ECO-CBET: Collaborative Research: Towards a Circular Nitrogen Bioeconomy: Tandem Bio- and Chemocatalysis for Sustainable Nitrogen Recovery and Nitrous Oxide Mitigation

城市和农场将富含氮的化合物排放到接收水中，造成环境污染。目前从水中去除富氮化合物的技术成本高昂，能源密集型，给社会带来了巨大的经济和环境成本。解决这个废物问题的困难就是为什么美国国家科学院、工程和医学研究院将管理氮循环称为工程学的“重大挑战”之一。该项目的目标是开发关于如何浓缩、分离和将废弃的富氮化合物转化为动物饲料和有益产品的新的科学知识。这一成果将通过跨学科的生物学和化学研究来实现，目的是从废物中去除富含氮的化合物，并将其转化为可用于生产有用产品的化学品。将对基于这些新技术的新企业的环境影响和潜力进行评估。这项工作的成功完成将防止氮污染，减少温室气体排放，并提供一种新的可持续的化学品原料。该项目的其他好处将包括劳动力发展和对代表性不足的小学生的教育推广。这些努力将促进STEM领域的多样性，提高公众的科学素养。城市和农业环境中产生大量富含氮的废流，对人类和生态健康造成严重的环境负担。传统的氮管理将富氮化合物视为废物，而不是可回收的资源。这种方法成本高、能源密集，并会导致大量温室气体--一氧化二氮(N2O)的排放。这一研究项目的目标是开发新的技术方法，将富氮废物转化为化肥以外的高价值产品。这项研究项目的目标是：(1)使细菌对稀氮进行生物浓缩，然后将其用作动物饲料或生物化工生产；(2)开发同时脱氮和一氧化二氮回收用作绿色氧化剂的微生物生物工艺；(3)设计催化工艺以捕获和激活用于甲烷选择性氧化的稀氧化亚氮气流；以及(4)确定最佳产品、原料和技术组合，以满足不同利益攸关方的需求以及成本和可持续性目标。这种方法的新奇之处在于，可以高效地回收氮，将其作为生物化学品和动物饲料的组成部分。这种方法集成了化学、生物和环境工程学科的专业知识。这项研究的成功完成将通过可持续的废物氮管理和减少一氧化二氮排放而造福社会。教育和工业外展将带来更多好处。这些努力包括在一个气候行动项目中向代表不足的小学生提供服务。与行业合作伙伴的综合学习经验和研究小组之间的研究生交流将促进未来劳动力的发展，以应对可持续发展方面的重大挑战。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。

Cities and farms discharge nitrogen-rich compounds into receiving waters, resulting in pollution of the environment. Current technologies to remove nitrogen-rich compounds from water are costly and energy intensive, resulting in great economic and environmental costs to society. The difficulty in addressing this waste problem is why the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine calls managing the nitrogen cycle one of the “Grand Challenges” of engineering. The goal of this project is to develop new scientific knowledge about how to concentrate, separate, and transform waste nitrogen-rich compounds into animal feed and beneficial products. This outcome will be achieved through cross-disciplinary biology and chemistry research to remove nitrogen-rich compounds from waste streams and to transform them into chemicals that can be used for the production of useful products. The environmental impact and potential for new businesses based on these new technologies will be evaluated. Successful completion of this work will prevent nitrogen pollution, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and provide a new sustainable feedstock for chemicals. Other benefits from this project will include workforce development and educational outreach to underrepresented grade-school students. These efforts will promote increased diversity in STEM fields and improve scientific literacy of the general public.Nitrogen-rich waste streams are produced in large quantities from urban and agricultural settings and impose severe environmental burdens to human and ecological health. Conventional nitrogen management treats nitrogen-rich compounds as waste rather than as a recoverable resource. This approach is costly, energy intensive, and results in the release of large amounts of the potent greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide (N2O). The goal of this research project is to develop novel technological approaches to convert nitrogen-rich waste into high-value products beyond fertilizers. This research project has the objectives to: (1) Engineer bacteria to bioconcentrate dilute waste nitrogen, which then can be used as animal feed or for bio-based chemical production; (2) Develop a microbial bioprocess for simultaneous nitrogen removal and nitrous oxide recovery for use as a green oxidant; (3) Design catalytic processes to capture and activate dilute nitrous oxide streams for the selective oxidation of methane; and (4) Identify optimal products, feedstocks, and technology combinations to satisfy diverse stakeholder needs and cost and sustainability objectives. The novelty of the approach lies in the energy-efficient recovery of nitrogen as a building block for bio-based chemicals and animal feed. This approach integrates expertise across chemical, biological, and environmental engineering disciplines. Successful completion of this research will benefit society through sustainable waste nitrogen management and the mitigation of nitrous oxide emissions. Additional benefits will result from educational and industrial outreach. Such efforts include outreach to underrepresented grade-school students in a climate action project. Integrative learning experiences with industrial partners and graduate student exchanges between research groups will enhance the development of a future workforce to address grand challenges in sustainability.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.