SBIR Phase II: Real-Time Nitrogen Sensor for Wastewater Treatment Optimization

这个小型企业技术转移研究(STTR)第二阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是为废水处理过程控制和自动化提供氮传感器，可能每年为美国市政废水处理行业节省6亿美元的电力。城市污水处理过程是基于能源密集型曝气的。目前，监测的主要方法是将“抓取样本”送到实验室，延迟接收结果。通过实现对高耗能的脱氮过程的实时过程控制，可以减少20%或更多的电能使用。对每个城市污水处理厂的经济影响是平均每年节省200k美元的能源，回收期不到6个月，并降低运营成本，同时减少/防止失控的流出物事件。实时氮传感器的竞争技术受到性能差、维护需求高、成本高和可靠性问题的限制。建议的新型传感器提供了一种可靠、经济、低维护的替代方案，在直接饮用水再利用(DPR)以及农业化肥径流、工业排放和饲料场监测中的环境水质管理方面具有潜在的应用。拟议中的系统将有助于确保国家的清洁水供应。此外，作为在相关领域使用的平台技术，未来的应用包括用于实时制造过程控制的工业传感器，用于化学和生物防御的国土安全传感，以及用于护理点诊断的生物医学。本项目二期工程计划开发一种红外探测传感器，用于实时监测城市污水中的硝酸盐、亚硝酸盐和氨氮。该技术解决了水中的强红外衰减问题，这是第一个基于光纤逝去波技术的工业规模传感器应用，通过红外波导引导可调谐量子级联激光器的中红外辐射，而不是通过废水本身。采用离子交换材料作为封装介质可减少干扰，并起到防止污垢的作用。新的自动校准控制算法可实现长期自主运行，并确保可靠的信噪比，可全天候实时控制能源密集型曝气过程。拟议的氮传感器将具有从0.1ppm到250ppm的广泛灵敏度，并可用于指纹在中红外光谱范围内的其他重要化学物种，如磷和有机污染物，使其成为水质评估的强大工具。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 Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) Phase II project will be to supply nitrogen sensors for wastewater treatment process control and automation, potentially saving $600 M per year in electric energy for the U.S. municipal wastewater treatment industry. Municipal wastewater treatment processes are based on energy-intensive aeration. Currently, the primary monitoring method is sending “grab-samples” to a lab, with delays in receiving results. By enabling real-time process control of the energy-consuming denitrification process, electric energy usage can be reduced by 20% or more. The economic impact to each municipal wastewater treatment plant is an average energy savings of $200 k per year, with less than 6 months payback, and lower operating costs while reducing/preventing out-of-control effluent events. Competing technologies for real-time nitrogen sensors are limited by poor performance, high maintenance needs, high cost, and reliability problems. The proposed new sensor offers a reliable, cost-effective, low-maintenance alternative with potential applications in direct potable reuse (DPR), and managing environmental water quality in agricultural fertilizer runoff, industrial discharge and feed-lot monitoring. The proposed system will help assure the nation’s clean water supply. In addition, as a platform technology for use in related fields, future applications include industrial sensors for real-time manufacturing process control, homeland security sensing for chemical and biological defense, and biomedical use for point-of-care diagnostics. This STTR Phase II project proposes to develop an infrared-detection sensor for real-time monitoring of nitrogen as nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia in municipal wastewater. The technology addresses strong IR attenuation in water with the first industrial-scale sensor application based on a fiber-optic evanescent wave technique, guiding mid-IR radiation from a tunable quantum-cascade laser through an IR waveguide rather than through the wastewater itself. The incorporation of an ion-exchange material as an encapsulating medium reduces interference and acts as protection against fouling. Novel control algorithms for auto-calibration enable long-term autonomous operation and ensure a reliable signal-to-noise ratio, for 24x7 real-time control of the energy-intensive aeration process. The proposed nitrogen sensor will have a wide range of sensitivity, from 0.1 ppm to 250 ppm, and can be used for other important chemical species with fingerprints in the mid-IR spectral range, such as phosphorus and organic contaminants, making it a robust tool for water quality assessment.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.