Valorisation of Agricultural Digestate for the Ammonium Sulfate Recovery and Soil Improvers Production

Abstract

Abstract This work investigates an innovative process to valorise agricultural digestate by the exploitation of solar energy. Digestate has been located in a lab-scale greenhouse to evaporate the liquid phase. Digestate vapours, rich in ammonia, are sent in a Drechsler trap, filled with 38% w/w sulfuric acid solution, through three solar air fans. A concentration of about 2 M of ammonium sulphate solution was recovered. The remaining dried solid phase, rich in phosphorous compounds, was evaluated as alternative to the commercial fertilizers (46% P2O5) in the growth of maize plants. Equal amount of P was applied to each pot (25 mg/kg soil). The plants were evaluated along the 8 weeks in a greenhouse monitoring the growth parameters and leaf SPAD index, micro-, macronutrients and non-essential heavy metals. The results evidenced that the dried solid phase of digestate can be used as an alternative source of P. Graphic Abstract