Issue 56, 2021

Membrane technologies in toilet urine treatment for toilet urine resource utilization: a review

Abstract

Membrane technologies have broad potential in methods for separating, collecting, storing, and utilizing urine collected from toilets. Recovering urine from toilets for resource utilization instead of treating it in a sewage treatment plant not only reduces extra energy consumption for the degradation of N and P but also saves energy in chemical fertilizer production, which will contribute to carbon emission reduction of 12.19–17.82 kg kgN−1 in terms of N alone. Due to its high efficiency in terms of volume reduction, water recycling, nutrient recovery, and pollutant removal, membrane technology is a promising technology for resource utilization from urine collected from toilets. In this review, we divide membrane technologies for resource utilization from urine collected from toilets into four categories based on the driving force: external pressure-driven membrane technology, vapor pressure-driven membrane technology, chemical potential-driven membrane technology, and electric field-driven membrane technology. These technologies influence factors such as: recovery targets and mechanisms, reaction condition optimization, and process efficiency, and these are all discussed in this review. Finally, a toilet with source-separation is suggested. In the future, membrane technology research should focus on the practical application of source-separation toilets, membrane fouling prevention, and energy consumption evaluation. This review may provide theoretical support for the resource utilization of urine collected from toilets that is based on membrane technology.

Graphical abstract: Membrane technologies in toilet urine treatment for toilet urine resource utilization: a review

Associated articles

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
31 Jūl. 2021
Accepted
12 Okt. 2021
First published
03 Nov. 2021
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

RSC Adv., 2021,11, 35525-35535

Membrane technologies in toilet urine treatment for toilet urine resource utilization: a review

C. Yu, W. Yin, Z. Yu, J. Chen, R. Huang and X. Zhou, RSC Adv., 2021, 11, 35525 DOI: 10.1039/D1RA05816A

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