Strategies for the recovery of nutrients and metals from anaerobically digested dairy farm sludge using cross-flow microfiltration.

This work reports on the recovery of nutrients and metals from anaerobically digested manure sludge using a pilot scale microfiltration membrane system. Soluble nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and metals are valuable commodities which exist in high concentration in anaerobically digested manure sludge. The typical disposal of sludge on farmland can cause serious harm to the ecosystem due to eutrophication. The recovery of these materials in clarified solutions represents an added value product and a less contaminated sludge that is environmentally less hazardous. The objective of this study was to investigate the recovery of nutrients and metals using a pilot scale cross-flow membrane filtration system. A ceramic membrane of 0.22 m(2) and 0.2 μm pore size was used to perform solid-liquid separations and soluble materials were recovered in particle and bacteria free solutions. Strategies such as batch diafiltration (DF) and acid pre-treatment were investigated and the fractions collected compared against the initial permeate containing 686.2 mg NH3-N L(-1) and 41.51 mg PO4-P L(-1). Clarified fractions obtained through DF with no acid pre-treatment yielded N:P ratios of around 30 and relatively low levels of P (364.24 mg NH3-N L(-1) and 25.60 mg PO4-P L(-1)) and metals. Acid pre-treatment of the sludge resulted in a two-fold increase of P extracted (271.11 mg NH3-N L(-1) and 71.60 mg PO4-P L(-1)), altering N:P ratios to 8. Depending on the metal species, a 2-9 fold increase in concentration was also observed. Thus it has been demonstrated that different treatment strategies influence the removal and recovery of nutrients and metals from sludge. The best treatment conditions therefore depend on the targeted materials to be recovered. By careful manipulation of the treatment processes the production of specific nutrient compositions in terms of N:P ratios is possible.