膜科学与技术

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Advances in membrane separation of urea in urine

Authors： YANG Quan1, PEI Hongchang2, LI Xianhui1

Units： 1. Key Laboratory for City Cluster Environmental Safety and Green Development of the Ministry of Education, School of Ecology, Environment and Resources, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China； 2. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255000, China

KeyWords： membrane separation technology; urine treatment; resource recovery; urea

ClassificationCode：TQ028； X703

year,volume(issue):pagination： 2025,45(1):197-206

Abstract：

Urea represents the primary source of nitrogen in urine. The recovery of urea is able to expand the availability of this nutrient for production, reduce carbon emissions, and alleviate the operating burdens of wastewater treatment facilities. Membrane separation technologies have been extensively employed in the treatment of urine. This study presents a comprehensive overview of the composition and properties of urine, and summarize the applications and researches on membrane distillation (MD), forward osmosis (FO), nanofiltration (NF), and reverse osmosis (RO), as well as the integrated membrane processes for urea recovery. The analysis indicates that there is considerable potential for further development of membrane separation technologies for urea recovery. In light of ongoing advancements, the creation of innovative membrane materials and the integration of diverse membrane technologies are expected to be the primary directions in near future researches.

Funds：

国家自然科学基金面上项目(52270063)；广东省粤港科技创新联合资助项目(2021A0505110013)； “珠江人才计划”引进创新创业团队(2019ZT08L213)

AuthorIntro：

杨权（2000-），男，湖南长沙人，硕士生，研究方向为分离膜与过程传质

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