I-Corps: Struvite Recovery for Organic Food Production

I-Corps项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是开发一种回收废水中磷酸盐和氨作为鸟粪石的技术。鸟粪石是一种缓释复合肥。该技术可降低废水处理成本，改善鸟粪石回收工艺。从废水中回收鸟粪石是磷肥工业生产的可持续替代品，磷肥工业生产导致天然磷矿储量迅速枯竭。随着全球化肥供应链的中断，化肥价格大幅上涨，鸟粪石回收的收入也随之增加。不使用水溶性肥料的农业预计将迅速增长。与现有的有机肥不同，用该技术生产的鸟粪石肥料具有较高的氮磷值。I-Corps项目的基础是开发矿物基镁基改性材料和生物基粘合剂，以经济有效地从废水中回收鸟粪石。提高废水pH值，在富营养化废水中补充镁离子，形成鸟粪石沉淀。这种矿物在结晶器中沉淀成颗粒，以便收获产品。本文提出的鸟粪石回收技术是利用矿物回收磷酸盐和氨作为粉状鸟粪石这一天然肥料，并使用生物基结合剂将鸟粪石粉末快速转化为粒状有机肥。该技术结合了两种低成本矿物和一种物理矿物活化方法，同时补充镁离子和提高废水pH值以形成鸟粪石粉末。生物基结合剂的发现提高了鸟粪石粉造粒的生产能力。这项技术可能会改变废水资源回收的总体策略。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 a technology to recover phosphate and ammonia in wastewater as struvite. Struvite is a slow-release compound fertilizer. This proposed technology may decrease the cost of wastewater treatment and improve the struvite recovery process. Struvite recovery from wastewater is a sustainable alternative to the industrial production of phosphorus fertilizers that have resulted in rapidly depleting natural phosphate rock reserves. As global supply chains of fertilizer have been disrupted, fertilizer prices have increased substantially, increasing the revenue of struvite recovery. Farming that does not use water-soluble fertilizers is anticipated to grow rapidly. Unlike the currently available organic fertilizers, the struvite fertilizers produced with this proposed technology have high nitrogen and phosphorus values.This I-Corps project is based on the development of mineral-based magnesium-based amendment materials and bio-based binding agents for cost-effective recovery of struvite from wastewater. When wastewater pH is raised and magnesium ions are supplemented in nutrient-rich wastewater, struvite precipitates form. This mineral is precipitated into granules in a crystallizer for product harvesting. The proposed struvite recovery technology uses minerals to recover phosphate and ammonia as powdery struvite, a natural fertilizer, and applies bio-based binding agents to quickly turn the struvite powder into granular organic fertilizer. The proposed technology integrates two low-cost minerals and a physical mineral activation method for simultaneous supplementation of magnesium ions and elevation of wastewater pH for formation of struvite powder. The discovery of bio-based binding agents for pelletizing struvite powder increases the production capacity. This technological may change the overarching strategy of wastewater resource recovery.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.