RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article T1 Effect of acid flow rate, membrane surface area, and capture solution on the effectiveness of suspended GPM systems to recover ammonia A1 Soto Herranz, María A1 Sánchez Báscones, Mercedes A1 Antolín Rodríguez, Juan Manuel A1 Vanotti, Matias A1 Martín Ramos, Pablo K1 Acid flow rate K1 Ammonia capture solution K1 Gas-permeable membrane K1 Mass flow K1 Surface area K1 Suspended system K1 31 Ciencias Agrarias K1 3106 Ciencia Forestal AB Ammonia losses from manure pose serious problems for ecosystems and human and animal health. Gas-permeable membranes (GPMs) constitute a promising approach to address the challenge of reducing farm ammonia emissions and to attain the EU’s Clean Air Package goals. In this study, the effect of NH3-N concentration, membrane surface area, acid flux, and type of capture solution on ammonia recovery was investigated for a suspended GPM system through three experiments, in which ammonia was released from a synthetic solution (NH4Cl + NaHCO3 + allylthiourea). The effect of two surface areas (81.7 and 163.4 cm2) was first evaluated using three different synthetic N emitting concentrations (3000, 6000, and 12,000 mg NH3-N∙L−1) and keeping the flow of acidic solution (1N H2SO4) constant (0.8 L·h−1). A direct relationship was found between the amount of NH3 captured and the NH3-N concentration in the N-emitting solution, and between the amount of NH3 captured and the membrane surface area at the two lowest concentrations. Nonetheless, the use of a larger membrane surface barely improved ammonia capture at the highest concentration, pointing to the existence of other limiting factors. Hence, ammonia capture was then studied using different acid flow rates (0.8, 1.3, 1.6, and 2.1 L∙h−1) at a fixed N emitting concentration of 6000 mg NH3-N∙L−1 and a surface area of 122.5 cm2. A higher acid flow rate (0.8–2.1 L∙h−1) resulted in a substantial increase in ammonia absorption, from 165 to 262 mg of NH3∙d−1 over a 14-day period. Taking the parameters that led to the best results in experiments 1 and 2, different types of ammonia capture solutions (H2SO4, water and carbonated water) were finally compared under refrigeration conditions (at 2 °C). A high NH3 recovery (81% in 7 days), comparable to that obtained with the H2SO4 solution (88%), was attained when chilled water was used as the capture solution. The presented results point to the need to carefully optimize the emitter concentration, flow rate, and type of capture solution to maximize the effectiveness of suspended GPM systems, and suggest that chilled water may be used as an alternative to conventional acidic solutions, with associated savings. PB MDPI SN 2077-0375 YR 2021 FD 2021 LK https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/59464 UL https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/59464 LA eng NO Membranes, 2021, Vol. 11, Nº. 7, 538 NO Producción Científica DS UVaDOC RD 03-jun-2024