
Dr Oliver Crossley
Academic and research departments
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Department of Chemical and Process Engineering.My research project
Removal and recovery of inorganic components from hydrothermal carbonisation process water
This project is funded by Antaco.
Supervisors
My publications
Publications
This study investigates the recovery of phosphorus from the process water obtained through hydrothermal carbonisation (HTC) of a ‘wet’ biomass waste, namely spent coffee grounds. HTC was shown to liberate more than 82% of the total phosphorus in the grounds in the form of dissolved ortho-phosphate. Nanofiltration was used to concentrate the inorganic nutrients of the HTC process water, achieving a mass concentration factor of 3.9 times. The natural stoichiometry of phosphorus, magnesium and ammoniacal nitrogen in the nanofiltration retentate was favourable for struvite precipitation. 92.8% of aqueous phosphorus was recovered as struvite through simple pH adjustment, yielding a total phosphorus recovery of 75% from the feedstock spent coffee grounds.