PFI-TT: Evaluation of a Pilot Process to Convert Waste Oil and Grease from Waste Water Treatment Plants into Yellow Grease, Water and Solids for Reuse

该创新-技术转化伙伴关系（PFI-TT）项目的商业潜力在于开发了一种创新、低成本和环保的方法，用于再利用从废水处理厂（WWTP）获得的脂肪、油和油脂（FOG）。更广泛的影响包括对社会的好处，学术界与产业界的合作，以及对学生的创业培训。 FOG是全球下水道堵塞的头号原因，通常作为无害废物填埋。清理费用很高，垃圾填埋的费用也在增加。 据估计，目前正在以每年5000万至1亿美元的成本填埋来自污水处理厂的100万吨烟雾。因此，FOG再利用对全球城市至关重要，它还可以回收有用的资源并降低城市的碳足迹。该项目将促进采用这种无害环境的技术，以减少填埋废物处理和可持续能源生产。大多数社区都需要改变垃圾填埋场的用途，重新利用能源/材料将促进资源节约。 该项目将发展研究生领导和四名本科生在技术商业化领域的知识和经验。该项目将鼓励代表性不足的群体参与。拟议的项目将通过展示试验系统的性能来扩大FOG分离过程，这是商业化的一个重大进步。 然后将使用所得性能数据来设计和构建商业规模的系统。 本演示的目的是（1）确定WWTP油脂成分随时间的变化，（2）生产足够的分离黄色油脂，以测试生物燃料生产中的可用性，以及（3）确定副产品固体和水是否可以作为固体燃料/消化器气体和工业用水重复使用。 该技术的智力优势在于，无溶剂萃取方法可以克服下水道油脂的FOG乳液、杂质和高水分含量的挑战，并且可以产生低硫产品，该产品可以出售给下游生物燃料生产商用于生物柴油生产。从该过程中衍生的其他副产品，如水和固体，也可以销售并抵消过程成本。该方法成本低，环境友好。这项应用研究可以降低启动风险并促进随后的商业化。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 commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project resides in the innovative, low cost and environmentally friendly approach developed to reuse fats, oils and greases (FOG) obtained from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The broader impacts include benefits to the society, academic-industry collaboration, and entrepreneurship training to students. FOGs are the number one cause of sewer pipe blockage worldwide and are usually landfilled as a nonhazardous waste. The cleanup is costly and the cost of landfill is also increasing. An estimated 1 million tons of FOG from WWTPs is currently being landfilled at a cost of $50-100 million per year. Therefore, FOG reuse is critical to municipalities worldwide, which can also recover useful resources and lower carbon footprints of municipalities. This project will promote the adaptation of this environmentally friendly technology to reduce landfill waste disposal and sustainable energy generation. Landfill diversion is a need in most communities, and repurposed energy/materials will promote resource conservation. This project will develop the knowledge and experience of the graduate student leader and four undergraduate students in the area of technology commercialization. This project will encourage participation of underrepresented groups. The proposed project will scale up the FOG separation process by demonstrating performance of a pilot system, which is a significantly stride to commercialization. The resulting performance data will be then used to design and construct a commercial size system. The objectives of this demonstration are to (1) establish the variability in composition of WWTP grease over time, (2) to produce sufficient separated yellow grease to test for usability in the production of biofuel, and (3) determine if byproduct solids and water can be reused as solid fuel/digester gas and industrial water. The intellectual merit of this technology is that the solvent-free extraction approach can overcome the challenges of FOG emulsion, impurities and high moisture content of the sewer grease, and can result in a low sulfur product that can be sold to downstream biofuel producers for biodiesel production. Other by-products derived from the process, such as water and solids, can also be marketable and offset the process cost. This process is low cost and environmentally friendly. This applied research can reduce start-up risk and facilitate subsequent commercialization.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.