Scientists develop a method to turn hazardous acidic industrial wastewater into valuable resources
The process reducing the volume of wastewater by 90%
Advertisement
A research team of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev environmental scientists has developed a circular process for eliminating the risk posed by phosphoric acid plant wastewater. The process turns the environmentally toxic wastewater into clean water while recovering valuable acids. Phosphoric acid is the main ingredient in industrial fertilizers, a massive industry worldwide.

Symbolic image
Unsplash
Their method was just published in ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering. Lior Monat, a PhD student in Dr. Oded Nir's lab led the research under his supervision.
"Phosphoric acid production generates a lot of industrial wastewater that cannot be treated efficiently because of its low pH and high precipitation potential," explains Dr. Oded Nir, the co-lead researcher, "Today, the wastewater is usually stored in evaporation ponds. However, these are prone to breaches, leakage, and flooding. Only a few years ago, an ecological disaster in Israel occurred when millions of cubic meters of this acidic wastewater were flushed down a creek. Conventional treatment processes run into difficulties dealing with the acidity, salinity, and hardness of the wastewater. Therefore, we developed an alternative three-step process for the treatment of phosphoric acid wastewater comprised of selective electrodialysis, reverse osmosis, and neutralization."
The team evaluated the method with synthetic wastewater in the lab, with positive results. The process successfully recovered clean water and phosphate while reducing the volume of wastewater by 90%. It also did not generate any appreciable mineral scaling, which could muck up the membranes.
Moreover, the power requirement for the process was also low enough it would seem that the method would be sustainable and techno-economically viable.
"This process is very promising, and we encourage industry players to examine its potential and applicability at their factories," says Dr. Roy Bernstein, co-lead researcher.
Original publication
Other news from the department science

Get the chemical industry in your inbox
By submitting this form you agree that LUMITOS AG will send you the newsletter(s) selected above by email. Your data will not be passed on to third parties. Your data will be stored and processed in accordance with our data protection regulations. LUMITOS may contact you by email for the purpose of advertising or market and opinion surveys. You can revoke your consent at any time without giving reasons to LUMITOS AG, Ernst-Augustin-Str. 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany or by e-mail at revoke@lumitos.com with effect for the future. In addition, each email contains a link to unsubscribe from the corresponding newsletter.
Most read news
More news from our other portals
Last viewed contents

Engineers discover key barrier to longer-lasting batteries - University of Texas at Dallas researchers have discovered why LiNiO2 batteries break down
BioAmber Wins ICIS Innovation Award for Best Business Innovation
'Topological insulators' promising for spintronics, quantum computers
Schering-Plough Completes Acquisition of Most NeoGenesis' Assets

Start-up Entrepreneurs Want to Make Chemical Industry More Sustainable
Innovation Award 2009: Cognis recognizes employees for groundbreaking thinking

Researchers produce polymers from ballbot-type carbenes for the first time - Researchers have produced long-chain mobile polymers on metallic surfaces, doing so by means of ballbot-type molecules which glide over the surface

Novel insulators with conducting edges
