I-Corps: Struvite Recovery for Organic Food Production

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种技术，以鸟粪石的形式回收废水中的磷酸盐和氨。鸟粪石是一种缓释复合肥。该技术可降低废水处理成本，改善鸟粪石回收工艺。从废水中回收鸟粪石是工业生产磷肥的可持续替代方案，磷肥生产已导致天然磷矿储量迅速枯竭。由于全球化肥供应链被打乱，化肥价格大幅上涨，增加了鸟粪石回收的收入。不使用水溶性化肥的农业预计将迅速增长。与目前可用的有机肥料不同，用该技术生产的鸟粪石肥料具有高的氮和磷价值。该i-Corps项目基于开发矿物基镁基改性剂和生物基粘结剂，以经济高效地从废水中回收鸟粪石。当废水pH升高时，在营养丰富的废水中加入镁离子，就会形成鸟粪石沉淀。这种矿物在结晶器中沉淀成颗粒，以供产品收获。建议的鸟粪石回收技术使用矿物将磷酸盐和氨回收为粉状鸟粪石，这是一种天然肥料，并应用生物基粘结剂将鸟粪石粉末快速转化为颗粒状有机肥。该技术集成了两种低成本矿物和一种物理矿物活化法，可同时补充镁离子和提高废水pH以形成鸟粪石粉末。鸟粪石造粒用生物基粘结剂的发现，提高了生产能力。这项技术可能会改变废水资源回收的总体战略。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 I-Corps project is the development of a technology to recover phosphate and ammonia in wastewater as struvite. Struvite is a slow-release compound fertilizer. This proposed technology may decrease the cost of wastewater treatment and improve the struvite recovery process. Struvite recovery from wastewater is a sustainable alternative to the industrial production of phosphorus fertilizers that have resulted in rapidly depleting natural phosphate rock reserves. As global supply chains of fertilizer have been disrupted, fertilizer prices have increased substantially, increasing the revenue of struvite recovery. Farming that does not use water-soluble fertilizers is anticipated to grow rapidly. Unlike the currently available organic fertilizers, the struvite fertilizers produced with this proposed technology have high nitrogen and phosphorus values.This I-Corps project is based on the development of mineral-based magnesium-based amendment materials and bio-based binding agents for cost-effective recovery of struvite from wastewater. When wastewater pH is raised and magnesium ions are supplemented in nutrient-rich wastewater, struvite precipitates form. This mineral is precipitated into granules in a crystallizer for product harvesting. The proposed struvite recovery technology uses minerals to recover phosphate and ammonia as powdery struvite, a natural fertilizer, and applies bio-based binding agents to quickly turn the struvite powder into granular organic fertilizer. The proposed technology integrates two low-cost minerals and a physical mineral activation method for simultaneous supplementation of magnesium ions and elevation of wastewater pH for formation of struvite powder. The discovery of bio-based binding agents for pelletizing struvite powder increases the production capacity. This technological may change the overarching strategy of wastewater resource recovery.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.