Intensified Enrichment and Leaching Strategy of Phosphorus in Sewage Sludge via Species-Targeted Conversion.

Wet-chemical method for extracting phosphorus (P) from sludge incineration ash suffers from great P loss in the incineration and P-leaching stages due to the multidirectional migration of diversified P species. Existing single-process optimizations are difficult to meet the diverse and often conflicting needs of the two upstream and downstream processes to recover different P species. Herein, we developed a system-oriented strategy, HyperPhosⓅ, to synergistically address multiprocess requirements. It employs a specially designed one-pot pretreatment to create a unique reaction window for the most recoverable Fe/Al-P, achieving the targeted transformation of unstable P species into homogeneous Fe/Al-orthophosphate of 85.6% in proportion. These compounds exhibited remarkable thermal stability during incineration, with volatilization loss of only 60% of conventional technical route (Conv-Tech) even at 1000 °C. Subsequently, these parts of P were completely leached out using H2C2O4 or NaOH through redox reaction and chelating displacement, with the solvent concentration and the codissolution amounts of heavy metals less than half of the mean levels in the literature. Techno-economic analysis showed that HyperPhosⓅ obtained 1.1-2.4 times more P than Conv-Tech, while the unit cost was reduced by up to 49.5%. These findings provide new opportunities to close the P-cycle in a sustainable, economical, and environmentally friendly approach.