Nitrogen and phosphorus removal from kitchen waste biogas slurry by ZnCl<sub>2</sub>-modified biogas residue biochar in FCDI

SUN Huimin; WU Yubiao; HUANG Shengjie; ZHANG Xuedong

doi:10.13205/j.hjgc.202605021

Volume 44 Issue 5

May 2026

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SUN Huimin, WU Yubiao, HUANG Shengjie, ZHANG Xuedong. Nitrogen and phosphorus removal from kitchen waste biogas slurry by ZnCl2-modified biogas residue biochar in FCDI[J]. ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING , 2026, 44(5): 205-214. doi: 10.13205/j.hjgc.202605021

Citation:

SUN Huimin, WU Yubiao, HUANG Shengjie, ZHANG Xuedong. Nitrogen and phosphorus removal from kitchen waste biogas slurry by ZnCl₂-modified biogas residue biochar in FCDI[J]. ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING , 2026, 44(5): 205-214. doi: 10.13205/j.hjgc.202605021

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Nitrogen and phosphorus removal from kitchen waste biogas slurry by ZnCl₂-modified biogas residue biochar in FCDI

doi: 10.13205/j.hjgc.202605021

1. School of Environment and Ecology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China;
2. Pen Yao Environmental Protection Company, Yixin 214214, China

Received Date: 2025-05-06
Available Online: 2026-06-06

Abstract

Abstract

The digestate of anaerobic digestion of food waste can be separated into residues and filtrate. The filtrate still contains a high content of nutrients and carbon， making it a feasible resource for utilization. The pyrolysis of the residues into biochar for secondary use has gained widespread attention. This study prepared biochar from food waste digestate as an electrode active material for the flow-electrode capacitive deionization （FCDI） system， and investigated its nitrogen and phosporus removal performance， with activated carbon as a control group. The results showed that biochar modified with zinc chloride significantly improved its surface area， adsorption properties， capacitance， and resistance. The optimal mass fraction of the modified biochar in the electrode liquid was 7.5%， and the removal efficiencies of NH₄⁺-N and reactive phosphorus （RP） in the simulated digestate were 47.7% and 55.2%， respectively， when the FCDI system ran for 12 h. The results indicated the performances of the FCDI systems with activated carbon， modified biochar in nitrogen and phosphorus removal were evidently better than the system with unmodified biochar. The continuous operation of the FCDI system with digestate filtrate derived from anaerobic digestion of food waste showed the highest removal efficiencies of NH₄⁺-N and RP at 32.2% and 26.2%， respectively， which were poorer than that of the system with simulated digestate filtrate. The undermined performance might be related to the presence of peptides and amino acids in the actual digestate， which were prone to block the ion-exchange membrane channels and increase resistance， subsequently mitigating ion transfer， charge transport， and reducing the deionization performance of the FCDI system.
- flow-electrode capacitive deionization （FCDI） system,
- co-existing anions,
- kitchen waste biogas slurry,
- ammonia,
- phosphorus

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References(37)

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