Environmental Technology & Innovation 28 (2022) 102841

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Environmental Technology & Innovation

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/eti

Potash recovery from synthetic potassium rich wastewater

and biomethanated distillery effluent using tartaric acid as a
recyclable precipitant
∗
Inderjeet Khatri, Anurag Garg
Environmental Science and Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, 400076, India

article info a b s t r a c t

Article history: Potassium is one to the essential elements for plant and animal life due to its vital
Received 31 March 2022 nutritional roles. Globally, more than 95% of the potassium chemicals is utilized as
Received in revised form 15 July 2022 fertilizer. Due to shortage of land and vulnerability to climatic conditions, potash
Accepted 17 July 2022
production through conventional evaporation process seems difficult in long run. Hence,
Available online 23 July 2022
its recovery from the potassium rich industrial effluents such as biomethanated spent
Keywords: wash (BMSW), can be an attractive option. In the present study, tartaric acid (a recyclable
Biomethanated distillery spent wash precipitant) was used for potash recovery from potassium rich synthetic wastewater
Potash recovery (PWW) and BMSW (potassium concentration = 19.5 g/L and 14.8 g/L, respectively). At
Selective extraction an optimum solution pH of 3.5, more than 70% of the total potassium was precipitated
Tartaric acid regeneration out as potassium bitartrate (KHT) from PWW with the stoichiometric tartaric acid dose
(1M). Subsequently, the tartaric acid was regenerated by converting KHT into potassium
nitrate (KNO3 ). Around 77% potassium could be converted into KNO3 using Mg(OH)2 and
HNO3 with 80% regeneration of tartaric acid. Under similar conditions, ∼70% potassium
precipitation with 62% color removal could be achieved from the BMSW stream. Based
on the results, it can be suggested that the selective extraction using tartaric acid has
high potential for potash recovery from waste streams. A detailed study should focus
on the optimization of conditions for recovery of potassium from real effluent and its
purity in the residue should be verified. In addition, suitable conditions for regeneration
of tartaric acid should also be obtained.
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC
BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

1. Introduction

Potassium and nitrogen are the two essential elements for plant growth. Potassium containing salts (i.e., potash) are
widely used as fertilizer the examples of which are potassium carbonate (K2 CO3 ), potassium chloride (KCl), potassium
sulfate (K2 SO4 ) and potassium nitrate (KNO3 ) (Hasanuzzaman et al., 2018). Initially potash recovery used to be done by
leaching plant ash in metal pots. Currently, potash is originated either from dried/evaporated sea beds, solution mining or
sea bittern. The extracted raw material from the above sources is subjected to processing for purification and evaporation
which requires large land area and it is vulnerable to climate change (Garrett, 2012). Therefore, potassium recovery from
the liquid waste streams containing large amount of the element can be a good option (Maiti et al., 2020) which not
only will reduce the reliance on natural resources but also promote circular economy concept. Generally, the untreated
spent wash (SW) and biomethanated SW (BMSW) are disposed over land due to the presence of high amount of nutrients

∗ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: a.garg@iitb.ac.in (A. Garg).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eti.2022.102841
2352-1864/© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/4.0/).
I. Khatri and A. Garg Environmental Technology & Innovation 28 (2022) 102841

(N, P and K) (Yadav et al., 2010). BMSW contains potassium in the range of 1.7–20 g/l (Kaur et al., 2017; Maiti et al.,
2020). However, agricultural land irrigated using SW has been found to contain Pb concentration in range of 2–200 ppm
(Srivastava and Jain, 2010) and its presence in food chain is not desirable in high concentrations. Apart from this, the
presence of organic compounds in high concentration also pose grave risk to land and water resources. Hence, an effort
was made to recover potassium from synthetic wastewater and BMSW using a suitable extractant identified from the
literature.
Selective extraction of metals using chelating agents is widely used method for metal recovery. Aminopolycarboxylates
like ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) are commonly used chelating
agents for metal removal in different sectors (Pinto et al., 2014). However, these agents have low biodegradability and
remain in the environment for long time which can result in serious environmental issues. Hence, some chemicals such
as nitrilotriacetic acid, ethylenediaminedisuccinic acid, and iminodisuccinic acid were recommended as replacement to
the non-biodegradable chelating agents (Pinto et al., 2014). Other laboratory studies reported that low molecular weight
organic acids could solubilize different metals through complexation reactions (Liao and Xie, 2004; Wu et al., 2003). Wasay
et al. (1998) compared the extraction potential of 12 different organic ligands, including 10 different organic acids and
two chelating agents for heavy metals in laboratory-scale batch and column experimental study. The performance of citric
acid and tartaric acid (H2 T) for removal of heavy metals from contaminated soils was comparable to that of EDTA and
DTPA (Asemave, 2018; Wasay et al., 2001, 1998). In another study, Ghara et al. (2014) reported production of potassium
salt from sea bittern using tartaric acid as a precipitant.
In a study, Whitaker (1921) investigated the recovery of potassium compounds from distillery effluent using hexaflu-
orosilicic acid (H2 SiF6 ). However, the use of H2 SiF6 can put additional load on remediation of potassium depleted BMSW
due to fluoride contamination. In another study, Jacob and Hakon (1952) developed a method for potassium extraction
from sea water using dipicryl amine. Due to the hazardous nature of the extractant, commercial application of the process
is considered difficult. Paul et al. (2012) developed an integrated process for the recovery of sulfate salt of potash from
sulfate rich bittern. However, this process depends on evaporation of intermediate streams for production of potassium
salt which exerts demand of large land area.
Maiti et al. (2020) developed potash recovery process from the acid pre-treated BMSW (final pH = 1.5) via selective
precipitation using tartaric acid as precipitant. The acidified BMSW was treated with tartaric acid and potassium bitartrate
(KHT) formed during the reaction was separated out. In the next step, tartrate was precipitated out using Mg(OH)2 and
Ca(OH)2 and potash (KNO3 ) remained in the liquor. Eventually, potash was obtained in solid form after subjecting the
liquor to evaporation process. After potash recovery, a relatively better quality effluent was generated. Hence, the selective
extraction of potassium with tartaric acid may offer a practical and implementable alternative. Moreover, the chemical is
relatively inexpensive and easily biodegradable than EDTA and DTPA.
Scanty literature could be found on potash recovery using selective extraction process with tartaric acid and its
regeneration. Hence, an investigation is needed to examine potential of tartaric acid and its regeneration potential for
potassium rich wastewater streams.
In the view of existing literature, potash recovery from the potassium rich synthetic wastewater (PWW) and BMSW
was planned by selective extraction method using tartaric acid as the recyclable precipitant. The effects of pH, co-ions
(Na+ , Ca2+ and Mg2+ ), tartaric acid dose and precipitation time were investigated on potassium precipitation from the
PWW. Subsequently, the recovery of potassium from BMSW was studied at the optimum conditions obtained for PWW.
Finally, an effort was made to regenerate tartaric acid from the precipitant.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Materials

L-(+)-Tartaric acid (ACS grade, purity ≥ 99.5%) was used as precipitant for potassium (K+ ) recovery from PWW and
BMSW. The chemicals such as CaCl2 , KCl, NaCl, NaOH, MgCl2 , Mg(OH)2 , H2 SO4 and HNO3 , were purchased from Merck
Chemicals, Mumbai, India. The PWW (1 M) was prepared by dissolving suitable amount of KCl in deionized water whereas
BMSW was obtained from a molasses-based distillery situated near Pune, Maharashtra, India.

2.2. Methods

2.2.1. Potassium recovery as KHT using tartaric acid from synthetic and real wastewater
2.2.1.1. Potassium rich synthetic wastewater (PWW).
pH effect
For potassium bitartrate (KHT) precipitation, 50 mL of 1 M tartaric acid was mixed with 50 mL of PWW in a 250 mL
conical flask with continuous stirring. The KHT precipitation occurs according to Eq. (1) at appropriate solution pH.

K+ (aq.) + HT− (aq.) → KHT(s) (1)

The pH of acid solution and PWW was adjusted to the pre-determined level before mixing. The effect of pH on potassium
recovery was studied by changing the parameter in range of 2–6. The pH adjustment was made using either NaOH (1 M) or
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I. Khatri and A. Garg Environmental Technology & Innovation 28 (2022) 102841

Table 1
Characteristics of BMSW from present and previous studies.
BMSW
Parameters
Present study Maiti et al. (2020) Mohana et al. (2009)
pH 7.6 7.7 7.5–8
Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5 ) (g/l) 16.9 12.2 8–10
Chemical oxygen demand (COD) (g/l) 65 ± 0.15 64.5 45–52
Total organic carbon (TOC) (g/l) 23.5 ± 0.1 ND ND
Total solids (TS) (g/l) 64.7 ND 70–75
Total volatile solids (TVS) (g/l) 32.2 ND 68–70
K (g/l) 14.8 18.9 ND
Ca (g/l) 0.12 0.6 ND
Mg (g/l) 1.72 2.2 ND
Na (g/l) 3.8 1.5 ND

H2 SO4 (1 M). The mixture was then left for 1 h duration at room temperature. Subsequently, the precipitate was separated
out from the solution by filtration through Whatman filter (grade-1) and then the solid residue was kept for drying in
oven at 70 ◦ C. One sample of the oven-dried precipitate was used for determination of potassium concentration and
XRD analysis. Whereas, potassium concentration was measured in all the filtered solutions. The schematic of the process
followed is shown in Fig. 1a.
Effect of co-ions
The effect of co-ions was investigated on the performance of selective extraction using H2 T solution (1 M). For this set
of experiments, the H2 T solution was divided into two sets with adjusted pH values of 3.5 and 6.5 by adding required
quantity of NaOH solution. The selectivity studies were carried out by adding 50 ml of pH-adjusted H2 T solution into an
equal volume of (i) aqueous solution containing 1 M each of NaCl, KCl and MgCl2 and (ii) aqueous solution containing 1 M
each of above three salts (i.e., NaCl, KCl, MgCl2 ) and CaCl2 at room temperature. The contents were stirred with magnetic
stirrer for 10 min and left for 24 h at room temperature.
2.2.1.2. Biomethanated spent wash (BMSW). The physico-chemical characteristics of BMSW used for potassium recovery
are presented in Table 1. The BMSW wastewater received from distillery was black in color and had high TOC and COD
with poor biodegradability index (= 0.26). The potassium ion concentration in BMSW was 14.8 g/l which is comparable
to that reported by Maiti et al. (2020).
For K-recovery from BMSW, the same and modified methods reported by Maiti et al. (2020) were followed. As
per the method reported by Maiti et al. (2020), the acid pre-treated BMSW (denoted as ABMSW) (pH = 1.5) was
subjected to coagulation using Al2 (SO4 )3 for separating potassium rich liquid from the colloidal and suspended impurities.
Subsequently, the supernatant was treated with tartaric acid to recover potassium.
In the present study, K-precipitation experiments were conducted without and with coagulation step. Initially, the
concentrated sulfuric acid (18.4 M) was added slowly into 200 mL of BMSW to adjust wastewater pH to 3.5. Subsequently,
the ABMSW was left for 24 h before subjecting to either direct potassium recovery or post treatment by coagulation. For
the runs using coagulation step, Al2 (SO4 )3 (0.05% Al3+ by w/v) was added to separate colloidal and suspended impurities
from the solution. After coagulation step, pH of the supernatant was adjusted to 7 using Mg(OH)2 .
For potassium precipitation, 50 mL of the pretreated solution (i.e., only acidified or acidifcation followed by coagulation)
was mixed with the same volume of equimolar H2 T solution with continuous stirring. The mixed solutions were kept at
room temperature for 1 h duration. Subsequently, the precipitate was separated out from the solution using Whatman
filter (grade-1) and kept for drying in oven at 70 ◦ C as done with synthetic solution (discussed in previous subsection).
The dried precipitate was subjected to XRD analysis while the filtrate was analyzed for potassium, TOC and color. The
schematic of the process followed is shown in Fig. 1b.
All the experimental runs were conducted in duplicates and the error bars show the standard error in the results.

2.2.2. Potash recovery and tartaric acid regeneration

For efficient potash recovery and tartaric acid regeneration, the procedure reported by Maiti et al. (2020) was followed.
According to the method, equimolar concentrations of the reactants (i.e., KHT, Mg(OH)2 and HNO3 ) should be mixed for
4 h after adjusting the solution pH to 6.5 for maximizing the precipitation of MgT after the reaction and production of
KNO3 (i.e., potash as nitrate) which remains in the solution. Following equation governs the potash recovery and recycling
of tartaric acid:
KHT(s) + Mg(OH)2(s) + HNO3(aq.) → MgT(s) + KNO3(aq.) (2)
As per Eq. (2), the equimolar solution of the reactants was prepared by mixing 5.8 g of Mg(OH)2 , 4.5 mL of 70% HNO3
and 18.8 g of KHT in 50 mL distilled water with continuous stirring for 4 h. The molarity of each reactant was 2 M in
the resulting solution. The solution pH was adjusted to 6.5 and the solution temperature was raised to 60 ◦ C since higher
temperature results in increase in the solubility of KHT. It is reported that the solubility of KHT in water is 3.7 g/l, 6.1 g/l
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I. Khatri and A. Garg Environmental Technology & Innovation 28 (2022) 102841

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram for potassium recovery as KHT from (a) PWW and (b) BMSW.

and 25 g/l at temperature 0 ◦ C, 25 ◦ C and 60 ◦ C, respectively (Seidell, 1919). The MgT precipitate was filtered using
Whatman filter (grade 1) and analyzed using XRD technique. The filtered solution was chilled at 0 ◦ C temperature for 4 h
to recover KNO3 salt. The schematic of the process followed is shown in Fig. 2.

2.2.3. Analytical methods

Total organic carbon (TOC) of the aqueous samples was measured using a TOC analyser (TOC-VCSH, Shimadzu, Kyoto,
Japan) whereas chemical oxygen demand (COD) was determined using standard method described in American Public
Health Association (APHA) handbook (APHA et al., 2012). pH of the samples was recorded using calibrated Eutech
Cyberscan pH Tutor (Singapore) equipped with glass electrode. In aqueous samples, the cations, K+ , Na+ , Ca2+ , and Mg2+ ,
were estimated by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES) (HORIBA Jobin Yvon-Ultima 2000,
France) whereas potassium (i.e., K) concentration was also measured using Flame Photometer (Flame Photometer 128,
Systronics, India). To determine K concentration in the solid precipitate, pre-determined amount of the precipitate was
dissolved in distilled water and the solution was subjected to Flame photometry. In liquid samples, H2 T was detected using
High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) (Infinity-1200, Agilent) equipped with UV detector and Synergi Hydro-
RP column (250 mm × 4.6 mm, particle size = 4 µm, pore size = 80 Å). Color of the wastewater samples was determined
as color number (CN) by measuring absorbance at 436, 525 and 620 nm wavelengths on UV spectrophotometer (UV-1800,
Shimadzu, Japan) (Urrea et al., 2014). The precipitate obtained after the potassium recovery was characterized using X-ray
diffraction (XRD) technique on Empyrean machine (PANalytical, Netherlands) having X-ray tube with Cu target (anode
material) and wavelength of 1.54184 Åoperating at 40 kV and 30 mA. Data were collected in 2θ angle range of 5 to 80◦
and the peaks in the spectra were identified using high score plus software.
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I. Khatri and A. Garg Environmental Technology & Innovation 28 (2022) 102841

Fig. 2. Schematic diagram for KHT decomposition for potash (KNO3 ) production and tartaric acid recovery as MgT.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Potassium recovery from PWW

3.1.1. Effect of pH
It has been stated earlier that tartaric acid was used as the recyclable precipitant for selective extraction of potash from
PWW and BMSW. For KHT precipitation runs, tartaric acid and PWW (K concentration = 19.5 g/l) were mixed and pH was
adjusted in the range of 2–6 with an increment of 0.5 to study its effect on potassium recovery. Due to low solubility
product (Ksp ) of KHT (Ksp = 3.8 × 10−4 ), potassium cation (K+ ) combines with HT− as per Eq. (1) and KHT precipitation
takes place at pH of 3.5.
The precipitation experiments were conducted as explained in Section 2.2.1.1. The maximum KHT precipitation was
observed at a solution pH of 3.5. The KHT precipitation decreased with changing pH below and above 3.5. More than 70%
(i.e., 13.7 g/l) of the total potassium was precipitated out as KHT at solution pH of 3.5 with the stoichiometric tartaric
acid dose (Fig. 3). The decrease in potassium precipitation at pH lower than 3.5 was more significant than that found at
higher pH values. For instance, KHT precipitation was only ∼55% at solution pH of 3 compared to slightly less than 70%
at pH of 4.
According to the literature, tartaric acid can be present as H2 T, bitartrate (HT− ) and tartrate (T2− ) or a combination of
any two species depending upon the solution pH (Ghara et al., 2014). For instance, more than 95% tartaric acid is likely to
be in the form of H2 T at pH levels 1.5 or lower whereas the T2− is expected to be major specie (> 95%) at pH of 5.5–7.0.
It was reported that the maximum yield of HT− (∼70%) should be obtained at a pH of 3.5.

3.1.2. Effect of co-ions and tartaric acid dosage

The precipitates obtained from the four sets of experiments were filtered and the liquid samples were analyzed for
various ions (Figs. 4 & 5). The percent mole fraction of each element in the precipitate was calculated using initial and
final concentration of the element in solution. It can be seen that when all four cations were present, the precipitation of
Ca2+ dominated by combining with H2 T to form calcium tartrate (CaT). The CaT precipitation was more than 85% (on mole
basis) at a solution pH of 3.5 which further increased to 94% at higher pH (i.e., 6.5). The maximum precipitation of CaT at
both the pH values could be attributed to its lowest solubility in water (0.3 g/l) and high selectivity for bitartrate (HT− )
and tartrate (T2− ) ions (Ghara et al., 2014). In absence of Ca2+ ion, K+ showed dominance over other ions (Mg2+ and Na+ )
with 82% of K+ (on mole basis) precipitated as KHT at pH 3.5. At pH of 6.5, Mg2+ precipitated preferentially as magnesium
tartrate (MgT) in absence of Ca2+ which agrees with the published literature (Ghara et al., 2014). However, in acidic pH
conditions, H2 T exists primarily in the form of HT− thus promoting KHT precipitation. The crystalline (orthorhombic)
nature of the CaT and MgT precipitates was confirmed from XRD spectra. In summary, the K-recovery scheme depends
on equilibrium between KHT and MgT in which KHT precipitation takes place at a solution pH of 3.5 (Eq. (1)) followed
its decomposition as per Eq. (2) and finally recycling of tartaric acid as MgT for utilization in KHT precipitation.
The effect of H2 T dose (0.5 M, 1 M and 1.5 M) was also investigated for K-precipitation from PWW (K concentration
= 1 M) (Fig. 6). At the stoichiometric tartaric acid dose (i.e., 1 M), the K-recovery was ∼80% within first 2 h which was
much higher than that observed with the sub-stoichiometric tartaric acid dose of 0.5 M. Further increase in H2 T dose
(i.e., super-stoichiometric; 1.5 M) also resulted in similar K-precipitation of ∼80% after 2 h. Moreover, no significant
increase in K-precipitation could be observed with extending the test duration to 24 h. To avoid increase in chemical
cost, energy requirement and increase in organics concentration (due to unreacted tartaric acid) in the residual stream,
the stoichiometric dose is suggested for efficient K-precipitation.
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I. Khatri and A. Garg Environmental Technology & Innovation 28 (2022) 102841

Fig. 3. Effect of pH on K-recovery from PWW using equimolar amount of tartaric acid (Initial potassium concentration = 19.5 g/l and molarity =
0.5 M)

Fig. 4. Ion selectivity of H2 T at pH 3.5 in the presence of equimolar concentration (0.5 M) of (a) Na+ , K+ , and Mg2+ and (b) Na+ , K+ , Mg2+ ,
and Ca2+ ions.

3.2. Potassium recovery from BMSW

Potassium recovery from BMSW was carried out in the following three steps (as per methodology described in
Section 2.2.1): (i) acid pretreatment of BMSW with H2 SO4 till pH 3.5; (ii) KHT precipitation from supernatant resulted
from step (i); and (iii) KHT decomposition to produce KNO3 salt and regenerate tartaric acid as MgT.
The acid pretreatment of BMSW (i.e., ABMSW) in the first step resulted in TOC and color removals of 50% and 62%,
respectively. The color in BMSW was mainly due to polymeric compounds such as melanoidins. The other compounds
which may contribute color to the BMSW include phenolic substances (tannic and humic acid), proteins, and caramel from
overheated sugars (Kort, 1979). The effluent generated after KHT precipitation in step (ii) was analyzed for K concentration,
TOC reduction, color removal and H2 T concentration.
The XRD spectrum of the KHT obtained from BMSW was compared with that obtained from the synthetically prepared
KHT. For comparison, International Centre for Diffraction Data (ICDD) database reference number 00-043-0775 was used
(Fig. 7). Both the spectra were found comparable in terms of peak locations. The reflection peaks at 14.01◦ , 16.23◦ , 22.51◦ ,
22.67◦ , 24.8◦ , 27.14, 30.89◦ , 36.01◦ and 38.15◦ correspond to the planes of (200), (101), (102), (112), (120), (113), (300),
(132) and (410) of KHT, indicating the successful preparation of the orthorhombic crystallized phase.
The K-precipitation experiments for BMSW were conducted with and without coagulation step. The additional
coagulation step exhibited no significant impact on K-precipitation and its recovery was enhanced to 72% from 70.4%
(obtained without coagulation step). It was also validated by performing Student’s t-test for both methods. The p-value
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I. Khatri and A. Garg Environmental Technology & Innovation 28 (2022) 102841

Fig. 5. Ion selectivity of H2 T at pH 6.5 in the presence of equimolar concentration (0.5 M) of (a) Na+ , K+ , and Mg2+ and (b) Na+ , K+ , Mg2+ ,
and Ca2+ ions.

Fig. 6. Percent K-recovery from PWW as a function of time at different doses of H2 T [T/K indicates molar ratio of tartaric acid and potassium].

was found to be 0.53 (p > 0.05) showing no considerable effect of the coagulation step. The potassium recovery could
be enhanced to 72% (from 70.4%) with the additional coagulation step. Therefore, further runs were conducted without
using coagulation step. More than 70% potassium recovery in form of KHT could be achieved from the ABMSW with
the stoichiometric dose of tartaric acid at pH of 3.5. The color removal was 70% with respect to the untreated BMSW
however insignificant change in TOC of the wastewater was observed. The H2 T concentration in the effluent was found
to be 482 mg/l. The high color removal could be attributed to the removal of color imparting compounds whereas excess
H2 T contributed to only TOC of the final effluent. Hence, insignificant change in TOC of the wastewater was observed after
recovery potassium in the form of KHT.

3.3. Potash production and tartaric acid recycling from the precipitated KHT

The potash production and H2 T regeneration were explored by converting KHT into KNO3 and MgT following the
procedure mentioned in Section 2.2.2. The equimolar amounts of Mg(OH)2 , HNO3 and KHT were reacted in a conical flask
to obtain MgT as precipitate and KNO3 in the filtrate. High amount of potassium (∼77%) could be converted into KNO3
with regeneration of H2 T. The bitartrate concentration in the initial mixture was 300 g/l (as H2 T) which was reduced to
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I. Khatri and A. Garg Environmental Technology & Innovation 28 (2022) 102841

Fig. 7. XRD of precipitate obtained from BMSW and PWW.

59.1 g/l after MgT precipitation. It indicates that ∼80% of tartaric acid could be recovered in form of MgT. The precipitated
MgT can be reused for KHT precipitation as a source of tartaric acid (Maiti et al., 2020).
Finally, the resultant liquor was chilled at 0 ◦ C (as mentioned in Section 2.2.2) to recover KNO3 salt. After recovery,
the liquor contained H2 T, K+ and Mg2+ concentrations of 1.2 g/l, 0.4 g/l and 0.27 g/l, respectively, which can further be
utilized for KHT decomposition in another batch.

4. Conclusions

In the present study, preparation of pure potassium nitrate from PWW and BMSW was successfully demonstrated
by H2 T in controlled pH conditions. More than 70% potassium was precipitated as KHT at a solution pH of 3.5 with the
stoichiometric H2 T dose (i.e., 1 M). With the PWW, Ca2+ ion concentration showed maximum interference during KHT
precipitation at both the reaction pH values, i.e., 3.5 and 6.5. However, in case of BMSW, the Ca2+ concentration (0.12 g/l)
was very low as compared to K+ concentration (14.8 g/l) and its effect on KHT precipitation can be considered negligible.
In K-recovery experiments with BMSW, more than 70% potassium could be recovered in form of KHT and further ∼77%
of potassium could be converted into KNO3 with regeneration of the tartaric acid as MgT from KHT decomposition. Apart
from potassium recovery from BMSW wastewater, 62% color removal could also be achieved under similar conditions.
Based on results, it can be suggested that the selective extraction method using H2 T has high potential for potash recovery
from potassium rich liquid streams. Future study should be performed to optimize the conditions for potassium recovery
from real effluent and regeneration of H2 T.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Inderjeet Khatri: Investigation, Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft. Anurag Garg: Conceptualiza-
tion, Analysis, Resources, Writing – review and editing, Supervision, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Writing – review
& editing.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Data availability

Data will be made available on request.

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I. Khatri and A. Garg Environmental Technology & Innovation 28 (2022) 102841

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the funding from Department of Biotechnology (DBT), New Delhi for the project funded under
Newton-Bhabha scheme (Project No.: BT/IN/Indo-UK/SVP/08/2018-19). The first author is also thankful to Ministry of
Human Resources Development (MHRD), New Delhi, India for providing fellowship.

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