• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Sciences Society Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.517-521
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• 2008

Struvite의 최적 생성조건은 NH$_4$-N의 초기농도에 관계없이 모두 NH$_4^+$, PO$_4^{3-}$ 및 Mg$^{2+}$가 등몰비이고 pH 10.5이었다. Struvite 침전반응에서 NH$_4$-N 및 PO$_4$-P 제거율에 미치는 struvite seeding 효과는 습윤상태의 struvite를 seeding할 경우 그 효과가 거의 없었으나 건조된 struvite를 seeding할 경우 NH$_4$-N의 제거율은 증가되지만 PO$_4$-P의 제거율은 감소되는 경향을 나타냈다. 이는 건조과정에서 struvite의 NH$_4$-N가 휘산되어 소실되었기 때문이다. Mg와 P원으로서 struvite의 재이용을 위한 적정 건조온도는 100$^{\circ}C$ 이하였으며 그 이상 온도에서는 struvite가 $NH_4MgPO_4\cdot6H_2O$형에서 MgPO$_4$형으로 상전이점에 따라 struvite seeding에 의한 NE$_4$-N의 제거율이 현저히 감소되었다. 건조된 struvite는 초기 NH$_4$-N의 몰농도 대비 50%를 seeding할 경우 60% 이상의 NH$_4$-N를 제거하였으며, seeding량을 150%로 증가시킬 경우 90% 이상의 NH$_4$-N 제거율을 얻을 수 있었다. 그러나 struvite를 반복 재사용할 경우 재사용 횟수에 비례하여 NH$_4$-N의 제거율은 감소하는 경향을 보여 재사용 횟수가 제한적임을 알 수 있었다.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.29-35
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• 2016

This study evaluated the fertilizing value of struvite deposit recovered from swine wastewater in cultivating lettuce. Struvite deposit was compared to complex fertilizer, organic fertilizer and compost to evaluate the fertilizing effect of struvite deposit. Laboratory pot test showed that the struvite deposit better enhanced lettuce growth in comparison to commercial fertilizers. It was revealed that the growth rate of lettuce was simultaneously controlled by phosphorus (P) and magnesium (Mg). Moreover, nutrients such as nitrogen (N), P, K, calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) were abundantly observed in the vegetable tissue of struvite pot. Meanwhile, struvite application led to the lower accumulation of mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), chromium ($Cr^{6+}$) and nickel (Ni). In addition, no detection of cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As) and nickel (Ni) in the lettuce tissue was observed in struvite application pots. The experimental results proved that the optimum struvite dosage for lettuce cultivation was 0.5 g struvite/kg soil. The column experiments clearly showed that ammonia nitrogen was more slowly released from struvite deposit than from complex fertilizer. Consequently, it was concluded that the struvite deposits recovered from swine wastewater were effective as a multi-nutrient fertilizer for lettuce cultivation.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.15-20
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• 2019

The recovery of struvite using nitrogen and phosphorus in wastewaters is useful for prevention of eutrophication and use as fertilizer, but there are theoretical and technical issues to be resolved. Through the detailed literature review, this study discusses the possible reasonable prediction of struvite formation reaction by setting a feasible reaction equation with some theoretical considerations. In a technical aspect, the purity of struvite in solid precipitates can be promoted by excluding Ca in an effective way. As for the struvite reaction prediction issue, selection of proper equilibrium reaction as well as its reaction equilibrium coefficient is significant in the neutral and basic pH regions. The equilibrium reaction agrees well with the experimental batch test results. Considering the charge balance of the ions, the pH drop along struvite formation in a diluted solution can be predicted. Also, improvement of struvite purity through elimination of Ca can be expected by providing a highly concentrated ${NH_4}^+-N$ relative to ${HPO_4}^{2-}-P$ because ${NH_4}^+$ can enhance the thermodynamic driving force toward favorable struvite formation. Even though the phosphate reacts rapidly with Ca to form a solid precipitate, the thermodynamic driving force due to the high ${NH_4}^+$ activity can dissociate the phosphate-calcium precipitates and produce struvite.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.1253-1264
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• 2015

This study assessed the fertilizing value of struvite deposit recovered from swine wastewater in cultivating Chinese cabbage. Struvite deposit was compared with commercial fertilizers: complex, organic and compost to evaluate the fertilizing effect of struvite deposit. Laboratory pot test obviously presented that the struvite deposit more facilitated the growth of Chinese cabbage than organic and compost fertilizers even though complex fertilizer was the most effective in growing Chinese cabbage. It was revealed that the growth rate of Chinese cabbage was simultaneously controlled by phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). Also, the nutrients such as nitrogen (N), P, K, calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) were abundantly observed in the vegetable tissue of struvite pot. Specifically, P was the most abundant component in the vegetable tissue of struvite pot. Meanwhile, the utilization of struvite as a fertilizer led to the lower accumulation of chromium ($Cr^{6+}$) than other pots, except for compost fertilizer pots, and no detection of cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As) and nickel (Ni) in the Chinese cabbage. The experimental results proved that the optimum struvite dosage for the cultivation of Chinese cabbage was 2.0 g struvite/kg soil. On the basis of these findings, it was concluded that the struvite deposits recovered from swine wastewater were effective as a multi-nutrient fertilizer for Chinese cabbage cultivation.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.69-72
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• 2015

This study was performed to differentiate calcium oxalate and struvite canine urinary stones using computed tomography. A total of 38 urinary stones (8 calcium oxalate and 30 struvite) were scanned using a computed tomography scanner. These urinary stones (10-15 mm diameter) extracted surgically without fragmentation were obtained from the different individual patients. The stone's Hounsfield units(HU) values, heterogenicity, and roughness of surface were evaluated to differentiate calcium oxalate and struvite. The HU values of calcium oxalate were significantly higher than those of struvite. A receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve revealed 1272 as the best threshold value to distinguish calcium oxalate from struvite (ROC curve AUC 0.87, p < 0.0014). The heterogenicity of calcium oxalate and struvite significantly differed on bone and dental window setting (p < 0.0001). There was no significant difference between calcium oxalate and struvite in roughness of surface. On computed tomographic images, bone and dental windows setting were useful for evaluation of heterogenicity between calcium oxalate and struvite. The HU value and heterogenicity are highly promising factor that can distinguish calcium oxalate and struvite with reasonable accuracy.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.730-737
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• 2010

It is very important to remove fluoride ion before treating semiconductor wastewater containing high concentration of ammonia, phosphates, and fluoride ions by struvite formation. Calcium ion was generally added for the removal of fluoride ion. However, calcium ions remained after removal of fluoride ion can deteriorate the performance of struvite crystalization. It should be removed completely before struvite formation. In this study, the effect of fluoride and calcium ion concentration on the struvite crystalization was investigated. Removal efficiencies of ortho-phosphate with struvite formation were more abruptly decreased than those of ammonium nitrogen, as increase of fluoride ion concentration in synthetic wastewater. The structures of struvite formed in synthetic wastewater containing calcium ion of up to 500 mg/L were identical. Purity of struvite was deteriorated as increase of calcium ion over 500 mg/L. Removal efficiencies of ammonium nitrogen were more decreased than those of phosphate ions as increase of cacium ion in synthetic wastewater.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.207-212
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• 2008

This study focused on shorten the period of the struvite crystal birth and development by adding seed materials. For this purpose, three different seed materials were selected: sand, anthracite and struvite. The experiments has been conducted to evaluate the effect of the particle size of the selected seed material on the struvite crystallization, and to study the mixing effect which can be expressed by the value of $G{\cdot}t_d$(the multiple of mean velocity gradient(G) and mixing time($t_d$)). It was observed in this study that the removal efficiency of ammonia nitrogen increased by 9%, 11%, and 20% for sand, anthracite, and struvite added as the seed material, respectivley. This indicated that the struvite crystallization efficiency had a close correlation with the specific surface area of the seed particle. It was found that when struvite was selected as the seed material, the struvite crystallization proceeded at lower $G{\cdot}t_d$ value as compared with other seed materials. This observation implied that the secondary crystal birth would be dominated in this reaction. It was concluded in this study that the particle size was not significant factor on the struvite crystallization, while the $G{\cdot}t_d$ value was a considerably important factor in terms of the theory of the struvite crystal birth.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.39 no.8
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• pp.462-469
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• 2017

Eutrophication and shortage of phosphate ore raise the necessity of phosphate removal and recovery from wastewater treatment plants. Especially, a sludge treatment system containing highly concentrated phosphate should be targeted for phosphate removal and recovery. This study thus aimed to evaluate the capability of the struvite crystallization process for phosphate removal and recovery from a sludge treatment system of a wastewater treatment plant. Analysis on phosphate concentrations and masses in the sludge treatment system revealed that digested sludge and centrate have phosphate concentrations and masses, high enough to adopt the struvite crystallization process. Chemical equilibrium modeling indicated that the struvite crystallization reaction substantially occurred with pH higher than 8 and $Mg^{2+}$ concentration 1.2 times higher than its theoretical requirement. A series of batch tests with digested sludge and centrate indicated that the phosphate removal reaction by struvite crystallization followed a first-order kinetics and reached over 80% removal efficiency at equilibrium. Aeration in the batch tests was found to purge $CO_2$ in sludge or centrate and increase pH up to 8.7, without adding NaOH. Thus, we concluded that the struvite crystallization process could be an efficient and economical process for phosphate removal and recovery from a wastewater treatment plant.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.875-884
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• 2003

Operational parameters for struvite crystallization, as a process to recover nitrogen and phosphorus resources from animal wastewater, were studied in this research. Crystallization distinctive of NH$_4$-N and PO$_4$$^{3-}$ in accordance to chemical sources, influent pH, aeration and stirring was examined using 2L of working volume of struvite reactor. Also, to find an effective treatment process combining with electrolysis method, removal characteristics of NH$_4$-N and PO$_4$$^{3-}$ in 6 different processes was tested. As chemical sources for the derivation of struvite formation, MgSO$_4$ and MgCl$_2$ were superior to CaCO$_3$ and CaCl$_2$. From experiment which was conducted to know the effects of aeration and stirring on struvite formation, it was revealed that aeration stimulated the crystallization reaction by inducing faster pH increase. While 90% of P removal was achieved within 1 hour under aeration, 14 hours was consumed under stirring condition. Struvite formation under aeration was affected by influent pH. No crystallization was observed at pH 5 level, but active crystallization reaction was induced over pH 6.0. 95% of P removal by struvite formation at pH 6, 7 and 9 was achieved within 3h, 2h and 10 min., respectively. However, over pH 10, operational problem due to excessive foam formation occurred, and blunting of crystallization reaction was observed at pH 11. When consider the pH range of animal wastewater, pH 7 to 9, efficient struvite formation could be achieved by simple aeration, without any chemical usage for pH adjustment. Among tested processes, the treatment process which electrolyzing the supernatant from struvite reactor, providing air to both reactors, showed best pollutant removal efficiencies. In this combined process, the removal efficiencies of NH$_4$-N and PO$_4$$^{3-}$ was 86% and 98%, respectively, and 92.4% of color removal was obtained.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.32 no.9
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• pp.879-886
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• 2010

This study investigated the removal characteristics of highly concentrated $NH_4$-N and $PO_4$-P by struvite crystallization using converter slag as a seed crystal. The optimal pH range for removal and recovery of $NH_4$-N and $PO_4$-P by struvite crystallization was measured to be 8.0~8.75, in which total removal efficiencies for $NH_4$-N and $PO_4$-P by struvite precipitation and crystallization were 34.3~61.0% and 91.0~96.2%, respectively. The maximum removal efficiencies for $NH_4$-N and $PO_4$-P by struvite crystallization were 29.4% at pH 8.5 and 65.1% at pH 8.0, respectively. The removal efficiency of $NH_4$-N by struvite crystallization decreased with increasing calcium ion concentration. The analysis results of SEM, EDS and XRD exhibited that $NH_4$-N and $PO_4$-P in meta-stable region of struvite crystallization could be eliminated through formation of magnesium ammonia phosphate (MAP) and hydroxyapatite (HAp) on seed crystals by struvite precipitation and crystallization.