I-Corps: Auto-flocculation technology for wastewater treatment

这个I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发废水处理技术。 目前，污水处理厂（WWTPs）消耗了市政当局使用的三分之一以上的能源，其中曝气操作使用了高达80%的能源。污水处理厂也是最大的温室气体排放者之一，其直接排放量估计占全球库存的1.6%。 所提出的技术使用自动絮凝来增强废水处理的初级澄清，这是所有废水处理应用中的基本单元操作。 通过使用拟议的自动絮凝技术来加强初级澄清，可以减少二级处理工艺的有机物和营养物负荷。因此，该技术有可能减少处理基础设施支出，活性污泥曝气的能源成本，以及废水处理的碳足迹。这个I-Corps项目是基于自动絮凝技术的发展，用于增强废水处理中的初级澄清。目前，在初级澄清中，通过基于重力的沉降从主体水中去除颗粒。该初级处理过程的效率通常为约50%。在初级澄清之后，废水进行二级处理，例如活性污泥，需要密集的基础设施要求，高能源使用和温室气体排放。 此外，废水的强化初级处理通常需要调节化学品，这是不可持续的，并且通常会损害下游生物工艺和/或对传统澄清器进行重大改造。 然而，废水具有显著的自聚集潜力，这是目前在传统的废水处理中没有实现的。所提出的自动絮凝工艺不需要化学品，也不需要澄清器的改造，而是在澄清之前对废水进行搅拌，这使得初级处理效率达到80-90%。 在初级处理阶段，通过拟议的自动絮凝技术更好地捕获富碳固体，预计将使污水处理厂走向碳中和工业。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。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of wastewater treatment technology. Currently, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) consume greater than a third of the energy used by the municipality, with aeration operation utilizing up to 80% of this energy. WWTPs also are one of the largest greenhouse gas emitters with their direct emissions estimated at 1.6% of global inventory. The proposed technology uses auto-flocculation to enhance primary clarification of wastewater treatment, a basic unit operation in all wastewater treatment applications. Enhancing primary clarification by using the proposed auto-flocculation technology may reduce organic and nutrient loading to secondary treatment processes. Therefore, the technology has the potential to reduce treatment infrastructure outlay, energy cost for aeration in activated sludge, and carbon footprint of wastewater treatment.This I-Corps project is based on the development of auto-flocculation technology for enhanced primary clarification in wastewater treatment. Currently, in primary clarification, particles are removed by gravity-based sedimentation from the bulk water. The efficacy of this primary treatment process is typically about 50%. Following primary clarification, wastewater is subjected to secondary treatment, such as activated sludge, requiring intense infrastructure requirements, high energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, enhanced primary treatment of wastewater often requires conditioning chemicals, which is unsustainable and often compromises downstream bioprocesses, and/or significant retrofitting of conventional clarifiers. However, wastewater possesses significant self-aggregating potential, which is currently unrealized in conventional wastewater treatment. The proposed auto-flocculation process does not require chemicals nor clarifiers' retrofit but employs agitation of wastewater prior to clarification, which enables 80-90% of primary treatment efficacy. Greater capture of carbon rich solids by the proposed auto-flocculation technology at the primary treatment stage is expected to render wastewater treatment plants with a path toward carbon neutral industry.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.