PFI-TT: Reactive biofilm surfaces for efficient nitrogen management in liquid waste streams

University Of Utah, Salt Lake City UT

Investigators

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is to test and commercialize an energy-efficient, high-rate technology with a small carbon footprint to manage ammonium nitrogen in liquid waste streams. The project supports environmental sustainability through the protection of clean water. This project will use a new reactor design to utilize dissolved methane gas as a carbon source, achieving low nitrogen levels in the treated effluent and reducing the greenhouse gas footprint of wastewater treatment plants. This project may be suitable for small and large scale municipalities in the United States. Students involved in the project will obtain experiential training with an entrepreneurship mindset. The proposed project seeks to demonstrate and test critical parameters associated with obtaining low nitrogen in treated effluents while saving energy and carbon. More stringent limits are proposed for the total nitrogen content in treated wastewater that is discharged in estuaries, directly into the sea, or into other freshwater-sensitive water bodies. Conventional denitrification cannot meet this stringent criterion due to the low concentration biodegradable organic carbon in the influent needed for heterotrophic denitrification. The proposed technology combines anaerobic ammonia oxidation with methane supported denitrification in reactive biofilms to achieve low nitrogen in the final effluent. The process also uses dissolved methane gas to help denitrification, mitigating the challenges of greenhouse gas emissions. The partnerships with a technology vendor and several wastewater districts may ensure the commercialization of this research innovation. 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.