Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2016NJ384B

Toward a greener water reuse technology with ferrate(VI) - phosphorus removal and recovery

Institute: New Jersey
Year Established: 2016 Start Date: 2016-03-01 End Date: 2017-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $5,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $10,400

Principal Investigators: Lei Zheng, Yang Deng

Project Summary: Ferrate(VI), an emerging, green water treatment agent, is able to simultaneously remove multiple pollutants such as pathogens, micro-pollutants and phosphorus (P) from treated wastewater for water reuse. However, the mechanistic information on ferrate(VI) reaction with P is extremely limited. Consequently, ferrate(VI) is not optimally employed. Moreover, the P recovery from ferrate(VI)-induced iron phosphorus precipitates remains challenging, restricting the sustainable development of ferrate(VI) for water reuse industries. This project aims 1) to advance fundamental understanding of ferrate(VI) removal of P from treated wastewater, and 2) to evaluate the technical feasibility of P recovery from ferrate(VI)-induced Fe-P sludge, with an emphasis on water reuse. To achieve this goal, a one-year, two-phase research plan is proposed. In the first phase (Task 1-2), stoichiometric and kinetic tests for ferrate(VI) removal of P are performed in distilled water and municipal biologically treated wastewater, separately. A broad range of analytical techniques are used to determine characteristics and species of the produced Fe-P precipitates. Results, in comparison with the data from control tests using Fe(III), will provide key information regarding performance and mechanisms of ferrate(VI) reaction with P. In the following phase, the release of P from the FeP precipitates produced under different treatment conditions will be evaluated to determine whether the P recovery is technically feasible. Undoubtedly, this project will improve the current ferrate(VI) application for water reuse, and also develop new approaches to recover a non-renewable resource from undesirable byproducts during ferrate(VI) application, thereby encouraging development of a greener water reuse technology with ferrate(VI).