Research

Phosphorus Recovery from Sewage Sludge Biochar

Research Statement

Phosphorus is a non-renewable resource mined through phosphate rocks and is an important nutrient element for plants. Much of this nutrient ends up in municipal wastewater (MWW) and disposal of untreated nutrient rich wastewater causes eutrophication in water bodies. Therefore, there is urgent need to recover and reuse phosphorus from sewage treatment plants and protect the phosphate reserves for longer time.

Conventional wastewater treatment is based on the removal of pollutants from wastewater. Nutrient recovery from wastewater makes it sustainable and can also provides valuable products. In sewage treatment plants (STPs) having biological secondary treatment, majority of phosphorus (P) is assimilated in the secondary sludge. Recovering P from this sludge and reusing in agriculture will close the one way anthropogenic cycle of P from reserves to ocean and will contribute to circular economy.  

The aim of the research is to recover P from sewage sludge and make slow-release fertilizer to be used in agriculture.

Thesis Supervisor:

 Dr. Purnendu Bose  

Email: pbose@iitk.ac.in

Conferences

• Parween A., Bose P., “Phosphorus Recovery from Sewage Sludge Biochar with Potassium Modification”, European Biomass Conference & Exhibition (EUBCE) 2025, 09 – 12 June 2025, Valencia, Spain (Abstract No: W29082)

• Parween A., Bose P., “Phosphorus Recovery from Sewage Sludge Biochar”, PMRF Annual Symposium 2025, 16 – 17 March 2025, IIT Hyderabad

• Parween A., Bose P., “Pyrolysis of sewage sludge with potassium acetate to improve phosphorus recovery”, Advances in Sustainable Solutions for Energy Transitions (ASSET), 02 – 04 January 2025, IIT Guwahati (ID: 137)

• Parween A., Bose P., “Effect of Pyrolysis Temperature and Retention Time on Properties of Sewage Sludge Biochar”, National Environment Conference (NEC 2024), 15 – 17 February 2024 (Paper No 195)