I-CORPS: Assessing the commercial potential of reactive biofilm surfaces-based waste treatment technology

I-Corps项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是开发废水处理技术，旨在利用碳和能源效率管理液体废物流中的氮。由于地表水易受氮污染，污水处理厂管理人员面临着巨大的压力，需要对其流出物中的氮进行管理。随着全球范围内的极端干旱，保护地表水变得极其重要。此外，拟议中的技术旨在管理环境中的氮循环，这是美国国家工程院确定的14项重大挑战之一。这项技术建立在反应器设计的基础科学之上，有望减少废水处理厂的温室气体排放。拟议的技术支持清洁水的管理，同时通过节能和碳中和设计的废水处理涵盖环境可持续性。I-Corps项目的基础是开发一种用于污水处理的氮管理技术，该技术结合了能源和碳效率。该技术将厌氧氨氧化（ANAMMOX）和甲烷气耦合异养反硝化（反硝化和甲烷氧化；DAMO）集成在颗粒生物膜中，提供紧凑和节能的氮管理过程。拟议的技术可以实现最终废水中的低氮，并使用溶解的甲烷气体来支持反硝化，从而减轻温室气体排放的挑战（减少碳足迹）。建议的下一步是评估实验室规模的原型并制定成本分析计划。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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 broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of wastewater treatment technology aimed at managing nitrogen in liquid waste streams with carbon and energy efficiencies. Wastewater treatment plant managers are under intense pressure to manage nitrogen in their effluents because of surface water vulnerability to nitrogen pollution. With extreme droughts around the globe, protecting surface water becomes extremely important. Further, the proposed technology is aimed at managing the nitrogen cycle in the environment, which is one of the 14 grand challenges identified by the National Academy of Engineers. The technology builds upon the fundamental science of reactor design and promises to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater treatment plants. The proposed technology supports the management of clean water while encompassing environmental sustainability through wastewater treatment designed with energy-efficiency and carbon neutrality.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a nitrogen management technology for wastewater treatment that incorporates energy and carbon efficiency. The proposed technology integrates anaerobic ammonia oxidation (ANAMMOX) with methane gas coupled heterotrophic denitrification (Denitrification And Methane Oxidation; DAMO) in granular biofilms to provide a compact and energy-efficient nitrogen management process. The proposed technology may accomplish low nitrogen in the final effluent and use dissolved methane gas to support denitrification, thus mitigating the challenges of greenhouse gas emissions (reduced carbon footprints). The proposed next steps are to evaluate the lab-scale prototype and develop a cost analysis plan.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.