–denitrification (SND) is most effective in saline water when utilizing both aerobic and anoxic conditions with diverse microbial populations for nitrogen removal. Coupling anammox with denitrification could increase removal rates and reduce energy demand. Suspended growth bioreactors effectively treated diverse COD/N ratios and demonstrated resilience to low C/N ratios. Moving biofilm bioreactors exhibit reduced mortality rates, enhanced sludge–liquid separation, increased treatment efficiency, and stronger biological structures. SND studies show ≥90% total nitrogen removal efficiency (%RE TN ) in diverse setups, with Defluviicoccus, Nitrosomonas, and Nitrospira as the main microbial communities, while anammox–denitrification achieved a %RE TN of 77%. Systems using polyvinyl alcohol/sodium alginate as a growth medium showed a %RE TN ≥ 75%. Air-lift reflux configurations exhibited high %RE TN and %RE NH4 , reducing costs and minimizing sludge formation. Microwave pretreatment and high-frequency electric fields could be used to improve the %RE NH4 . Adsorption/ion exchange, membrane distillation, ultrafiltration, and nanofiltration exhibit promise in industrial wastewater treatment. AOPs and sulfate-based oxidants effectively eliminate nitrogen compounds from industrial wastewater. Tailoring proposed treatments for cost-effective nitrogen removal, optimizing microbial interactions, and analyzing the techno-economics of emerging technologies are crucial.

Suggested Citation

  • Abdullah Omar & Fares Almomani & Hazim Qiblawey & Kashif Rasool, 2024. "Advances in Nitrogen-Rich Wastewater Treatment: A Comprehensive Review of Modern Technologies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-37, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:5:p:2112-:d:1350628
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/5/2112/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/5/2112/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Beckinghausen, Aubrey & Odlare, Monica & Thorin, Eva & Schwede, Sebastian, 2020. "From removal to recovery: An evaluation of nitrogen recovery techniques from wastewater," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    2. Giovanna Salbitani & Simona Carfagna, 2021. "Ammonium Utilization in Microalgae: A Sustainable Method for Wastewater Treatment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-17, January.
    3. Kataki, Sampriti & West, Helen & Clarke, Michèle & Baruah, D.C., 2016. "Phosphorus recovery as struvite: Recent concerns for use of seed, alternative Mg source, nitrogen conservation and fertilizer potential," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 142-156.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Maktabifard, Mojtaba & Al-Hazmi, Hussein E. & Szulc, Paulina & Mousavizadegan, Mohammad & Xu, Xianbao & Zaborowska, Ewa & Li, Xiang & Mąkinia, Jacek, 2023. "Net-zero carbon condition in wastewater treatment plants: A systematic review of mitigation strategies and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    2. Siqueira, J.C. & Braga, M.Q. & Ázara, M.S. & Garcia, K.J. & Alencar, S.N.M. & Ramos, T.S. & Siniscalchi, L.A.B. & Assemany, P.P. & Ensinas, A.V., 2022. "Recovery of vinasse with combined microalgae cultivation in a conceptual energy-efficient industrial plant: Analysis of related process considerations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    3. Khoshnevisan, Benyamin & He, Li & Xu, Mingyi & Valverde-Pérez, Borja & Sillman, Jani & Mitraka, Georgia-Christina & Kougias, Panagiotis G. & Zhang, Yifeng & Yan, Shuiping & Ji, Long & Carbajales-Dale,, 2022. "From renewable energy to sustainable protein sources: Advancement, challenges, and future roadmaps," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    4. Leong, Wai Hong & Kiatkittipong, Worapon & Lam, Man Kee & Khoo, Kuan Shiong & Show, Pau Loke & Mohamad, Mardawani & Chong, Siewhui & Abdurrahman, Muslim & Lim, Jun Wei, 2022. "Dual nutrient heterogeneity modes in a continuous flow photobioreactor for optimum nitrogen assimilation to produce microalgal biodiesel," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 443-451.
    5. Bethany Cooper & Walter O. Okello, 2021. "An economic lens to understanding antimicrobial resistance: disruptive cases to livestock and wastewater management in Australia," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 65(4), pages 900-917, October.
    6. Cooper, Bethany & Okello, Walter O., 2021. "An economic lens to understanding antimicrobial resistance: disruptive cases to livestock and wastewater management in Australia," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 65(04), January.
    7. Yani Aranguren Díaz & Edy Monterroza Martínez & Laura Carillo García & María C. Serrano & Elwi Machado Sierra, 2022. "Phycoremediation as a Strategy for the Recovery of Marsh and Wetland with Potential in Colombia," Resources, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-20, January.
    8. Byun, Manhee & Lim, Dongjun & Lee, Boreum & Kim, Ayeon & Lee, In-Beum & Brigljević, Boris & Lim, Hankwon, 2022. "Economically feasible decarbonization of the Haber-Bosch process through supercritical CO2 Allam cycle integration," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    9. Ouping Deng & Sitong Wang & Jiangyou Ran & Shuai Huang & Xiuming Zhang & Jiakun Duan & Lin Zhang & Yongqiu Xia & Stefan Reis & Jiayu Xu & Jianming Xu & Wim Vries & Mark A. Sutton & Baojing Gu, 2024. "Managing urban development could halve nitrogen pollution in China," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-16, December.
    10. Kristofor R. Brye & Niyi S. Omidire & Leah English & Ranjan Parajuli & Laszlo Kekedy-Nagy & Ruhi Sultana & Jennie Popp & Greg Thoma & Trenton L. Roberts & Lauren F. Greenlee, 2022. "Assessment of Struvite as an Alternative Sources of Fertilizer-Phosphorus for Flood-Irrigated Rice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-21, August.
    11. Jose Luis Salgueiro & Leticia Perez-Rial & Rocio Maceiras & Angel Sanchez & Angeles Cancela, 2024. "Transforming Wastewater into Biofuel: Nutrient Removal and Biomass Generation with Chlorella vulgaris," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-12, September.
    12. Golzar, Farzin & Silveira, Semida, 2021. "Impact of wastewater heat recovery in buildings on the performance of centralized energy recovery – A case study of Stockholm," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 297(C).
    13. Wang, Yuanhui & Gu, Yuchen & Zhang, Hua & Yang, Jun & Wang, Jianxin & Guan, Wanbing & Chen, Jieyu & Chi, Bo & Jia, Lichao & Muroyama, Hiroki & Matsui, Toshiaki & Eguchi, Koichi & Zhong, Zheng, 2020. "Efficient and durable ammonia power generation by symmetric flat-tube solid oxide fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).
    14. Isabel González-García & Berta Riaño & Beatriz Molinuevo-Salces & María Cruz García-González, 2023. "Effect of Alkali and Membrane Area on the Simultaneous Recovery of Nitrogen and Phosphorous from Digestate by Membrane Technology and Chemical Precipitation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-14, February.
    15. Wahyu Prasetyo Utomo & Hao Wu & Yun Hau Ng, 2022. "Quantification Methodology of Ammonia Produced from Electrocatalytic and Photocatalytic Nitrogen/Nitrate Reduction," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-22, December.
    16. Parsy, A. & Monlau, F. & Guyoneaud, R. & Sambusiti, C., 2024. "Nutrient recovery in effluents from the energy sectors for microalgae and cyanobacteria biomass production: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    17. Işık Kabdaşlı & Alessio Siciliano & Carlo Limonti & Olcay Tünay, 2022. "Is K-Struvite Precipitation a Plausible Nutrient Recovery Method from Potassium-Containing Wastes?—A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-35, September.
    18. Beckinghausen, Aubrey & Reynders, Jonathan & Merckel, Ryan & Wu, Yun Wen & Marais, Heidi & Schwede, Sebastian, 2020. "Post-pyrolysis treatments of biochars from sewage sludge and A. mearnsii for ammonia (NH4-n) recovery," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 271(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:5:p:2112-:d:1350628. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.