Chemical Engineering Journal 451 (2023) 138789

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Chemical Engineering Journal

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Review

Up-concentration of nitrogen from domestic wastewater: A sustainable

strategy from removal to recovery
Yangjie Qin a, 1, Kaichong Wang b, 1, Qing Xia a, Siqi Yu a, Maonan Zhang a, Ying An a,
Xiaodan Zhao a, Zhen Zhou a, c, *
a
Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Energy - Saving in Heat Exchange Systems, College of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University of Electric
Power, Shanghai 200090, China
b
State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
c
Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai 200092, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Improving environmental quality and achieving a circular economy require developing wastewater resource
Domestic wastewater recovery facilities (WRRFs) under stringent discharge standards. As a sustainable alternative to control nitrog­
Nitrogen recovery enous pollution, nitrogen separation and recovery from wastewater is the bottleneck to break through in WRRFs
Up-concentration
and is critical to alleviating anthropogenic interference with the global nitrogen cycle. However, nitrogen from
Ion exchange
Energy
low-strength domestic wastewater (20–50 mg/L) is overlooked and requires up-concentration for adequate re­
Circular economy covery. This review overviewed the advances and significant challenges of current nitrogen removal and re­
covery methods. Then several nitrogen up-concentration technologies were summarized to clarify their working
location, technical performances, influential factors, and strategies for nitrogen recovery from concentrate. The
pretreatment and post-treatment technologies were reviewed and discussed to improve the adaptabilities of these
up-concentration technologies in WRRFs. Considering the coexistence of NH+ 4 with impurities or high salinity in
the up-concentration process, a novel workflow for nitrogen recovery by coupling up-concentration with a
targeted conversion process was proposed to reach the high up-concentration factor, satisfy stringent discharge
standards, and harvest valuable products. The results anticipated a possible effective and sustainable layout for
WRRFs via combining nitrogen up-concentration with carbon capture and phosphorus enrichment.

1. Introduction
Wastewater treatment not only fulfills its function of effective
pollutant removal, but also involves the recovery of reclaimed water,
resources, and energy. The wastewater collection and drainage system
can be traced back to ancient Rome and the Shang Dynasty [1], and
centralizes miscellaneous substances together, making pollutant
removal and resource recovery feasible. Organic pollutants were the first
concern of wastewater treatment. The introduction of the conventional
activated sludge (CAS) process in 1914 impels degradation and miner­
alization of organic matters benefiting society and the environment [2].
Since the 1970s, nitrogen and phosphorus have become primary targets
of domestic wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) because of eutro­
phication in waters [3]. Nitrogen in wastewater was emphasized since it
is more challenging than phosphorus [4], and nitrogen removal pro­
cesses were constantly evolving from traditional nitrification - denitri­
fication to mainstream anammox and advanced treatment [5]. However,
current processes for organics and nutrients removal are linear (i.e.
produce-consume-dispose) and unsustainable because they convert
reactive compounds, which were generated using energy via natural (e.
g., photosynthesis) or industrial processes (e.g., ammonia synthesis),
into nonreactive and nonpolluting forms [1,6]. Resource recovery from
wastewater within the constraint of discharge standards would change
current situation, and allow for a circular flow of nutrients, energy, and
water in the social cycle.
Domestic wastewater contains various chemical resources [7].
Methane has long been a common product for carbon recovery by
anaerobic treatment, generating benefits of 0.038 $/m3 domestic

* Corresponding author at: Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Energy - Saving in Heat Exchange Systems, College of Environmental and Chemical Engi­
neering, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai 200090, China.
E-mail address: zhouzhen@shiep.edu.cn (Z. Zhou).
1
Both authors contributed equally to this manuscript.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2022.138789
Received 6 June 2022; Received in revised form 7 August 2022; Accepted 22 August 2022
Available online 24 August 2022
1385-8947/© 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Y. Qin et al.
Fig. 1. Global nitrogen cycle including wastewater treatment. The diagram shows the main exchange between N2 and Nr in water, land, and the atmosphere. Among
them, nitrogen conversion in wastewater treatment is introduced in detail from the molecular perspective. The upward arrows show re-emissions to the atmosphere
by various processes and the red color indicates the anthropogenically disturbed pathway. All the data were obtained from Bodirsky, et al. [29], MacFarlane, et al.
[30] and Zhang, et al. [31].
wastewater [8,9]. Nitrogen is the second abundant resource and can be
extracted and employed in the agricultural, explosive, food, and chem­
ical industries [10], making a potential benefit (0.018–0.086 $/m3) [11]
comparable to carbon recovery. Some nitrogen recovery methods, such
as ammonia stripping and struvite precipitation, have been successfully
applied in high-strength wastewater [12,13]. However, these technol­
ogies are only feasible at a high NH+ 4 -N level of 2–3 g/L, and have an
outlet NH+ 4 -N concentration much higher than the discharge standard
[14]. Therefore, it is a challenge to meet the requirements of nitrogen
recovery and safe discharge simultaneously for WWTPs [4]. Addition­
ally, recovering nitrogen directly from domestic wastewater at a low
level (20–50 mg/L) will face the hindrances of applicable technologies.
The key points to construct wastewater nitrogen recovery systems
suitable for different scenarios include efficient nitrogen separation
from wastewater, and high-factor nitrogen up-concentration for
economical recovery. Grounded in achieving excellent nitrogen removal
to satisfy discharge standards, a promising approach for recovering ni­
trogen from domestic wastewater is to implement up-concentration in
the mainstream, and then recover nitrogen from the concentrate in the
side-stream.
The concept of up-concentration is to enrich the targeted substance
from dilute solutions without unwanted pollutants accumulation by
specific methods. The main objective of this review is to summarize
nitrogen up-concentration technologies to clarify their working loca­
tion, technical performances, influential factors, and strategies for ni­
trogen recovery from concentrate. The pretreatment and post-treatment
technologies were reviewed and discussed to improve the adaptabilities
of these up-concentration technologies. In this way, a novel workflow
for nitrogen recovery by coupling up-concentration with a targeted
conversion process was proposed. A possible effective and sustainable
layout for wastewater resource recovery was anticipated by combining
nitrogen up-concentration with carbon capture and phosphorus
enrichment.
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Chemical Engineering Journal 451 (2023) 138789
2. From removal to recovery
2.1. Nitrogen removal: Major challenges for current WWTPs
Conventionally, reactive nitrogen (Nr) in domestic wastewater was
converted into atmospheric nitrogen (N2 and N2O) through ammonifi­
cation, nitrification, and denitrification processes with various config­
urations. However, it was a common phenomenon that NH+ 4 -N and TN in
the effluent of WWTPs using the nitrification - denitrification method
exceeded the stringent standards enforced by many countries [15]
(Table S1), which will be tightened for water conservation areas and
sensitive areas facing eutrophication [16]. Upgrading nitrogen removal
to satisfy stringent discharge standards resulted in three significant
problems for WWTPs, including enlarged land occupancy, elevated
treatment cost, and increased carbon emission. The land occupancy of
WWTPs is required to prolong aerobic hydraulic retention time (HRT)
for good nitrification and to add posterior denitrification units for
adequate nitrogen removal [4]. These measures significantly increased
treatment cost because aeration for nitrification accounted for
50.0–60.0 % of the total process energy required [17,18], while the
external carbon sources demanded to improve denitrification accounted
for 74.6 % of the total chemical cost [4,19]. The elevated nitrogen
removal also has a severe impact on N2O production, with emission
factors varying from 2.0 to 8.0 % of TN removed [20]. N2O, the emis­
sions of which comprise 14.0–26.0 % of the overall carbon footprint of
WWTPs [14], has been focused due to its high global warming potential
of 265 and ozone-depleting property [21].
In recent years, newly developed nitrogen removal processes, such as
simultaneous nitrification and denitrification (SND), Sharon, and
anammox, have evolved as efficient and cost-effective alternatives to
conventional processes, and significantly reduced energy consumption,
chemical requirement, and sludge production of WWTPs [5,22]. Gran­
ular sludge system in SND and anammox processes has gained
Y. Qin et al. Chemical Engineering Journal 451 (2023) 138789

popularity in wastewater treatment [23]. Mainstream anammox is Table 1

proposed as a carbon- and energy-neutral technology for domestic The Composition and Application of Nitrogen Recovery Products from
wastewater treatment [24,25], and has been successfully applied in full- Wastewater.
scale WWTPs [22]. However, the dilute and highly variable character­ Recovered product Application prospect References
istics of domestic wastewater, combined with fluctuating temperatures Wastewater irrigation Nitrogenous fertilizer [37]
and stringent discharge standards, have restrained the application of the Ammonium Ammonium Feedstock in textile, plastic, [39,40]
mainstream process [26]. Moreover, the underlying mechanism of sulfate agriculture, and food processing
conventional and novel nitrogen removal processes remains unchanged, Ammonium Feedstock in agriculture, plastics, [41,42]
bicarbonate ceramics, and printing industries
namely consuming energy to produce N2 from Nr and subsequently
Struvite An ideal slow-release fertilizer [3,43]
generating Nr from N2 by the Haber-Bosch process [14,27]. These Nitrate Ammonium Nitrogenous fertilizer, oxidizer in [27]
technologies ignore the resource value of nitrogen and don’t dovetail nitrate gas generators and propellants
with the target of wastewater resource recovery. Current nitrogen con­ N2O Excellent oxygen aid, rocket [45]
version technologies aimed at removal could be integrated into the ni­ propellant, and medication for
anesthesia
trogen recovery system by adjusting targets and regulating Microalgae Bio-oil A renewable feedstock to product [46]
transformation pathways to produce valuable products like nitrate and energy, fuels, chemical and
N2O. Recovering nitrogen from domestic wastewater would allow for a carbon materials
circular flow of the nitrogen cycle, and the nitrogen in domestic Protein Animal feed, human food, [47]
medicine, cosmetics, and other
wastewater should be reexamined as a precious resource.
industries

2.2. Nitrogen resource: Domestic wastewater should be emphasized

Nature is an abundant nitrogen reservoir, with many natural trans­
mission pathways to form a systematic nitrogen cycle (Fig. 1). Nitrogen
plays a central role in human society, including in food, agriculture,
metallurgical industry, etc. [10,27]. Many natural pathways are
anthropogenically disturbed, and the mass of anthropogenic nitrogen
fixation (210 Tg/a) is now equivalent to the natural process (203 Tg/a).
Therefore, the massive increase in anthropogenic Nr flows and its
associated emissions to the environment are profoundly altering the
global biogeochemical nitrogen cycle. Among all global environmental
impacts, Nr is most severely exceeding the carrying capacity of the earth
(around 3 times), in which fertilizer use, livestock wastes and domestic
wastewater have primary responsibility for this [28]. A majority of the
Nr entering biosphere is in the form of ammonium produced by dint of
Haber-Bosch process, which is the predominant industrial way ac­
counting for about 1/3 of the global Nr production [28] and consumes
1–2 % of global energy [14].
The nitrogen contained in domestic wastewater is expected to in­
crease from 20 Tg/a in 2010 to 35 Tg/a in 2050 [29,30]. However, the
energy consumption of the “destructive” biological nitrogen removal
(12.2 kWh/kg N) is higher than the average energy for the Haber-Bosch
process dissipated (10.3 kWh/kg N) [14,18,27], and will continue to
increase along with the growing stringent discharge standards. There­
fore, the dissipative nitrogen removal in WWTPs is not a sustainable
pathway, and society with a nitrogen circular economy is needed for
promoting the sustainability of production and consumption patterns
[32]. Moreover, the Haber-Bosch process itself is optimized and is
reaching near thermodynamic process efficiencies, but its energy cost
has a huge surge owing to dramatic increases in energy price [28]. Thus,
for decreasing the social cost of Nr, the development of environmentally
and economically sustainable alternative to Nr removal and Haber-
Bosch Nr synthesis is urgent. Nitrogen recovery from domestic waste­
water is nothing new [33], but a fundamental challenge in the years
ahead will re-envision the role of nitrogenous resources embedded
within the circular economy [34]. The circular economy argues for a
resource-product-renewable resource paradigm that strives to maximize
resource recycling and to connect economic growth to finite resources.
Nitrogen has emerged as a particularly urgent case in the element-
specific circular economies that convert water pollutants into valuable
products [32]. Globally, nitrogen in domestic wastewater can provide
20.0–30.0 % of the ammonia currently produced by the Haber-Bosch
process [6]. The design of nitrogen recovery processes does not only
rely on the techno-economic feasibility and the environmental benefits.
Besides sharply increased requirements of nitrogen in some industries,
such as agriculture, the decisive aspects also include production mass/
volume, market value, product strengths, and purity [35,36]. In
resource-limited environments, the system for nitrogen recovery from
domestic wastewater can reduce energy consumption and CO2 emission
and offset the cost of nitrogen fertilizer production [3], contributing to
mitigating global warming and protecting natural biogeochemical cy­
cles [30].
2.3. Nitrogen recovery: Potential products considered in WWTPs
Wastewater irrigation is a traditional nitrogen recovery method that
contributes to soil accumulation of nitrogen to improve crop growth and
restore the function of desert sandy soil [37]. However, wastewater also
contains pathogens, heavy metals, and organic contaminants, and its
direct use in agriculture will cause severe environmental pollution [38].
On the other hand, the receiving capacity of farmland is dwarfed by the
abundance of domestic wastewater. Wastewater transportation is also a
critical limitation because large-scale WWTPs are usually located in
cities short of cropland. Therefore, recovering nitrogen from wastewater
in the form of nitrogenous resources attracted more attention.
Recovering nitrogen from domestic wastewater varies widely in its
technique, fundamental process, and product. Table 1 summarizes the
application and product characteristics of these nitrogen recovery
technologies. Nitrogen recovery as ammonium sulfate is the common
technology practically feasible for high-strength wastewater with
increased temperature [39,40]. Although effectively increasing plant
yield, ammonium sulfate only made up a minor portion of global fer­
tilizers [27]. Farmers and engineers prefer to use ammonium bicar­
bonate with higher cost performance in the actual market [41,42].
Struvite is an ideal slow-release fertilizer precipitated by equimolar
magnesium, phosphorus, and nitrogen [43]. Still, it is usually utilized for
phosphorus recovery instead because of the shortage of alkaline mag­
nesium and a high molar ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus in domestic
wastewater [7,44].
Nitrate [48] and N2O [49] are also potential forms of recovered ni­
trogen in addition to ammonium. Nitrate is the principal nitrogenous
species in the effluent of WWTPs, and thus its recovery is crucial in
meeting the stringent standards [50]. However, the proportion of ni­
trogen recovery here is relatively low (about 30.0 %) [4]. Additionally,
further testing is required for nitrate separation, operation stability, and
product acceptability in the market. As a sustainable energy source and a
powerful oxidant in hybrid rocket motors in the aerospace industry
[45,51], N2O is a product recovered by incomplete denitrification [52]
in a coupled aerobic-anoxic nitrous decomposition operation [49].
However, its systematic complexity and strict operational conditions
would lead to instability in N2O production and obstruct its wide
application in WWTPs [53].
Microalgae can be cultivated through wastewater by absorbing

3
Y. Qin et al. Chemical Engineering Journal 451 (2023) 138789

Fig. 2. Different nitrogen up-concentration technologies for domestic wastewater. The advantages of wastewater pretreatment, the influential factors of nitrogen up-
concentration, and the product of recovery are summarized in this diagram.

ammonium to biosynthesize amino acids and proteins [13] and is
extensively utilized as feedstock in many industries [46,54–56].
Microalgae-based processes (1.5–8.0 × 10− 3 kWh/m3) are energy-
saving compared with CAS processes (0.5 kWh/m3), but are recom­
mended as the secondary and tertiary wastewater treatment for their
commendable organic removal but ineffective nutrients removal [55].
Moreover, the high HRT applied in microalgae-based processes is usu­
ally more than one week, which requires vast land occupancy [54]. Last
but not least, microalgal biomass can absorb certain pollutants and
heavy metals, and the recovered biomass must be further refined to
ensure consistent and safe quality [27]. Orienting nitrogen recovery
towards high-value products will promote the construction of waste­
water resource recovery systems and improve nitrogen cycle load under
the social scale.

Table 2
Summary of Nitrogen Up-Concentration Technologies for Domestic Wastewater.
Process Material or technology Scale Ci UCF NRE Ce References
(mg/L) (%) (mg/L)

EAS concentration AM-AAO Full 27.2a – 14.9 8.0 [57]

Oxidation ditch Full 21.0a – 29.0 2.2 [58]
AAO Pilot 35.3a 3.0–8.1 – 14.2 [59]
Ion exchange and adsorption Resin Lab 16.5 8.5 37.5 – [33]
ZSM-5 Lab 38.4 – 90.0 3.5 [60]
Zeolite Pilot 26.7 20.0 93.7 1.2 [4]
Resin Lab 11.5 18.7 65.0 – [12]
Resin Lab 25.7 17.3–22.6 97.0 – [61]
33.4 5.6–11.0 96.5 –
Pressure-driven membrane RO Lab 40.0 3.8 95.0 0.5 [62]
RO Lab 32.5 3.8 97.0 0.8 [63]
RO Pilot 40.0 – 87.0 0.1 [64]
FO Lab 40.0 4.5–5.3 93.3 2.8 [65]
RO Lab 35.0 5.9 – – [66]
Electrodialysis ED Lab 100.0* 19.2 90.0 10.0 [48]
EDI Lab 15.0 12.0 90.0 – [67]
Capacitive deionization CDI Lab 18.2 – 49.8 6.7 [68]
CDI Lab 26.0 1.9 – – [69]
MCDI Lab 13.2 4.2 89.4 – [70]
FCDI Lab 20.0 20.0 81.9 2.6 [71]
FCDI Lab 42.5 3.5 62.5 10.5 [72]
FCDI Lab 43.0 6.1 – – [10]
Bio-electrochemical process MEC Lab 30.0 – 66.0 5.9 [73]
MEC Lab 50.0 2.4 36.5 16.0 [74]
MEC Lab 96.0 8.2 65.0 37.0 [75]
MEC Lab 84.0 5.8 26.3 – [76]
a
Note: 1) The “Ci” is calculated in NH+
4 -N except for the “*” for NO3-N and the “ ” for TN.
–

2) “AM-AAO” represents Anoxic Moving bed biofilm AAO reactor.

4
Y. Qin et al.
3. Nitrogen up-concentration technologies in domestic
wastewater treatment
Nitrogen up-concentration from domestic wastewater is crucial for
effective and economic recovery. Nitrogen up-concentration technolo­
gies in wastewater treatment can be categorized as excess activated
sludge (EAS) concentration, ion exchange and adsorption, pressure-
driven membrane, electrically-driven, and bio-electrochemical pro­
cesses. The wastewater pretreatment method is usually required to
ensure effectiveness, stability, and economic viability of the up-
concentration technology. Besides, the methods for nitrogen recovery
from the concentrate are divided into direct use, precipitation, crystal­
lization, stripping, and extraction [27]. The compatibilities of different
up-concentration technologies with recovery methods are illustrated in
Fig. 2.
By the up-concentration technology, nitrogen in the wastewater is
enriched into the concentrate (or regenerant for ion exchange). Some
technical parameters related should be defined first to exhibit the per­
formance of different technologies. The up-concentration factor (UCF) is
defined as Eq. (1).
UCF = Cu /Ci (1)
The nitrogen-enriched in the concentrate can be recovered as
nitrogenous products with nitrogen recovery efficiency (NRE) defined as
Eq. (2).
NRE = mN /Qi Ci (2)
where mN is the mass of the up-concentrated nitrogenous product, g/
d; Qi is the volume of the influent, m3/d. Table 2 summarizes the UCF,
characteristics of influent and effluent, and NRE of various up-
concentration technologies.
3.1. Excess activated sludge concentration
In CAS processes, nitrogen in wastewater will partly be accumulated
by activated sludge apart from being removed [77]. The nitrogen con­
tent in sludge was 40.8–60.3 g/kg dry matter [78,79], and ammonium
assimilation could be enhanced by integrating organic adsorption unit
with the anaerobic/anoxic/aerobic (AAO) process [80]. However,
limited by the biological assimilation, the captured nitrogen in EAS is
usually not high (14.9–29.0 %, Table 2). Direct utilization of sludge or
its digestive on land enables efficient utilization of nutrients for fertil­
ization and soil improvement [81]. However, land utilization of sludge
was not widely popularized due to the potential environmental damage,
the lack of social recognition, and the high transportation cost.
Generally, the discharged EAS is transported to post-treatment,
where anaerobic digestion (AD) is one of the commonly applied pro­
cesses for sludge stabilization [82]. During AD, nitrogen is significantly
re-solubilized through protein hydrolysis and fermentation, resulting in
a high UCF reject water with the NH+ 4 -N concentration up to 1 g/L when
the digested sludge is dewatered [83]. Some pretreatment methods,
including thermal hydrolysis [84] or freezing/thawing disintegration
[85], were applied to improve AD and synchronously increase NH+ 4 -N
release from sludge. Unfortunately, NH+ 4 -N is also one of the inhibitory
compounds in suppressing methanogenesis [86]. Therefore, these stra­
tegies were probably more suitable for post-treatment of digested sludge
than pretreatment. Sludge reject water, accounting for 10.0–30.0 % of
the nitrogen load to WWTPs [59,87], is generally recircled and mixed
with the influent for treatment, requiring a high energy consumption
(~12.5 kWh/kg N) for its low readily biodegradable organic matters and
C/N ratio [88,89]. Therefore, many efforts, including struvite precipi­
tation [90], stripping [91], bio-electrochemical system [83], and
membrane distillation [92], were intensively studied for recovering ni­
trogen from reject water.
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Chemical Engineering Journal 451 (2023) 138789
3.2. Ion exchange and adsorption
Ion exchange and adsorption refers to the separation of substances
through electrostatic attraction and other chemical bonds between ions,
which is suitable for and effective in swapping NH+ 4 from domestic
wastewater [61]. NH+ 4 is exchanged with cations between wastewater
and ion exchangers, and then concentrated in a small side-stream with
high UCF by suitable regeneration methods [33,93]. Based on a similar
theory, NO–3 can also be selectively enriched [94].
Various ion exchangers, including natural zeolite and its modifica­
tion [60,95], resins, and other materials [96,97] were popularly
researched in domestic wastewater treatment. Lahav and Green [98]
concentrated 40 mg/L NH+ 4 -N using zeolite, achieving a removal effi­
ciency of over 95.0 % and a UCF of 7.1 through sodium chloride
regeneration. Malekian, et al. [95] enriched NH+ 4 -N on natural Iranian
zeolite and found that the nitrogen-loaded zeolite had potential as a
controlled release fertilizer because NH+ 4 release was nearly complete
within 200 min. Resin is inferior to zeolite for NH+ 4 exchange because it
prefers high-valence ions while zeolite has the opposite preference
[93,97]. The adsorption effect is also related to the reaction time and
temperature [14], and decreased temperature increases the spontaneous
and exothermic process for NH+ 4 -N exchange [4]. The presence of metal
cations will compete with NH+ 4 for the available exchange sites and
lower its removal efficiency [33], which may need to increase the
regeneration frequency [14], add pretreatment processes [12], or apply
chemical strategies [99] for mitigating inhibition.
The regeneration of loaded ion exchangers usually obtained a
regenerant with 400–600 mg/L NH+ 4 , which is 8–20 times that of do­
mestic wastewater (Table 2), making ammonia stripping and crystalli­
zation adaptable [4]. NH+ 4 -N in regenerant can be recovered with
products varied depending on the used regenerant of salt, acids [100], or
lye [94]. If sulfuric acid is the regenerant, ammonium sulfate can be
directly produced [100]; if magnesium or phosphorus is present, struvite
recycling is an ideal option [4]; if N, P, and K are rich, ammonium po­
tassium phosphate fertilizer can be synthesized [94]. The result of life
cycle assessments revealed that ion exchange with nitrogen recovery is
an efficient and environmentally benign technology for WWTPs because
it can reduce 25.0 % of energy demand, 66.0 % of global warming po­
tential, and 62.0 % of marine eutrophication compared to CAS [101].
3.3. Pressure-driven membrane processes
Reverse osmosis (RO) and forward osmosis (FO) are typical pressure-
driven membrane technologies for nitrogen up-concentration from do­
mestic wastewater [62,65]. The membrane efficiency critically depends
on permeability and selectivity [44], and the trapped nitrogen is stored
in the concentrate for recovery. Bilstad [102] proved that RO concen­
trate for coagulated domestic wastewater was rich in NH+ 4 -N and could
be recovered as ammonium sulfate in a 10-month pilot test. Despite the
potential for nutrient recovery, there are still many limitations in current
pressure-driven membrane processes. The concentrations of Ca2+ and
bicarbonate significantly affect the cost of RO since these parameters
directly influence water hardness [103]. Feed solution pH resulted in
changes in salt rejection [104] because it was related to membrane
scaling and salt diffusion coefficients. Thus, acid is added together with
the coagulant to reduce the feed water pH, enhancing the coagulation
and preventing scaling formation [105]. In addition, the use of large
pore (>0.2 μm) membranes to reject multiple contaminants simulta­
neously has become technically and economically feasible in recent
decades [105].
Currently, RO for domestic wastewater can concentrate pollutants
with a UCF of 2.0–7.0 [62], while FO obtained a similar nitrogen UCF of
3–
4.7–5.3 [65]. The rich NH+ 4 and PO4 in the concentrate are indispens­
able materials for struvite generation, and their simultaneous recovery
can be realized by adding accessible and low-cost magnesium precipi­
tant [64] (Fig. 2). A more common treatment method is to pass
Y. Qin et al.
Fig. 3. Schematic representations of nitrogen up-concentration by (a) electrodialysis, (b) capacitive deionization, (c) microbial fuel cell and (d) microbial elec­
trolytic cell.
concentrate into the subsequent processes, such as ion exchange [33],
ED [106], or microalgae adsorption [107], for further up-concentration.
3.4. Electrically-driven processes
Nitrogen, which is usually in the cationic ammonium form in
wastewater [108], is more easily transferred and up-concentrated under
the electric drive. Electrically-driven processes can mitigate membrane
fouling compared to pressure-driven membrane processes because the
passive flow water, which is not filtered through the membranes,
elevated the tolerance of electrical processes to organic matters and
turbidities [109,110], and the representatives include electrodialysis
(ED), capacitive deionization (CDI), and bio-electrochemical processes.
3.4.1. Electrodialysis
In ED, the nitrogen up-concentration is achieved by voltage-driven
transportation of charged NH+ 4 or NO3 through ion exchange mem­
−
branes (Fig. 3a) [48,111]. Nitrate can be concentrated with UCF of
16–24 and NRE of about 80.0 % by ED [48]. The practice of ED in NH+
up-concentration from domestic wastewater is hampered by the accu­
mulation of calcium and magnesium scale on the IEMs [24]. However,
ED is widely applied in high-strength ammonium wastewater, such as
urine [112], digested swine manure [113], and reject water [114]. ED
concentrates, due to their high concentration and purity, can be stripped
or evaporated to obtain desired nitrogenous products. For example, the
dissolved NH3 concentrated in the cathode solution can be stripped and
absorbed by sulfuric acid to produce ammonium sulfate [112]. Bipolar
membrane ED, producing H+ and OH− by dissociating water when an
electric current is applied, does not require additional salts, so the purity
Chemical Engineering Journal 451 (2023) 138789
of recovered products is improved [3,115].
Concentration polarization and membrane fouling are the main
reasons for the degradation of ED performance for wastewater treat­
ment. Optimizing the process or changing the structure of ED is a
feasible improvement [113,116]. van Linden, et al. [115] applied dy­
namic current density to allow ions to diffuse on the surface of IEMs, but
concentration polarization still contributed to the NH+ 4 current effi­
ciency decreasing from 69.0 % to 54.0 %. anti-scaling or chemical
cleaning measures were usually employed to avoid membrane fouling;
moreover, changing the structure of ED is also a better strategy with the
advantage of economical and uninterruptible operation [116]. Rodri­
gues, et al. [117] developed cell pairs with only bipolar membranes and
cation exchange membranes for ammonium recovery, which could
reduce the use of anion exchange membranes and alleviate biological
fouling. An additional cell for Donnan dialysis introduced in ED could
delay calcium carbonate precipitation and extend the operation time
without interruption for cleaning, resulting in a high NRE of 83.0 % from
high-strength wastewater (1.0 g/L) with 9.7 kWh/kg N energy input
[116].
4
3.4.2. Capacitive deionization
In a typical CDI cell (Fig. 3b), ions in the solution are adsorbed and
immobilized in the porous electrode by charging, and then the captured
ions are desorbed from the electrodes and released into the concentrate
by discharging [72,118]. The main advantage of CDI to ED is the robust
performance and low energy consumption resulting from low cell volt­
ages [119], which makes it more economical for the up-concentration of
nitrogen at low concentrations. However, the nitrogen removal effi­
ciency of CDI is much lower than other electrically-driven processes
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Y. Qin et al.
(Table 2) because the CDI process does not have high selectivity for
targeted ions [68]. The selectivity of IEMs can prevent co-ions adsorbing
onto the electrodes and prohibit the mobility of unwanted ions [120].
Then, membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI) was proposed by
introducing IEMs in front of the electrode [118] to enhance ions capture
efficiency. MCDI could increase the nitrogen removal efficiency to 89.7
% at a low NH+ 4 -N concentration of 13.2 mg/L with a UCF of 4.17 [70].
Nevertheless, CDI and MCDI face the problem of limited total adsorption
capacity of the fixed electrode, requiring regeneration once electrodes
are saturated. Furthermore, their non-continuous operation requires
complicated control design and leads to the loss of solution in the pro­
cess of charge/discharge conversion [108,121].
The introduction of flow-electrode capacitive deionization (FCDI)
overcomes the limitations because of its infinite adsorption capacity due
to the continuous electrode regeneration [108]. Zhang, et al. [72] firstly
applied FCDI for nitrogen recovery because NH+ 4 was efficiently
enriched by electro-adsorption and then recovered by concomitant pH
increase. The selectivity for NH+ 4 toward other cations reached 11.4 in
this system [121]. By inserting a gas-permeable membrane into an FCDI
unit, the NRE reached 62.5 % for synthetic domestic wastewater [122].
Fang, et al. [71] also confirmed that FCDI could be employed to pre-
concentrate NH+ 4 from domestic wastewater with a UCF up to 20
(Table 2). The energy consumption of FCDI for ammonium recovery
from domestic wastewaters is 25.4 kWh/kg N, which is comparable to
other electrically-driven systems [122]. To obtain better NRE and lower
energy consumption, suitable electrode materials with good electrical
conductivity and desorption capacity should be developed [108]. For
commercialized applications, FCDI should be implemented on a larger
scale to assess their durability and cost-effectiveness for nitrogen
recovery.
3.4.3. Bio-electrochemical processes
Bio-electrochemical processes, including microbial fuel cell (MFC)
and microbial electrolytic cell (MEC), use the catalysis of microorgan­
isms attached to an anode and/or a cathode to promote NH+ 4 migration
under the current (Fig. 3c and 3d) [13,123,124]. MFC is a galvanic cell
system usually applied in nitrogen removal rather than recovery because
of its low UCF. Kuntke, et al. [125] showed that 31.0 % of NH+ 4 in urine
could be recovered at the highest current density. MEC applies the
electrochemical active biofilm to achieve simultaneous and effective
recovery of ammonium and energy [126]. As the accumulation of NH+ 4 are nontarget adsorption and biofouling, and the pretreatment tech­
in the cathode is up to 10 times that of the anode [127], MEC can pro­
vide higher UCF than MFC [75,93]. Because of the low strength, the
nitrogen in the concentrate of MEC should be further up-concentrated by
other technologies firstly, and then recovered as ammonium bicarbonate
[42] or ammonium sulfate [128] by evaporation due to its excellent
purity.
Except for current density, there are many factors affecting MEC
performance, including applied voltage, pH in cathode electrolyte, dis­
solved oxygen, and activity of electroactive bacteria. With the increase
of applied voltage, NRE of NH+ 4 increases from 21.4 % to 29.0 % for
domestic wastewater [73]. Sotres, et al. [129] found that under addi­
tional voltage and sodium chloride, 94.3 % of the nitrogen in pig slurry
could be concentrated by MEC. The increase of pH in the cathode
electrolyte promotes the conversion of NH+ 4 to NH3, improving the
mobility of NH+ 4 [127]. In gas recovery systems, pH can be adjusted to
12.0 and 6.7 for NH3 and N2, respectively [123]. In addition, slightly
higher dissolved oxygen (1–2 mg/L) could be reduced in the cathode
and result in an unstable biological anode potential, which greatly
hindered and even destroyed the performance of MEC [128]. The elec­
troactive bacteria and their metabolic characteristics are revealed to be
critical factors determining the conversion of oxidized nitrogen into
NH+ 4 , and the occurrence of the transformation is linked to the low
cathodic coulombic efficiency [127].
7
Chemical Engineering Journal 451 (2023) 138789
4. Discussions
4.1. Biological nitrogen up-concentration processes are ineffective
When talking about nitrogen recovery, its efficiency should be dis­
cussed together with nitrogen removal efficiency because the first and
foremost role of WWTPs is to protect the environment and public health.
Nitrogen could be captured and assimilated via activated sludge [80],
but most are still converted to N2 biologically. Increasing sludge yield
from 0.23 to 0.33 g MLVSS/g COD promoted microbial anabolism with
the nitrogen assimilation rate rising from 30.0 % to 38.0 % [80]. But
only 11.8 % of the nitrogen in sludge was ionized ammonium recover­
able by stripping [77]. In some carbon capture processes, organics were
separated for energy recovery by AD [17], where reject water rich in
NH+ 4 -N through ammonification can be obtained [130]. Owing to most
of the nitrogenous pollutants in wastewater being soluble [38], the
harvested nitrogen by carbon capture or biological assimilation is
negligible, and a substantial fraction of nitrogen is still lost. Thus, for
raising NRE, the treatment processes of WWTPs require redesign. Given
that the nitrogen conversion based on activated sludge is more mature
and effective, the coupling of abiotic nitrogen capture and biotic tar­
geted conversion is a prospective orientation deserving further research.
Microalgae is an economically sustainable and environmentally
friendly eco-technology for its bioeconomy in nutrients recovery and
CO2 capture [55]; however, it is hard to meet discharge standards for
current WWTPs [131]. Meanwhile, microalgae growth is inhibited by
high organic loading [55] or low temperature, which also decreases the
selectivity of microalgae to nitrate [13]. The major limitations of
microalgae technology remain the land requirement and its availability
[54]. The intensification of urban land use is a common global trend
[132], and microalgae are advantageous for treating wastewater in rural
areas with low population density, which can provide plenty of cheap
lands for large-scale cultivation [133]. Extracting nitrogen in the bio-oil
to produce protein or amino acid concentrate has a good development
prospect [46,56,134].
4.2. Suitable pretreatment and post-treatment processes for nitrogen up-
concentration
Important challenges in using nitrogen up-concentration strategies
nologies shown in Fig. 2, such as high rate activated sludge (HRAS),
chemically enhanced primary treatment (CEPT), and membrane-based
pretreatment processes, are required for the removal of colloids and
suspended solids [4]. Low aeration requirement and short HRT to sub­
stantially remove organic matters through adsorption rather than
mineralization is the vital feature of HRAS systems, which usually pro­
duces an organically rich EAS for AD and preserves ammonium [17].
Qiang, et al. [135] placed ammonium ion exchange posterior to an
HRAS process, achieving stable and efficient nitrogen capture from
domestic wastewater. CEPT is an efficient and sustainable technology to
enrich non-soluble fractions and phosphorus into sludge with reduced
CO2 emissions [17,33]. Wang, et al. [136] proposed an emerging
wastewater treatment system by using CEPT as the pretreatment to
maintain the stability of the downstream nitrogen up-concentration
unit. Membrane-based pretreatment can be divided into direct mem­
brane filtration (microfiltration or ultrafiltration) and anaerobic mem­
brane bioreactors (MBR), which are recommended to recover organic
matters from domestic wastewater [62,137]. The membrane-based
pretreatment can efficiently separate organic matters from domestic
wastewater, ensuring good permeate quality for further treatment by
nitrogen up-concentration [33]. Lim, et al. [8] used an anaerobic MBR
and a coagulation-sedimentation unit as the pretreatment of ammonium
ion exchange, achieving holistic wastewater treatment and resources
recovery. The sludge separated by CEPT or direct membrane filtration
was further treated by AD to produce biogas containing methane [17].
Y. Qin et al. Chemical Engineering Journal 451 (2023) 138789

25 100 4.3. Is a multi-stage strategy effective for high-factor nitrogen up-

UCF NRE concentration?

20 80 For nitrogen up-concentration from domestic wastewater, three as­

pects need to be considered, namely, low effluent concentration to
achieve stringent discharge and elevate the economy of nitrogen re­

NRE (%)
15 60 covery, high UCF to ensure the applicability of nitrogen recovery tech­
UCF

nologies, and robust performance to adapt to complex wastewater

10 40
5 20
EAS IEA RO ED CDI MEC
Fig. 4. The range of UCF and NRE of different nitrogen up-concentration
technologies (IEA: ion exchange and adsorption).
At the same time, anaerobic pretreatment for domestic wastewater
could capture more than 90.0 % of organics [9], rendering a promising
vision toward carbon neutrality in WWTPs. Future investigations should
be conducted to explore the performance change of ammonium sepa­
ration and up-concentration system for pretreated wastewater during
long-term operation and to clarify the interaction mechanism between
wastewater components and ammonium separation materials. Appro­
priate fouling control strategies, such as microfiltration to remove fine
particles, ultrafiltration to control organic fouling, and softening to
prevent scaling [62,97], should be advanced to propel the application of
ammonium separation and up-concentration technology for actual
wastewater treatment.
The post-treatment for nitrogen up-concentration should be consid­
ered to satisfy relevant discharge standards. CEPT coupled ammonium
ion exchange could remove particulate, phosphorus, and nitrogenous
pollutants effectively; however, the soluble COD must be removed by
biological units, such as biological aerated filter [136] or MBR [138]. As
for HRAS and membrane-based pretreatment [139], phosphorus could
be captured via coagulation-sedimentation or ion exchange before or
after nitrogen up-concentration units [8,140]. Ion exchange can achieve
the selective nitrogen up-concentration, making a concentrate with
relatively homogeneous ions [135]; however, the concentrate compo­
sitions generated from pressure-driven and electrically-driven processes
are more complex [141,142]. Especially, the RO concentrate contains
high concentrations of nutrients, heavy metals, and harmful organic
compounds, and such technologies as advanced oxidation and biological
processes should be applied after nitrogen recovery to allow its
discharge into the water bodies [141].
characteristics. As shown in Table 2, ion exchange and pressure-driven
membrane processes achieved good effluent quality with nitrogen
level below 5 mg/L, while electrically-driven processes usually obtained
effluent nitrogen level above 6 mg/L. The UCF and NRE of these tech­
nologies are summarized in Fig. 4. For the ion exchange and adsorption
process, the UCF has a large and unstable span, depending upon various
factors, including regenerant volume, nitrogen release performance of
the materials, and the applied regeneration strategy. The ion exchange
used zeolites and pressure-driven membrane processes both kept the
NRE steadily more than 90.0 %. In contrast, for the electrically-driven
processes, only ED and the advanced CDI obtained NRE above 80.0 %.
Unfortunately, the direct up-concentration of nitrogen from domestic
wastewater is hard to satisfy the nitrogen concentration needed for re­
covery [14].
Theoretically, multi-stage nitrogen up-concentration processes are
expected to overcome the defects of different technologies. Fig. 4 visu­
ally provides the basis for the assumption of multi-stage processes,
which will be integrated into two or more units to improve nitrogen up-
concentration performance limited by the characteristics of domestic
wastewater. A possible treatment is to use ion exchange, RO or FCDI
firstly, and then convey the ammonium-rich concentrate into subse­
quent units such as ED [106] for further up-concentration. The strategy
of multi-stage up-concentration will enable first-stage technology to
achieve stringent discharge standards and high NRE, and overcome the
drawback of low conductivity in domestic wastewater [143]. The
second-stage technology should have good UCF and low energy con­
sumption to elevate nitrogen concentration further. For ammonium-rich
wastewater with high conductivity, ED can theoretically concentrate
NH+ 4 -N to about 56000 mg/L [24]. However, the technically feasible
multi-stage up-concentration process is not economically viable because
NH+ 4 in the first-stage concentrate usually coexisted with impurities (for
RO) or high salinity (for ion exchange), which dissipates massive energy
for their up-concentration or removal. Therefore, energy should be a
focus for nitrogen up-concentration from wastewater beyond nitrogen
itself.
4.4. Cost-benefit analysis for nitrogen up-concentration and recovery
The conventional social cycle of nitrogen via ammonia synthesis and
wastewater nitrogen removal by nitrification - denitrification is
employed as a reference standard to estimate the economic feasibility of
nitrogen up-concentration and recovery. The global average energy
requirement for the Haber-Bosch process is 10.3 kWh/kg N [27], and the

Table 3
Energy Consumption and Product value for Ammonia Synthesis (Including Wastewater Nitrogen Removal) and Proposed Nitrogen Recovery from Wastewater.
Process Product Energy consumption Product value Net profit References
(kWh/kg N) (kWh/kg N) (kWh/kg N)

Ammonia synthesis + Nitrification - denitrification NH3 22.5 13.1 − 9.4 [14,18,27]

nitrogen removal Sharon - anammox NH3 11.7 13.1 +1.4

Nitrogen recovery from IE - ED - Stripping - MVR - (NH4)2SO4 44.1 13.8 − 30.3 [4,18,112,145,147,150]
wastewater Crystallization
IE - Nitrification - ED - MVR - NaNO3 22.5 37.7 +15.2
Crystallization

Note: 1. IE - ion exchange; MVR - mechanical vapor recompression.

2. The detailed calculation procedure of energy consumption refers to Text S2 and Table S2.
3. The product values of NH3, (NH4)2SO4 and NaNO3 were obtained from the https://www.made-in-china.com/, and converted into the unit “kWh/kg N”.

8
Y. Qin et al.
Fig. 5. A process layout for full resources recovery in domestic WWTPs.
development of sustainable alternatives is expected to decrease the re­
quirements to 9.1 kWh/kg N [144]. For nitrogen removal from domestic
wastewater, the average power requirement for the conventional nitri­
fication - denitrification process is typically 5.6 kWh/kg N [18]. Equally
important, organic carbon consumed in denitrification is equivalent to
11.0 kWh/kg N, and the dissipative energy is about 6.6 kWh/kg N
considering the realistic energy recovery from organic carbon of 59 % in
the form of biomethane [14]. Therefore, the sum of energy requirements
for the Haber-Bosch process and dissipative energy for nitrification -
denitrification is 22.5 kWh/kg N, and the conventional social cycle is not
cost-effective (-9.4 kWh/kg N) considering the product value of NH3
(Table 3). Wastewater nitrogen removal via Sharon - anammox is ex­
pected to turn a profit (+1.4 kWh/kg N), but its adaptation and stability
in domestic wastewater require further study.
Recovering nitrogen from wastewater consumes energy and chem­
icals for up-concentration and harvest from concentrate to produce
nitrogenous products, the benefits of which should be considered in the
cost-benefit analysis. Taking the proposed two-stage process above as an
example, first-stage up-concentration by ion exchange can concentrate
NH+ 4 -N to ~600 mg/L (regenerate by NaCl of 20 g/L), and second-stage
up-concentration by ED achieves a concentration of ~1300 mg/L,
requiring energy of 3.8 and 30.6 kWh/kg N, respectively (Table S2)
[4,145]. If NH+ 4 in the concentrate from ED is recovered as ammonium
sulfate by air stripping, the total energy consumption is more than twice
the reference standard (Table 3), suggesting that direct up-concentration
and recovery of nitrogen is infeasible (− 30.3 kWh/kg N) compared to
conventional social cycle. It is because most of the energy consumed by
ED is dissipated since the concentration of Na+ in the feed solution is
much higher than that of NH+ 4 . Besides, the homocharge of Na and NH4
+ +
impeded the sustained regeneration of ion exchangers.
Converting NH+ 4 in the first-stage concentrate to free state (NH3),
gaseous form (N2O or even N2), or negative charge (NO–3 or NO–2) is a
problem-solving strategy, and it is also hopeful of achieving cyclic up-
concentration via coupling regeneration with nitrogen conversion. An,
et al. [146] reported that coupling ion exchange with side-stream
nitrification, Na+ below 10 g/L had less significant adverse effects on
the ammonium conversion efficiency, and De Paepe, et al. [147] ob­
tained a concentrate with NO–3-N accumulation of 1477 mg/L from a 40
% urine solution. Recovering nitrogen as nitrate is probably more
profitable because of its high economic value compared to ammonia or
9
Chemical Engineering Journal 451 (2023) 138789
ammonium product. Thus, an ion exchange - side-stream nitrification -
ED process can be designed to recover nitrogen from wastewater as
sodium nitrate, with energy consumption comparable to the reference
standard considering the electricity and sodium carbonate (as alkalinity)
requirement for nitrification (Table S2). Considering the price variance
between sodium nitrate and ammonia, the proposed process is profitable
(+15.2 kWh/kg N) with solid sodium nitrate as the final product. During
long-term operation, membrane fouling of ED may increase energy
consumption to 1.6–2.8 times [148]. Considering this additional energy
consumption, the profit of the proposed process decreased to +
(13.2–14.5) kWh/kg N, still much higher than the Haber-Bosch process.
In addition, the solid recovered product is convenient to transport;
therefore, the transportation energy accounts for a small portion of the
total energy consumption because half of the recoverable nitrogen is co-
located with cropland-dominant areas globally [149]. Therefore,
coupling nitrogen targeted conversion with up-concentration is a
promising strategy for energy-efficient nitrogen recovery from waste­
water, and has the potential to put forward the transition of wastewater
systems from pollutants removal to resource recovery.
5. Conclusions and future perspectives
Nowadays, the traditional WWTPs are turning to wastewater
resource recovery facilities, which will awake the revolution of the
whole wastewater treatment industry. Nitrogen recovery is essential for
lessening nitrogenous pollutants discharge, reducing energy consump­
tion in nitrogen removal and Nr synthesis, and providing various
products for industrial or agricultural applications. However, nitrogen
recovery methods successfully applied in high-strength wastewater
faced many challenges when directly applied to domestic wastewater. In
this study, we have highlighted the nitrogen up-concentration technol­
ogies in domestic wastewater, which bridged the gap between removal
and recovery. For these approaches to become attractive and viable al­
ternatives, a crucial factor will be the development and coupling of
pretreatment and post-treatment technologies to construct more robust
and reliable processes than current practice or other emerging biotic
nitrogen removal technologies. Although the technologies for nitrogen
up-concentration have improved in recent years, future endeavors are
highly desired in the following aspects.
Y. Qin et al.
(1) Ion exchangers with larger capacity, higher selectivity, and better
reusability need to be developed, and new polymer-based mate­
rials suggest more efficient alternatives to natural ones. The po­
tential for polymer-based ion exchangers is driven by their
versatile and tunable molecular properties that can impart a
range of adsorbent properties such as physical rigidity and/or
flexibility, stimulus-response, and affinity to or rejection of spe­
cific molecules [14]. With the successful development of material
science as fundamental resolutions, the development of tailored
ion exchangers is promising.
(2) The membrane-based up-concentration provides a chemical-free
alternative to producing ammonium-rich solutions from domes­
tic wastewater. Although the surveys have provided proof of
concept, more effort is required to improve the UCF and the
selectivity toward ammonium. Moreover, fouling and scaling by
competitive ions are the crucial bottlenecks for its practical
implementation in domestic wastewater. The development of
membrane materials with more excellent anti-fouling capability
is an urgent need to maintain its long-term stability.
(3) More promising processes should be encouraged, and the focus of
wastewater treatment will be moved from mainstream to side-
stream for the sustainability and stability of nitrogen up-
concentration technologies. Coupling nitrogen up-concentration
with a targeted conversion strategy provides the possibility of
economic nitrogen recovery. The effective coupling and coordi­
nated regulation methods for multiple nitrogen up-concentration
and targeted conversion processes should be intensively studied.
(4) Given abundant resources in domestic wastewater, we envisaged
a complete resources recovery diagram for recovering such
valuable products as methane, high-purity nitrogenous products,
and struvite based on nitrogen up-concentration (Fig. 5), which
can effectively help WWTPs to achieve carbon neutrality in the
new era.
(5) To successfully implement nitrogen recovery and achieve a cir­
cular economy, the cost-benefit analysis must be done to help
WWTPs have confidence in potential resource recovery in­
vestments. High-value product-oriented nitrogen conversion
pathway should be designed to enhance the economic merit of
nitrogen recovery from wastewater. More importantly, the com­
mercial models in resource circular economy must consider the
view of stakeholders and the consumers.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Data availability
No data was used for the research described in the article.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of
China (51878403), Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai
Municipality of China (19DZ1204502), and Shuguang Plan of Shanghai
(19SG49).
Appendix A. . Supplementary data
The following are the Supplementary data to this article:
Appendix B. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.
10
Chemical Engineering Journal 451 (2023) 138789
org/10.1016/j.cej.2022.138789.
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