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SBIR Phase I: Automated Building Scale Urine Treatment System

SBIR 第一阶段：自动化建筑规模尿液处理系统

基本信息

批准号：
2014659
负责人：
Abraham Noe-Hays
金额：
$ 22.5万
依托单位：
RICH EARTH LLC
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2020
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2020-06-01 至 2021-11-30
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2014659&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
SBIR Phase Automated Building Scale

项目摘要

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project lies in transforming a source of water pollution into a renewable source of fertilizer, which will reduce dependence on non-renewable resources for both wastewater treatment and fertilizer production. Rather than combining all domestic wastewater into one dilute stream, this project inverts the paradigm by separating out and recycling the largest source of nutrient pollution: urine. Special toilets with a separate drain at the front of the bowl direct urine through dedicated plumbing to a compact building-scale processor, which converts it into a purified liquid fertilizer. This technology will have immediate utility in sensitive watersheds where regulations require landowners to remove nitrogen from wastewater using expensive septic systems upgrades. Urine diversion could be an alternative to such upgrades, at a lower cost, with less ongoing energy demand, and with the added benefit of producing fertilizer as an end product. When the technology is more mature, it could be applied in areas served by central sewers, as a decentralized nutrient recovery strategy. The technology will create jobs in installation and service, reduce the load on wastewater treatment plants, help restore our waterways, and yield a clean, domestically-produced fertilizer for use in agriculture.This SBIR Phase I project will advance translation of a building-scale urine collection and treatment system is paired with commercially-available urine-diverting toilet fixtures to create an advanced resource recovery system with a conventional bathroom experience. The system employs a four-step process: acidification, pasteurization, freeze concentration, and charcoal filtration. The combined effect of these four steps includes volume reduction, odor control, nutrient stabilization, and removal of contaminants such as pathogens and pharmaceutical residues. The project has two main goals: 1) measuring the energy requirements of the treatment steps, using these data to optimize the freeze concentration step; and 2) testing the performance during ongoing operation to identify and address problems relating to biofilm or mineral scale formation. The proposed freeze concentrator uses a proprietary technology that is mechanically simple, energy-efficient, and scalable to a small physical footprint. In addition to urine diversion, this device could have useful applications in other fields requiring a small, mechanically simple, and inexpensive dewatering system. The four processing subsystems will be designed using thermal and hydraulic modeling, and tested using real urine from a source-separating toilet. Subsystems will be tested individually for performance and energy efficiency, and then together as an integrated system.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.

这一小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛影响在于将水污染源转化为可再生的肥料来源，这将减少废水处理和肥料生产对不可再生资源的依赖。该项目不是将所有的生活废水合并成一股稀释的水流，而是通过分离和回收最大的营养污染源：尿液来颠倒模式。特殊的厕所在马桶的前面有一个单独的排水口，通过专用的管道将尿液引导到一个紧凑的建筑规模的处理器，将其转化为净化的液体肥料。这项技术将在敏感的流域立即发挥作用，因为法规要求土地所有者使用昂贵的化粪池系统升级来去除废水中的氮。尿液转移可能是这种升级的替代方案，成本较低，持续的能源需求较少，并具有生产肥料作为最终产品的额外好处。当这项技术比较成熟时，它可以应用于有中央下水道的地区，作为一种分散的养分回收战略。该技术将创造安装和服务方面的就业机会，减少污水处理厂的负荷，帮助恢复我们的水道，并产生一个清洁，该SBIR第一阶段项目将推进建筑规模的尿液收集和处理系统的翻译，该系统与商业可用的尿液配对-将厕所固定装置转向，以创建具有传统浴室体验的先进资源回收系统。该系统采用四步工艺：酸化、巴氏杀菌、冷冻浓缩和活性炭过滤。这四个步骤的综合效果包括体积减少，气味控制，营养稳定和去除污染物，如病原体和药物残留物。该项目有两个主要目标：1）测量处理步骤的能量需求，使用这些数据来优化冷冻浓缩步骤; 2）测试正在进行的操作过程中的性能，以识别和解决与生物膜或矿物结垢形成有关的问题。所提出的冷冻浓缩器使用一种专有技术，该技术机械简单，节能，可扩展到小的物理占地面积。除了尿液分流之外，该装置还可以在需要小型、机械简单且廉价的脱水系统的其它领域中具有有用的应用。四个处理子系统将使用热和水力模型进行设计，并使用来自源分离厕所的真实的尿液进行测试。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。