Projects

Summary

Phosphorus is a fundamental chemical element for living organisms with no known substitute. Currently, it is widely used as a fertilizer to increase soil nutrient content, reaching a point of potential scarcity. High agricultural phosphorus consumption has also made it a major source of water pollution. Its discharge, along with other nutrients such as nitrogen, causes eutrophication, a massive increase in nutrients in water bodies that triggers excessive algae and plant growth, lowering dissolved oxygen and killing fish while damaging aquatic ecosystems. Furthermore, phosphorus can precipitate uncontrollably in pipelines where concentrations are high, potentially causing blockages and economic issues in wastewater treatment plants. The Magnyfos project aims to design and develop a technological solution based on the use of magnesium by-products generated during the calcination of natural magnesite to efficiently and economically recover phosphorus from urban wastewater. This innovative approach contributes to reducing a significant source of water pollution while promoting the circular economy by valorising an abundant industrial by-product in Spain. The project has a total budget of approximately €697,000 and is part of the “Retos Colaboración” call of the Ministry of Science and Innovation, aimed at funding cooperative projects between companies and research organizations.

Objectives

The main goal of this project is to design, develop, and validate in a real environment a new technological solution that efficiently recovers phosphorus from urban wastewater while valorising industrial by-products with high magnesium content. This new technology will advance the modern concept of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) as resource recovery and valorisation hubs, managing not only wastewater but also industrial by-products.