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

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.