Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems (Jan 2019)

Nitrogen and Phosphorus Recovery From Anaerobically Pretreated Agro-Food Wastes: A Review

  • José Luis Campos,
  • Dafne Crutchik,
  • Óscar Franchi,
  • Juan Pablo Pavissich,
  • Juan Pablo Pavissich,
  • Marisol Belmonte,
  • Alba Pedrouso,
  • Anuska Mosquera-Corral,
  • Ángeles Val del Río

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2018.00091
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 2

Abstract

Read online

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is commonly used for the stabilization of agro-food wastes and recovery of energy as methane. Since AD removes organic C but not nutrients (N and P), additional processes to remove them are usually applied to meet the stringent effluent criteria. However, in the past years, there was a shift from the removal to the recovery of nutrients as a result of increasing concerns regarding limited natural resources and the importance given to the sustainable treatment technologies. Recovering N and P from anaerobically pretreated agro-food wastes as easily transportable and marketable products has gained increasing importance to meet both regulatory requirements and increase revenue. For this reason, this review paper gives a critical comparison of the available and emerging technologies for N and P recovery from AD residues.

Keywords