Advancing Resource Recovery from Waste Streams

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Globally, increasing volumes of waste and wastewater are generated due to steady rise in urbanization and industrialization. This causes serious environmental degradation threatening sustainability of the planet. However, properly managed, significant economic activities can be generated by recovering valuable resources such as water and important nutrients like phosphorus. Phosphorus (P) is essential for all living things; mineral deposits of P are depleting due to over consumption. Although, P recovery research from various wastes is at initial stages, it is already a global opportunity of US$ 4.2 billion. Canada is rich in freshwater resources, but uneven distribution and drought create routine water shortages in several parts. Recycling water from various industrial activities is an effective way of water management, reducing the fresh water burden of the relevant industry. In this proposal, we will address three important water-intensive industries, important to Canadian economy. Aquaculture is among the fastest growing food sectors. With enormous coastal geography, an abundance of freshwater and established global trade routes, Canada has major advantages for aquaculture with $6.35 billion in economic activity. Aquaculture wastewater contains numerous organic compounds mainly protein, hormones and antibiotics, but rich in phosphorus (P), as high as =1000 mg/L; P can be recovered while treating the effluent. Pulp and paper (P&P) are an important part of the Canadian economy with $7.84 billion contribution to GDP. P&P effluents cause significant damages to receiving water bodies due to the presence of many toxic organics such as resin acids, tannins, etc. Conventional oil and gas extraction produce a highly complex wastewater (produced water, 2.0-16 million liters per well per year). The elevated salinity is one of the key limitations for treatment and reuse of this vast amount of water. Over the next five years, the specific objectives of this Discovery program are: (i) development and optimization of treatment scheme for aquaculture with special emphasis on P recovery, (ii) improved membrane distillation process to treat water with high salinity, and (iii) evaluate the performance of a rotary belt filter for removal of particulate P, and toxic hydrophobic compounds from P&P mill effluents. The proposed program will train three PhD, three MESc and five UG using excellent CFI and RTI funded state-of-the-art infrastructure at my laboratory, common laboratory at chemical engineering and Greenhouse (testing recovered P) at Western University and Lambton College, with industrial internships at Trojan and USP Technologies, and Pall Water using secured Mitacs grants. The proposed research will lead to innovations in traditional organic membranes incorporating high surface area graphene and titanium dioxide nanotubes (TNTs), novel electrode and cell design for electrocoagulation, and new adsorbents based on green chemistry for recovering P.