PFI-RP: Developing Light-Controlled Mixing to Advance Energy Efficient Wastewater Treatment by Oxygenic Photogranules

这一创新-研究伙伴关系(PFI-RP)项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力包括显著降低能源成本，减少对环境的负面影响，以及通过使用微生物和自然过程处理废水的新方法，即氧气光颗粒(OPG)技术，改善公众健康。这一过程需要较少的电力来为通常用于处理废水的处理提供氧气，以及使用大气中的二氧化碳。这可以在发达国家的基础设施中进行改造，并可以纳入新的废水处理设施。对于没有污水处理或污水处理不足的地区，通过OPG技术进行的卫生设施以比传统技术更低的成本改善了公众健康和环境。这一过程已经在小规模上得到了成功的证明，但扩大规模和实施需要拟议的PFI-RP项目的科学和技术进步。该项目将包括对未来工程师和科学家的重大高级培训，包括代表性不足的群体。接触学生，增加妇女和少数群体的研究生学习机会，以及技术转让，也对整个社会有利。拟议的项目对于开发用于可持续废水处理的新的自曝气OPG工艺的商业实施至关重要。OPG工艺有潜力解决发展中国家和发达国家的废水处理挑战。尽管以前在光造粒知识方面取得了进展，并成功地进行了实验室规模的OPG系统，但在自然光环境中的工艺放大在最初成功后最近失败了。PI假设这一结果是由于光抑制光颗粒化，这在以前的OPG研究中没有被研究过。本研究的目的是a)通过研究OPG过程的光化学能力和光合作用范围来研究光抑制现象，以及b)开发一种基于流体混合和光照的方法来限制OPG反应器的光抑制。整合这些关键的新知识集合有望产生一种创新的基于辐照度的混合方案，以控制光抑制并支持足够的充氧光合作用。研究方法包括间歇式和连续流反应器在不同光照和混合条件下的运行，以及反应器流体力学和OPG传输的模拟。这些活动将显著提高对光颗粒化的了解，并加强将一种新的废水处理技术转化为商业规模。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Research Partnerships (PFI-RP) project includes significantly decreased costs for energy, decreased negative environmental impacts, and improved public health due to a new method for treating wastewater, known as oxygenic photogranule (OPG) technology, using microbes and natural processes. This process requires less electricity to provide oxygen for treatment ordinarily used in treating wastewater, as well as using atmospheric carbon dioxide. This could be retrofitted in the infrastructure in developed countries and could be included in new wastewater treatment facilities. For regions where wastewater treatment is absent or inadequate, sanitation via the OPG technology improves public health and the environment at a lower cost than conventional technology. This process has been demonstrated successfully at small scales, but scale-up and implementation requires the scientific and technical advancements of the proposed PFI-RP project. This project will include significant advanced training of future engineers and scientists, including underrepresented groups. Outreach to students, increased graduate study opportunities for women and minorities, and technology transfer are also benefits to society at large. The proposed project is critical for developing commercial implementation of the new self-aerating OPG process for sustainable wastewater treatment. The OPG process has the potential to solve wastewater treatment challenges in both developing and developed countries. Despite prior advancements in photogranulation knowledge, and success of bench-scale OPG systems, process scale-up in a natural light setting recently failed after initial success. The PIs hypothesize that this outcome was due to photoinhibition of photogranulation, which has not been studied in previous OPG research. Objectives of the proposed research are to a) investigate the photoinhibition phenomenon by studying the photochemical capacity and the photosynthesis range of the OPG process, and b) to develop a fluid mixing and irradiance-based method to limit photoinhibition of OPG reactors. Integrating these critical new knowledge sets is expected to yield an innovative irradiance-based mixing scheme to control photoinhibition and support adequate oxygenic photosynthesis. Research methods include operation of batch and continuous flow reactors under different irradiance and mixing conditions and modeling of reactor hydrodynamics and OPG transport. These activities will significantly improve knowledge of photogranulation and enhance the translation of a new wastewater treatment technology to a commercial scale.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.