Red Mud as Adsorbent to Recover Phosphorous from Wastewater Streams

Viola Somogyi (), Viktória Pitás, Kinga M. Berta and Róbert Kurdi
Additional contact information
Viola Somogyi: Sustainability Solutions Research Laboratory, University of Pannonia, 8200 Veszprém, Hungary
Viktória Pitás: Sustainability Solutions Research Laboratory, University of Pannonia, 8200 Veszprém, Hungary
Kinga M. Berta: Sustainability Solutions Research Laboratory, University of Pannonia, 8200 Veszprém, Hungary
Róbert Kurdi: Sustainability Solutions Research Laboratory, University of Pannonia, 8200 Veszprém, Hungary

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 20, 1-15

Abstract: Background: Phosphorous (P) is an essential nutrient with finite and non-renewable resources; however, it can cause eutrophication in freshwater. The use or storage of red mud (RM), a by-product of alumina production with high iron and aluminium content, poses another environmental issue. Objective: This paper examines the possibility of P recovery from various wastewaters and landfill leachate with RM. Methods: Pulverized, on-site pre-treated red mud was used. Synthetic P solution, poultry wastewater effluent, the spiked effluent of a municipal wastewater treatment plant and landfill leachate were examined. Results and conclusions: Removal efficiencies of 0.41–1.24 mg P/mg RM for the wastewater effluents and 0.10–0.13 mg P/g RM for the leachate resulted in a decreased phosphorous concentration (0.02–0.57 mg P/L) for each liquid. Despite the doses being substantially higher than the stoichiometric value (103 mg P/g RM), the dosage increase did not result in a considerable cost increase. Further investigation is in progress to insert this solution into existing wastewater treatment technologies to facilitate excellent effluent quality and utilize the nutrient content of red mud.

Keywords: red mud; wastewater; landfill leachate; phosphorous recovery; adsorbent; secondary raw material (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/20/13202/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/20/13202/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:20:p:13202-:d:942234

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().