Patent ID: 8580219

Claim:
A method for recovering ammonium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate from a liquid solution comprising at least one of ammonia or ammonium, the process comprising the steps of: a. providing the liquid solution comprising ammonium at a pH and temperature sufficient to convert at least a portion of ammonium in the solution to free ammonia and provide a converted solution; b. stripping ammonia from the converted solution in an ammonia stripping vessel to produce a gas phase ammonia stream; c. contacting the ammonia stream with a scrubbing liquid comprising dissolved CO 2 in a scrubbing vessel to produce ammonium bicarbonate and ammonium carbonate; d. withdrawing an ammonium liquid comprising ammonium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate from the scrubbing vessel; e. recovering a first portion of the ammonium liquid as an ammonium product stream; and f. contacting a second portion of the ammonium liquid with a CO 2 containing gas stream and a make-up liquid to produce the scrubbing liquid.