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. 2024 Dec 7;9(50):49692-49706.
doi: 10.1021/acsomega.4c07926. eCollection 2024 Dec 17.

Innovative Approach to Sustainable Fertilizer Production: Leveraging Electrically Assisted Conversion of Sewage Sludge for Nutrient Recovery

Gerardine G Botte  1 , Dayana Donneys-Victoria  1 , Christian E Alvarez-Pugliese  1 , Jedidian Adjei  1 , Selin Sahin  1 , Nathan W Wilson  1 , Kayleigh Millerick  2 , Amy Hardberger  3 , Ariel L Furst  4 , Nicole Hu  5 , Andrew J Medford  5
Affiliations

Innovative Approach to Sustainable Fertilizer Production: Leveraging Electrically Assisted Conversion of Sewage Sludge for Nutrient Recovery

Gerardine G Botte et al. ACS Omega. .

Abstract

Efforts addressing sludge management, food security, and resource recovery have led to novel approaches in these areas. Electrically assisted conversion of sludge stands out as a promising technology for sewage sludge valorization, producing nitrogen and phosphorus-based fertilizers. The adoption of this technology, which could lead to a fertilizer circular economy, holds the potential to catalyze a transformative change in wastewater treatment facilities toward process intensification, innovation, and sustainability. This paper provides insights into the economic aspects of the technology, policy considerations, and challenges involved in realizing the potential of electrified processes for sludge valorization. To demonstrate the impact of the technology, a case study for its implementation in the United States assuming the municipal wastewater treatment plants market is discussed. It was found that electrically assisted sludge conversion could enable the recovery of nitrogen and phosphorus from waste, representing up to 9% of the nitrogen and 32% of the phosphorus consumption of the U.S. for fertilizer use. This technology also enables full electrification and modularization of the process, thereby presenting significant economic and environmental opportunities.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare the following competing financial interest(s): Botte, G. G. is the inventor of the U.S. Pending Patent Application "Methods and Systems for the Electrocatalysis of Municipal Sludge and Biosolids", No. 63/506,601 (2023).

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Vision of the sludge electrolysis process integrated into a wastewater treatment facility. Products include nitrogen-based fertilizer (e.g., NH3), phosphorus base fertilizer (PBF), and an advanced soil amendment (CSC).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Revenue distribution scenario for an 18 MGD WWTP, processing 1 t solids/MGD, and a tipping fee of US$80 per t of wet sludge.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(A) Combined NPV sensitivity analysis. NPV for different operational cost scenarios, capital costs, and tipping fees (B). Combined IRR Sensitivity Analysis. IRR across various operational cost scenarios, capital costs, and tipping fees. Analysis assesses the impact of varying operational, capital, and tipping fees, with other factors fixed at midrange levels. Values in Supporting Information Data file S2.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Illustration of proposed complexity hierarchy to facilitate the development of process and atomistic models for electrocatalytic sludge conversion.
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