Collaborative Research: INFEWS: U.S.-China: Sustainable Decentralized Wastewater Management: Simultaneous Nutrient Recovery and Pharmaceutical Degradation of Source-Separated Urine

本项目通过“国家自然科学基金（NSF）/国家自然科学基金（NSFC）环境可持续性挑战联合研究”的机会获得资助。粮食-能源-水（FEW）关系被描述为依赖于不同生态系统资源的复杂和相互关联的全球资源系统。 各种用户活动的不平衡，如农业和用水做法，没有维持为这些活动提供资源的生态系统的完整性，很少会造成“联系”问题。一个更具体的例子，一个少数关系的问题是使用化肥的农业加上废水处理的做法。由于多种原因，目前的肥料利用经济模式是不可持续的。 氨肥料是通过能源密集型和昂贵的哈伯-博世工艺生产的，而肥料用磷的开采成本相当高。为防止环境和公共卫生问题，从农业径流的废水中去除与肥料有关的营养物质还消耗能源和化学品。与此同时，废水中的药物是新兴关注污染物（CEC），但传统的处理厂无法充分去除所有营养物质和CEC。因此，当未充分处理的废水处理厂流出物排放到环境中时，氮、磷和药物污染地表、地面和沿海沃茨。需要一种新的范式来实现转变，以i）经济和环境可持续的养分再利用，ii）更安全，更有效的废水中CEC的管理策略。尿液中含有丰富的营养物质和高浓度的药物。然而，通过冲洗和随后与其他废水流混合，尿液立即被稀释超过100倍，使得难以分离CEC和营养污染物。一个更合理的办法是利用未稀释尿液中高浓度的营养物质和污染物，进行源头分离，以分散资源回收和药物降解，而不是在集中的废水处理厂处理稀释尿液。美国哥伦比亚大学和范德比尔特大学与中国哈尔滨工业大学的国际合作项目提出了一种源头分离尿液的综合处理方法，包括i）氨回收，ii）磷酸盐提取和iii）药物降解，以同时实现可持续的现场营养物回收和污染物消除。在尿源分离和管理中，推进关于营养物回收和再利用以及CEC消除的分散技术的基础知识，将产生变革性影响，使当前的废水管理方法能够演变为更可持续的“资源回收”方法。这项工作的目的是提高对尿液分离的认识，并评估实施分散式废水管理的高级别影响。具体目标是：1）推进对氨和水蒸气穿过疏水性微孔膜的传输的基本理解，2）阐明从水解的源分离的尿中回收氨期间的结垢机理，并制定适当的结垢控制策略，3）研究通过高级氧化过程的模型药物化合物的降解，4）通过诱导沉淀评估磷酸盐回收中模型药物化合物和重金属的归宿，以及5）评估在美国和中国大规模实施尿液源头分离的国家级环境和公共卫生影响。本研究将调查转移尿液的营养回收和药物降解，以阐明影响氨分离、磷酸盐提取和药物降解的不同现象的常见澄清剂，并通过综合研究确定氨分离、磷酸盐提取和药物降解的总体可实现性能。该项目将推进在美国和中国实施尿液源分离和分散处理的好处和成本的基本知识。具体研究任务的关键见解对各个主题产生了深远的影响，包括i）微孔中蒸汽传输理论的增强，ii）提高对膜蒸馏中污染和污染缓解的理解，iii）确定控制高级氧化过程的主要因素药物，以及iv）阐明磷酸盐沉淀中污染物的命运。这个合作项目将整合教育和研究，以培养和准备研究生，本科生和高中学生在干。研究人员将参与的活动包括：（i）招募代表性不足的群体，（ii）为K-12教育和公共宣传开发营养和微污染物模块，（iii）通过结构化计划提供本科生研究机会，和（四）通过整合当前研究课程的科学概念和技术原理来加强本科生和研究生教育。该奖项反映了NSF的法定基金会的使命是履行其使命，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价，被认为值得支持。

This project was awarded through the "National Science Foundation (NSF) / National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Joint Research on Environmental Sustainability Challenges" opportunity. The Food-Energy-Water (FEW) Nexus is described as complex and inter-related global resource systems that rely on different ecosystem resources. FEW Nexus problems stem from the imbalance of different user activities, such as agricultural and water-use practices, that do not maintain the integrity of ecosystems that provide the resources for those activities. A more specific example of a FEW Nexus problem is the use of fertilizer for agriculture coupled with wastewater treatment practices. The current economic model of fertilizer utilization is unsustainable for multiple reasons. Ammonia fertilizer is produced through the energy-intensive and expensive Haber Bosch process, and phosphorus for fertilizer is mined at considerable cost. Energy and chemicals are further consumed for the removal of fertilizer-associated nutrients from wastewater from agricultural run-off to prevent environmental and public health problems. At the same time, pharmaceuticals in wastewater are contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), but conventional treatment plants are unable to adequately remove all nutrients and CECs. Consequently, nitrogen, phosphorus, and pharmaceuticals pollute surface, ground, and coastal waters when the inadequately treated wastewater treatment plant effluent is discharged to the environment. A new paradigm is needed to enable the transformations to i) economically and environmentally sustainable nutrient reuse and ii) a safer and more effective management strategy for CECs in wastewater. Urine streams are rich in nutrients and have high concentrations of pharmaceuticals. However, urine is immediately diluted over 100 times by flushing and subsequent mixing with other wastewater streams, making it difficult to separate CECs and nutrient pollutants. A more rational approach would be to take advantage of the high concentrations of the nutrients and contaminants in undiluted urine by carrying out source-separation for decentralized resource recovery and pharmaceutical degradation, rather than treating the diluted urine at centralized wastewater treatment plants . This international collaborative project between the U.S. institutions of Columbia University and Vanderbilt University, and the Harbin Institute of Technology in China proposes an integrated treatment approach for source-separated urine, comprising i) ammonia recovery, ii) phosphate extraction, and iii) pharmaceutical degradation, to simultaneously achieve sustainable on-site nutrient recycling and contaminant elimination. Advancing fundamental knowledge on decentralized technologies for nutrient recovery and reuse and CEC elimination in urine source-separation and management will yield transformative impacts to enable the evolution of current wastewater management approaches to a more sustainable "resource recovery" approach.The goals of this project are to enhance fundamental knowledge of the principal phenomena governing nitrogen and phosphorous recovery and pharmaceutical degradation in source-separated urine, and to assess the high-level impacts of implementing decentralized wastewater management. Specific objectives are: 1) to advance fundamental understanding of ammonia and water vapor transport across hydrophobic microporous membranes, 2) elucidate the fouling mechanisms during ammonia recovery from hydrolyzed source-separated urine, and formulate appropriate fouling control strategies, 3) investigate the degradation of model pharmaceutical compounds by advanced oxidation processes, 4) evaluate the fate of model pharmaceutical compounds and heavy metals in phosphate recovery by induced precipitation, and 5) assess the national-level environmental and public health impacts of large-scale implementation of urine source-separation in the U.S. and China. This study will investigate nutrient recovery and pharmaceutical degradation of diverted urine to elucidate the common denominators influencing the different phenomena of, and identify the overall achievable performance of, ammonia separation, phosphate extraction, and pharmaceutical degradation through integrated research. The project will advance fundamental knowledge on the benefits and costs of implementing urine source-separation and decentralized treatment in the U.S. and China. Critical insights from the specific research tasks have far-reaching impacts on individual topics, including i) enhanced transport theory of vapor in micropores, ii) improving the understanding of fouling and fouling mitigation in membrane distillation, iii) identification of principal factors governing advanced oxidation processes for pharmaceuticals, and iv) elucidation of contaminant fate in phosphate precipitation. This collaborative project will integrate education and research to train and prepare graduate, undergraduate, and high school students in STEM. The researchers will engage in activities including: (i) recruitment of under-represented groups, (ii) development of nutrient and microcontaminant modules for K-12 education and public outreach, (iii) providing undergraduate research opportunities through structured programs, and (iv) enhancing undergraduate and graduate education by integrating scientific concepts and technical principles of the research current courses.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.