A hybrid oxidation approach for converting high-strength urine ammonia into ammonium nitrate

Abstract

Nutrient resources contained in human urine have great potential to alleviate global agricultural fertilizer demand. Microbial nitrification is a recognized strategy for stabilizing urine ammonia into ammonium nitrate, a common fertilizer worldwide, but faces a core bottleneck of process instability due to microbial inhibition. This study reports a new approach by developing a hybrid oxidation process involving three stages—microbial ammonia oxidation, chemical nitrite oxidation and microbial nitrite oxidation. Candidatus Nitrosoglobus, a γ-proteobacterial ammonia oxidizer highly tolerant to free nitrous acid, was introduced in the first stage to oxidize half of the total ammonia in the influent (8 g NH₄⁺-N/L) to nitrite. The nitrite was then chemically oxidized by using hydrogen peroxide via a rapid chemical reaction to form nitrate. The third stage, microbial nitrite oxidation, was employed to ensure the complete removal of residual nitrite following chemical oxidation. The overall concept demonstrated in this work showcased the robust performance of the hybrid system. Moreover, the system also had a dual advantage in achieving antimicrobial ability in the first and second stages, making treated urine a safe fertilizer.