GOALI: Advancing Decentralized Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor Treatment of Food Waste

1605715 Smith，Adam这项联合提案将南加州大学和饲料资源回收(FEED)结合在一起，共同开发战略，以优化分散式厌氧膜生物反应器处理食物垃圾。随着加利福尼亚州关于食物垃圾的新规定于2020年生效，分散式厌氧膜生物反应器系统将使食品加工行业和其他食物垃圾生产者受益，通过回收可再生能源来有效管理他们的垃圾。寿命成本分析和寿命周期成本分析将提供有关经济效益和环境效益的有价值的信息，这可能有助于政策制定者、投资者和食物垃圾生产者采用该技术。该项目的重点是将食物垃圾从垃圾填埋场转移到废水处理厂或分散的厌氧消化设施，在那里可以将其转化为能源。在各种垃圾的厌氧消化方面已经进行了大量的研究工作，包括食物垃圾。然而，厌氧膜生物反应器仍然是一项新兴的技术，在世界范围内很少有大规模的系统投入运行。与传统消化相比，它们占用的空间更小，能量回收更快，流出物质量更高，因此对于分散处理食物垃圾特别有吸引力。与污水污泥消化相比，食物垃圾管理面临着独特的挑战。例如，食物垃圾的特性因季节(如玉米或南瓜季节)不同而不同，这可能会由于有机负荷、毒性和其他方面的波动而对工艺性能造成不利影响。此外，食物垃圾的成分，如无机颗粒，可能会对聚合物膜的完整性造成问题。Feed已经亲身经历了这些问题。PIS将评估优化厌氧膜生物反应器处理食物垃圾的策略，如两相厌氧膜生物反应器处理、与脂肪、油和油脂共消化，以及陶瓷平板膜。在试验台规模的研究取得积极结果之前，项目组计划全面评估两阶段治疗。在试验台和全尺寸系统中使用尖端分子微生物工具将在机械水平上促进我们对厌氧食物垃圾处理的更广泛理解。厌氧膜生物反应器的生命周期分析和生命周期成本分析将为比较厌氧膜生物反应器与其他餐厨垃圾管理方法的经济和环境效益提供有价值的信息。可持续性评估工具的开发将突出饲料和固体废物行业的经济和环境机会。拟议的产学合作能够通过台架和全面研究、使用先进的分子微生物分析和开发可持续性评估工具，对分散的厌氧食物垃圾处理进行全面评估。一名博士生将由该项目资助，并在项目持续时间内在南加州大学和FEED工作。此外，还建议为环境科学、工程和技术计划中的卡森高中学生举办一项外展活动(研讨会和参观饲料设施)，让高中生接触到在工业中的工程和职业道路的研究生学习。

1605715Smith, AdamThis joint proposal brings together the University of Southern California and FEED Resource Recovery (FEED) to collaboratively develop strategies to optimize decentralized anaerobic membrane bioreactor treatment of food waste. With new diversion rules for food waste in California taking effect 2020, decentralized anaerobic membrane bioreactor systems could benefit the food processing industries and other food waste producers to effectively manage their waste with recovery of renewable energy. Life cost analysis and life cycle cost analysis will provide valuable information on economic and environmental benefits, which could be helpful for policy makers, investors and food waste producers to adopt the technology.The focus of this project is to divert food waste from landfills to wastewater treatment plants or decentralized anaerobic digestion facilities where it can be converted to energy. There has been substantial research effort on anaerobic digestion of various waste streams, including food waste. However, anaerobic membrane bioreactors are still an emerging technology with few full-scale systems in operation worldwide. They are particularly attractive for decentralized food waste treatment given their smaller footprint, increased energy recovery, and higher quality effluent relative to conventional digestion. Food waste management has unique challenges relative to sewage sludge digestion. For example, food waste characteristics vary seasonally (e.g. corn or pumpkin season) which can be detrimental to process performance due to fluctuations in organic loading, toxicity, and other concerns. Further, components of food waste such as inorganic particles can be problematic for polymeric membrane integrity. FEED has experienced these issues first-hand. The PIs will evaluate strategies to optimize anaerobic membrane bioreactor treatment of food waste such as two-phase anaerobic membrane bioreactor treatment, co-digestion with fats, oil, and grease, and ceramic flat-sheet membranes. Pending positive results from bench-scale studies, the project team plans to evaluate two-phase treatment at the full-scale. The use of cutting-edge molecular microbiological tools on bench- and full-scale systems will advance our broader understanding of anaerobic food waste treatment at a mechanistic level. Life cycle analysis and life cycle cost analysis of anaerobic membrane bioreactors will provide valuable information to compare the economic and environmental merits of anaerobic membrane bioreactor in comparison to other food waste management method. Development of sustainability assessment tools will highlight economic and environmental opportunities for FEED and the solid waste industry. The proposed industry-university collaboration enables comprehensive evaluation of decentralized anaerobic food waste treatment through bench- and full-scale studies, use of advanced molecular microbiological analyses, and development of sustainability assessment tools. One Ph.D. student will be funded by this project and work both at USC and FEED over the project duration. In addition, an outreach activity (seminar and tour of FEED facility) for Carson High School students in the Environmental Science, Engineering, and Technology program is proposed to expose high school students to graduate studies in engineering and career paths in industry.