Multi-scale techno-economic assessment of nitrogen recovery systems for livestock operations.

[EN]Intensive livestock farming generates vast amounts of organic materials, which are an important source of nitrogen releases. These anthropogenic nitrogen releases contribute to multiple environmental problems, including eutrophication of water systems, contamination of drinking water sources, an...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Martín-Hernández, Edgar, Montero-Rueda, Clara, Ruiz-Mercado, Gerardo J., Vaneeckhaute, Céline, Martín Martín, Mariano
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión enviada para evaluación y publicación
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Salamanca (USAL)
Repositorio:GREDOS. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Salamanca
OAI Identifier:oai:gredos.usal.es:10366/156587
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10366/156587
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Organic Waste
Nitrogen Recovery
Nutrient Pollution
Livestock Industry
Techno-economic assessment
Chemical Processes
3303.11 Química Industrial
procesos químicos
Descripción
Sumario:[EN]Intensive livestock farming generates vast amounts of organic materials, which are an important source of nitrogen releases. These anthropogenic nitrogen releases contribute to multiple environmental problems, including eutrophication of water systems, contamination of drinking water sources, and greenhouse gas emissions. Nitrogen recovery and recycling are technically feasible, and there exists a number of processes for nitrogen recovery from livestock material in the form of different products. In this work, a multi-scale techno-economic assessment of techniques for nitrogen recovery and recycling is performed. The assessment includes a material flow analysis of each process, from material collection to final treatment, to determine nitrogen recovery efficiency, losses, and recovery cost, as well as an environmental cost-benefit analysis to compare the nitrogen recovery cost versus the economic losses derived from its uncontrolled release into the environment. The results show that transmembrane chemisorption process results in the lowest recovery cost, 3.4-10.4 USD per kilogram of nitrogen recovered in the range of studied processing scales. The recovery of nitrogen from livestock material through three technologies, i.e., transmembrane chemisorption, MAPHEX, and stripping in packed bed, reveales to be cost-effective. Since the economic losses due to the harmful effects of nitrogen into the environment are estimated at 32-35 USD per kilogram of nitrogen released, nitrogen recycling is an environmentally and economically beneficial approach to reduce nutrient pollution caused by livestock operations.