Grant: Idea to Innovation

Nitrogen is one of the most essential nutrients for life. Large amounts of it are present in the air; however it is not available to the organisms and plants in this form. In order to make it available, it is turned into ammonia gas, using rather expensive chemical process which consumes substantial amounts of fossil fuels and energy, and produces greenhouse gases. At the same time, almost any municipal wastewater stream, and many industrial ones, contain large quantities of nitrogen in the form ammonium, or ammonia. Unless treated properly, it can cause environmental pollution problems. Currently, many wastewater treatment plants convert ammonium back into the nitrogen gas, the form it is present in the air. However, most of such technologies are very expensive and sometimes cannot be applied to some wastewater streams. The proposed technology of ammonium nitrogen recovery from wastewater enables us to remove it without chemical or biological destruction, and turn it into different commercial products. They can potentially substitute for some industrial synthetic ammonia products. This new technology will produce ammonia, or products containing it, from wastewater, reducing the need for the expensive synthetic ammonia production. At the same time, the wastewater treatment challenges to remove ammonium nitrogen will be addressed. Some of the products of this technology may be: purified wastewater, ammonia containing fertilizer, or ammonia gas. The latter can be used not only in agriculture, but also as an alternative fuel. The technology differs from any other nitrogen recovery technologies in that it is very sustainable, relatively simple, cheap, and does not require much additional resources. This research project will develop theoretical and engineering principles of this new technology, demonstrate its potential, and verify the applications of the final commercial products. The technology is then expected to attract early-stage investments and be ready for transferring to a new or established company for its commercialization. The technology will undoubtedly benefit many industrial fields in Canada, such as waste management, agriculture, and energy production.