Effects of ionizing radiation on struvite crystallization of livestock wastewater

Livestock wastewater is generally very difficult to be treated by conventional wastewater treatment techniques because it contains high-strength organics (COD), ammonium (NH sub(4) super(+)), phosphate (PO sub(4) super(3-)) and suspended solids. Struvite crystallization has been recently studied for the simultaneous removal of NH sub(4) super(+) and PO sub(4) super(3-). In this study, gamma ray irradiation was carried out prior to struvite crystallization of the anaerobically digested livestock wastewater. The effects of gamma ray irradiation on the struvite crystallization of livestock wastewater were investigated. As a result, gamma ray irradiation can decrease the concentration of COD, NH sub(4) super(+) and PO sub(4) super(3-) contained in the livestock wastewater. This results in not only an enhancement of the struvite crystallization efficiency but also a decrease in the chemical demands for the struvite crystallization of livestock wastewater.