Post on 16-Oct-2021
Conversion of Wastewaters into Resources
Rita Noelle MOUSSA
SupervisorsDr Davide DIONISIPr Graeme PATON
PhD Chemical EngineeringHydro Nation Scholar
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WATER IS LIFE
“It is estimated that by 2040, global water demand could increase by more than 50%, putting additional stress on the vital resource” UN News, 2021
“The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the critical importance of sanitation, hygiene and adequate access to clean water for preventing and containing diseases” UN Sustainable development goals, 2021
“It’s time to change our Relationship with water” Pr Bob Ferrier, CREW, 2021
Recognize ‘true value’ of water, UN urges, marking World Day | | UN News
Water and Sanitation – United Nations Sustainable Development
We must start to truly value water - Prof. Bob Ferrier | The Scotsman
Circular Economy?
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WHY CIRCULAR ECONOMY?
“DISPOSAL” to “REUSE” and “Resource recovery”
Environmental protectionEconomical balanceSocial benefits
UNESCO, 2017
CRW2017_17 Water and the circular economy FINAL.pdf (crew.ac.uk)
reduce reuse recycle ZERO WASTE SCOTLAND water - Google Search
User --------- Sewage system ---------Wastewater treatment plant -------Treated water
Closed system loops
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BIOREMEDIATION, WASTEWATER TREATMENT
Aerobic wastewater treatment (microorganisms need oxygen to remove pollutants), most
popular Efficient
Energy intensive and expensive High sludge disposal
No resource recovery
Anaerobic wastewater treatment (fermentation, microorganisms do not need oxygen), increased
interestEfficient
Non energy intensive and less expensive regarding the maintenance
Low sludge disposalRecovery of valuable chemicals, energy and organic
fertilizer
Needs to be improved as a cost-effective process
Anaerobic vs. Aerobic Wastewater Treatment Systems: What's the Difference? (samcotech.com)
Malaby_Biogas_570x360-1.jpg (570×360) (adbioresources.org) 4
AEROBIC VS. ANAEROBIC TREATMENTS
+ Resource recovery
Cost differences ?
E, G., Š, K., BODÍK, I., DERCO, J. and K, K., 2005. Evaluation of Anaerobic-Aerobic Wastewater Treatment Plant OperationHow Much Do Aerobic Wastewater Treatment Systems Cost? (samcotech.com)
Take into consideration(space, equipment, chemicals, labor, engineer, design, testing and taxes.)
Aerobic treatment: High operation costs
Anaerobic treatment: Low operation costs
Organic matter + Nutrients + Contaminants
Choose the most adequate technology +
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ANAEROBIC DIGESTION
ERSAHIN, M.E., OZGUN, H., DERELI, R. and OZTURK, I., 2011. Anaerobic Treatment of Industrial Effluents: An Overview of Applications.What is Carbon Pricing? | S&P GlobalDIONISI, D. and SILVA, I.M.O., 2016. Production of ethanol, organic acids and hydrogen: an opportunity for mixed culture biotechnology?
Biogas = Renewable energy
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CURRENT ANAEROBIC DIGESTION APPLICATIONS
ANAEROBIC DIGESTION – THE FUTURE OF RECYCLING
Gask farm biogas plant near Turriff, ABERDEENSHIRE
Waste into Energy
and Bio-fertilizer
Anaerobic Digestion - The Future of Recycling - Gask Farm7
NEW PERSPECTIVE, WASTEWATER TREATMENT
Wastewater treatment + OFMSW
VFAs / alcohols Hydrogen / Methane
Bio-fertilizer
Two-stage process1- Hydrogen, VFAs and
alcohols2- Methane
Scheme of the proposed process for the combined treatment ofmunicipal wastewaters and OFMSW. The boxes indicate theprocesses investigated in this project.
NOVELTY
Anaer-R: Anaerobic reactor, Pur-: Purification, OFMSW: Organic fraction of municipal solid waste, S-: Sludge, SCOA-sep: Short chain organic acid separation, Meth-: Methanol, Alg-R: Algal reactor, Aer-:R Aerobic reactor, VFAs: volatile fatty acids.
Leverhulme Center for doctoral training in “Sustainable production of chemicals and materials”
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METHODOLOGY
Inoculum (anaerobic mesophilic),from Gask Turriff
Synthetic wastewater model
Minerals and trace elements1.5 L Bioreactor H2 and CH4 sensors Milligas counter
BlueVis software
Gas monitoring
VFAs and ethanol monitoring GC-FID analysis
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RESULTS
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
Isocaproicacid
Caproic acid Ethanol Acetic acid Propionicacid
Isovalericacid
Butyric acid Isobutyricacid
Lactic acid
Conc
entr
atio
n (g
l-1)
Produced VFAs and ethanol
1% inoculum
5% inoculum
10% inoculum
A: Concentration of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and ethanol produced, analyzed using GC-FID. In each reactor, a different percentage of inoculum wasadded to the medium containing 0.5 g/L glucose, at pH 9.5 at room temperature in a batch process. The experiments were kept for 2 weeks. Insignificantgas production was observed. B: Percentage of COD converted into VFAs and ethanol (Blue) and percentage of COD that has not been converted intothese products (orange). Inoculum concentrations (1,5 and 10 %)
A
1%
5%
10%
B
No significant gas
production
0.5 g/L glucose, pHi 9.3, room temperature
Microbial genomicanalysis
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PROSPECTS AND EXPERIMENTS
• Study the effect of different parameters on gas production, VFAs and ethanol
• Microbial genomic analysis to identify microbial species involved in the fermentation
• Combine with municipal solid waste to increase the concentration of organic matter
• Opportunity to work on real wastewater
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RENEWABLES, MARKET VALUE
The economic value of each product increases with the number of carbons (C) and is higher than CH4. Ethanol has the largest production per year and is considered an alternative for oil-derived petrol. The potential production of these chemicals, in UK and on a global basis, obtained from AD is also presented. CO2 Market price is increasing (≈ 87£ per metric ton) to reduce carbon emissions.
Silva, IMO. & Dionisi, D. (2016). 'Anaerobic digestion of wheat grass under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions and different inoculum sources’Dionisi, D. & Silva, IMO. (2016). 'Production of ethanol, organic acids and hydrogen: an opportunity for mixed culture biotechnology?Dionisi, D., Bolaji, I., Nabbanda, D. & Silva, IMO (2018) 'Calculation of the potential production of methane and chemicals using anaerobic digestion'
VFAsBio-plastics
Food additivesPreservativesNatural dyeCosmetics
PharmaceuticalsIndustrial solventsPesticide/herbicide
HydrogenOil refineryBio-fertilizerBio-energy
Acetic acidBio-plasticsNatural dye
Pesticide/herbicideSolvent
EthanolIndustrial solvents
Alcohol production (beer, wine,…)
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CHALLENGES
Collaboration (communities and
industries/small businesses)
The needs of the landowner, consumers, space, characterization
of the waste
Effect of policy implementation
There is NO “ONE SIZE FITS ALL”
Implementation of a cost-effective process
Biofertilizer, its toxicity?Optimize the production of the valuable chemicals
From Lab to Field work
INTERDISCIPLINARY
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CONCLUSION
Water Safe for
EVERYONE 1 4