Effluent Phosphate Recovery & Recycling

The world faces two problems due to the longstanding practice of using phosphorus-containing materials as fertilizer: finite supply and growing pollution. Both are concerns for individuals, corporations, and other organizations focusing on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors to ensure a sustainable future.This report will outline the contours of the phosphorus problem, and some possible solutions, for the benefit of managers of incineration plants and other facilities processing sewage sludge.It will highlight a key solution set: recovery and recycling of phosphate from sewage, as well as from other effluents such as biogas fermentation residues. It will then focus on analytical technologies such as energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF) and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP- OES) analyzers.The most advanced models utilizing these techniques can provide easy, efficient measurement — of concentrations of phosphorus, heavy metals, and other elements — at crucial points in the phosphorus recovery/recycling process.