Summary
This narrative review examines the recovery of ammonium carbonate fertilisers from anaerobic digestion liquids and other nutrient-bearing waste streams, presenting methods for concentration, crystallisation, and environmental stabilisation. The authors contextualise these materials within sustainable agriculture, reviewing historical use, decline in favour of synthetic urea, and contemporary resurgence driven by circular nutrient recovery requirements. The review synthesises current technological approaches to producing and stabilising these fertilisers whilst assessing their agronomic performance as dual nitrogen and carbon sources.
Regional applicability
The findings are potentially relevant to UK circular agriculture policy and anaerobic digestion infrastructure, particularly given widespread AD deployment in UK farming. However, applicability depends on whether demonstrated stabilisation technologies perform adequately in UK temperate, often-moist soil conditions—a question the abstract does not directly address.
Key measures
Stabilisation methods; nitrogen and carbon content; agricultural efficiency metrics (not specified in abstract)
Outcomes reported
The review describes methods for concentrating and crystallising solid ammonium carbonates from nutrient-containing liquid waste streams, and documents technologies for stabilising these materials in agricultural environments. Agricultural efficiency of ammonium carbonates as nitrogen and carbon sources is assessed.
Topic tags
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