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Fertilizer Effect of Phosphorus Recycling Products

Author

Listed:
  • Wilhelm Römer

    (Department of Crop Sciences, Section Plant Nutrition and Crop Physiology, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Carl-Sprengel-Weg 1, 37075 Göttingen, Germany)

  • Bernd Steingrobe

    (Department of Crop Sciences, Section Plant Nutrition and Crop Physiology, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Carl-Sprengel-Weg 1, 37075 Göttingen, Germany)

Abstract

Between 2004 and 2011 the German Government funded 17 different projects to develop techniques of phosphorus recycling from wastewater, sewage sludges, and sewage sludge ashes. Several procedures had been tested, such as precipitation, adsorption, crystallization, nano-filtration, electro-dialysis, wet oxidation, pyrolysis, ion exchange, or bioleaching. From these techniques, 32 recycling products were tested by five different institutes for their agronomic efficiency, that is, their plant availability, mainly in pot experiments. This manuscript summarizes and compares these results to evaluate the suitability of different technical approaches to recycle P from wastes into applicable fertilizers. In total, 17 products of recycled sewage sludge ashes (SSA), one meat and bone meal ash, one sinter product of meat and bone meal, one cupola furnace slag, nine Ca phosphates from crystallization or from precipitation, Seaborne-Ca-phosphates, Seaborne-Mg-phosphate, and 3 different struvites were tested in comparison to controls with water soluble P, that is, either single super phosphate (SSP) or triple super phosphate (TSP). Sandy and loamy soils (pH: 4.7–6.8; CAL-P: 33–49 ppm) were used. The dominant test plant was maize. Phosphorus uptake from fertilizer was calculated by the P content of fertilized plants minus P content of unfertilized plants. Calculated uptake from all products was set in relation to uptake from water soluble P fertilizers (SSP or TSP) as a reference value (=100%). The following results were found: (1) plants took up less than 25% P in 65% of all SSA (15 products); (2) 6 products (26%) resulted in P uptake of 25 and 50% relatively to water soluble P. Only one Mg-P product resulted in an uptake of 67%. With cupola furnace slag, 24% P uptake was reached on sandy soil and nearly the same value as TSP on loamy soil. The uptake results of Ca phosphates were between 0 and 50%. Mg-P products from precipitation processes consistently showed a better P supply in relation to comparable Ca-P compounds. With struvite the same P uptake as for water soluble P was reached. The fertilizer effect of the tested P recycling products can clearly be differentiated: TSP = struvite > Mg-P = sinter-P > Ca-P, cupola-slag > thermally treated sewage sludge ashes > meat-and-bone meal ash = Fe-P.

Suggested Citation

  • Wilhelm Römer & Bernd Steingrobe, 2018. "Fertilizer Effect of Phosphorus Recycling Products," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-18, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:4:p:1166-:d:140868
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Mohammad A. T. Alsheyab & Sigrid Kusch-Brandt, 2018. "Potential Recovery Assessment of the Embodied Resources in Qatar’s Wastewater," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-16, August.
    2. Gerald Steiner & Bernhard Geissler, 2018. "Sustainable Mineral Resource Management—Insights into the Case of Phosphorus," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-8, August.
    3. 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.
    4. Marzena Smol & Michał Preisner & Augusto Bianchini & Jessica Rossi & Ludwig Hermann & Tanja Schaaf & Jolita Kruopienė & Kastytis Pamakštys & Maris Klavins & Ruta Ozola-Davidane & Daina Kalnina & Elina, 2020. "Strategies for Sustainable and Circular Management of Phosphorus in the Baltic Sea Region: The Holistic Approach of the InPhos Project," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-21, March.
    5. Raja, R. & Kumar, S., 2023. "Cupola slag as a green concrete-making material and its performance characteristics - A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    6. Inga-Mareike Bach & Lisa Essich & Andrea Bauerle & Torsten Müller, 2022. "Efficiency of Phosphorus Fertilizers Derived from Recycled Biogas Digestate as Applied to Maize and Ryegrass in Soils with Different pH," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-17, February.
    7. Inga-Mareike Bach & Lisa Essich & Torsten Müller, 2021. "Efficiency of Recycled Biogas Digestates as Phosphorus Fertilizers for Maize," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-21, June.
    8. Jolanta Latosińska & Przemysław Czapik, 2020. "The Ecological Risk Assessment and the Chemical Speciation of Heavy Metals in Ash after the Incineration of Municipal Sewage Sludge," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-14, August.

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