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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Water
Sec. Water and Human Systems
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/frwa.2024.1367315
This article is part of the Research Topic Novel Ways for Sustainable Low Carbon Nutrient Removal or Recovery View all articles

Ammonia concentration and recovery in an up-scaled electrochemical cell through screening of cation exchange membrane

Seongmin Choi Seongmin Choi 1Wonjun Lee Wonjun Lee 2Hanwoong Kim Hanwoong Kim 1Gwangtaek Lee Gwangtaek Lee 3Changsoo Lee Changsoo Lee 1Dae-Yeol Cheong Dae-Yeol Cheong 4Won-Keun Son Won-Keun Son 5Kwiyong Kim Kwiyong Kim 1*
  • 1 Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Eonyang, Ulsan, Republic of Korea
  • 2 Jeju National University, Jeju City, Jeju, Republic of Korea
  • 3 Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
  • 4 Independent researcher, Seoul, Republic of Korea
  • 5 Independent researcher, Daejeon, Republic of Korea

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    An intensifying global alarm over excessive total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) calls for innovative recovery strategies. Although electrochemically-driven TAN concentration and recovery have been explored, limited research on upscaling lab-scale advancements with careful system engineering leaves a notable gap in practical application. Here, in the context of implementing an upscaled electrochemical system, we carefully chose a suitable cation exchange membrane to ensure the best ammonium migration, energy efficiency, and stability. Systematically examining the effects of applied current density and loading rate using Neosepta CSE, we achieved final concentrated TAN levels in the receiving catholyte, reaching 836.7 mM (4.4-fold), 778.8 mM (3.5fold), and 980.4 mM (2.8-fold), with nitrogen flux values of 801, 817, and 955 g-N m -2 d -1 for synthetic, food, and livestock wastewater, respectively, at a current density of 25 mA cm -2 and a loading rate of 2.5 mL cm -2 h -1 . Successful upscaling to an 8-cell stack, capable of treating 100 L every 20 hours (recovering 207 g-N d -1 ) of synthetic wastewater, showcases the feasibility of upscaled electrochemical systems for TAN recovery.

    Keywords: Ammonia, electrochemical concentration, Nutrient recovery, Cation exchange, upscaled electrochemical cell

    Received: 08 Jan 2024; Accepted: 15 Feb 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Choi, Lee, Kim, Lee, Lee, Cheong, Son and Kim. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Kwiyong Kim, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Eonyang, 689-798, Ulsan, Republic of Korea

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.