INFEWS N/P/H2O: Development of Sustainable Nutrient Extraction and Recovery Devices (NERDs) for Municipal and Agricultural Wastewater

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PI Name: Lee BlaneyProposal Number: 1706819 Nutrient pollution is intricately tied to national and global issues, including water, energy, food, political, and economic security. In this project the PI will develop, optimize, and test innovative nutrient extraction and recovery devices (NERDs) to effectively recover fertilizer products rich in nitrogen and phosphorus from urban and agricultural waste streams. The recovered fertilizers will be assessed for heavy metals and contaminants of emerging concern (e.g., antibiotics, hormones, etc.) to prevent other human and ecological health concerns, such as endocrine disruption and antibiotic resistance. The overall goal of this research is to develop, test, and optimize a Donnan membrane principle-based process for recovery of phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium from municipal wastewater, waste activated sludge, and agricultural waste. NERD reactors selectively concentrate and recover nutrients by exploiting electrochemical potential gradients across ion exchange membranes. The PI will systematically investigate several aspects of NERDs: (1) the capacity and rate of phosphorus, magnesium, ammonium, and potassium recovery from well-defined solutions, (2) the selective recovery of struvite and potassium struvite from synthetic wastewaters in batch and continuous flow modes to generate fertilizers with customizable nitrogen-to-phosphorus-to-potassium ratios, and (3) the application of NERD process chemistry to recover nutrients from real wastewater effluent, waste activated sludge, and animal manures and assessment of the co-recovery of traditional and emerging contaminants. The transformative nature of this project stems from the team?s completely innovative approach to nutrient recovery. The low energy, chemical, and water requirements of their process suggest that NERDs will be an attractive option for municipal wastewater treatment plants and agricultural operations in the developed and developing world; furthermore, the team believes that this novel technique can also be employed for phosphorus remediation. The significance of this work stems from the need for a new approach to capture and recycle nitrogen and phosphorus to prevent pollution of drinking water resources, protect environmental systems and aquatic habitat, and preclude loss of revenue streams from fishing, shrimping, and tourism industries.