PFI-TT: Reactive biofilm surfaces for efficient nitrogen management in liquid waste streams

这一创新-技术转化伙伴关系项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是测试和商业化一种高能效、高速率、碳足迹小的技术，以管理液体废物流中的氨氮。该项目通过保护清洁水来支持环境可持续性。该项目将使用新的反应器设计，利用溶解的甲烷气体作为碳源，实现处理后污水中的低氮水平，并减少废水处理厂的温室气体足迹。该项目可能适合美国的小型和大型城市。参与该项目的学生将获得具有创业精神的体验式培训。拟议项目旨在展示和测试与在节能和减碳的同时获得经处理的废水中的低氮相关的关键参数。对排放到河口、直接排入海洋或其他淡水敏感水体的处理废水中的总氮含量提出了更严格的限制。 传统的反硝化不能满足这一严格的标准，由于低浓度的可生物降解的有机碳在进水中所需的异养反硝化。该技术将厌氧氨氧化与反应性生物膜中的甲烷支持反硝化结合起来，以实现最终出水的低氮。 该工艺还使用溶解的甲烷气体来帮助脱氮，减轻温室气体排放的挑战。与技术供应商和几个废水处理区的合作伙伴关系可以确保这项研究创新的商业化。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得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。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is to test and commercialize an energy-efficient, high-rate technology with a small carbon footprint to manage ammonium nitrogen in liquid waste streams. The project supports environmental sustainability through the protection of clean water. This project will use a new reactor design to utilize dissolved methane gas as a carbon source, achieving low nitrogen levels in the treated effluent and reducing the greenhouse gas footprint of wastewater treatment plants. This project may be suitable for small and large scale municipalities in the United States. Students involved in the project will obtain experiential training with an entrepreneurship mindset. The proposed project seeks to demonstrate and test critical parameters associated with obtaining low nitrogen in treated effluents while saving energy and carbon. More stringent limits are proposed for the total nitrogen content in treated wastewater that is discharged in estuaries, directly into the sea, or into other freshwater-sensitive water bodies. Conventional denitrification cannot meet this stringent criterion due to the low concentration biodegradable organic carbon in the influent needed for heterotrophic denitrification. The proposed technology combines anaerobic ammonia oxidation with methane supported denitrification in reactive biofilms to achieve low nitrogen in the final effluent. The process also uses dissolved methane gas to help denitrification, mitigating the challenges of greenhouse gas emissions. The partnerships with a technology vendor and several wastewater districts may ensure the commercialization of this research innovation.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.