Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
University of British Columbia
$20,000.00
Sustainable biological solutions for treatment of industrial wastewaters
EF 2013-14
Résumé
The long term and general objective of the research program is to develop sustainable solutions for the treatment of Canadian industrial wastewaters, focusing especially on small systems that are not easily treatable and using technologies that not only treat the waste water, but consume less energy, are economically viable and in many cases will produce energy in the form of methane and/or waste heat. Many industrial waste streams contain high strength organic contamination or high concentrations of salts (brines). In addition to the contaminants in wastewaters, seasonality and variable or low volumetric flow rates are impediments to designing typical wastewater treatment plants for these industries. In many cases the wastewaters are not treated or are discharged to a local municipality for treatment. Municipalities struggle to treat these wastewaters because they use treatment processes designed for low strength municipal wastewater and not for high strength industrial wastewater. Typical aerobic treatment processes are inefficient for the treatment of high-strength wastewater. The short term objectives covered by this research proposal involve studies on the removal of perchlorate or nitrate from brines, the development of processes for the sustainable treatment of high strength winery waste and wastewater and the development of anaerobic processes to treat oil sands tailings water, converting the contaminants into energy. The research is unique in that the focus is on the treatment of small industrial wastewaters relevant to the Canadian economy and it will include the development of the basic science to support processes that are energy-efficient, suitable for small systems and may produce methane (biogas) as a renewable energy source. The methane can either be used by the producers to fuel their own generators for electricity, for heating, or be sold to fuel providers. Organisms degrading high strength wastes can also produce heat which can be recovered for other uses in the facility.
Programme
Discovery Grants Program - Individual
Bénéficiaire
Emplacement
British Columbia, Canada
Type de bénéficiaire
Academia
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
Tel que publié
Application id
341331-2012
Name nom
Roberts, Deborah
Department département
Okanagan - Engineering, School of
Organization id
2
Institution établissement
University of British Columbia
Province en
British Columbia
Province fr
Colombie-Britannique
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2013
Competition year année de concours
2012
Award amount
20000
Program id
RGPIN
Program name en
Discovery Grants Program - Individual
Program name fr
Programme de subventions à la découverte - individuelles
Group en
Discovery grants programs
Group fr
Programmes de subventions à la découverte
Committee code
1511
Committee name en
Materials and Chemical Engineering
Committee name fr
Génie chimique et des matériaux
Area of application code
702
Area of application group en
Transportation systems and services
Area of application group fr
Services et systèmes de transport
Area of application en
Water
Area of application fr
Maritime
Research subject code
1502
Research subject group en
Environmental engineering
Research subject group fr
Génie de l'environnement
Research subject en
Waste water treatment
Research subject fr
Traitement des eaux usées
Partie
2
Nb partie
5
Application title
Sustainable biological solutions for treatment of industrial wastewaters
Keyword
NSERC
Application summary
The long term and general objective of the research program is to develop sustainable solutions for the treatment of Canadian industrial wastewaters, focusing especially on small systems that are not easily treatable and using technologies that not only treat the waste water, but consume less energy, are economically viable and in many cases will produce energy in the form of methane and/or waste heat. Many industrial waste streams contain high strength organic contamination or high concentrations of salts (brines). In addition to the contaminants in wastewaters, seasonality and variable or low volumetric flow rates are impediments to designing typical wastewater treatment plants for these industries. In many cases the wastewaters are not treated or are discharged to a local municipality for treatment. Municipalities struggle to treat these wastewaters because they use treatment processes designed for low strength municipal wastewater and not for high strength industrial wastewater. Typical aerobic treatment processes are inefficient for the treatment of high-strength wastewater. The short term objectives covered by this research proposal involve studies on the removal of perchlorate or nitrate from brines, the development of processes for the sustainable treatment of high strength winery waste and wastewater and the development of anaerobic processes to treat oil sands tailings water, converting the contaminants into energy. The research is unique in that the focus is on the treatment of small industrial wastewaters relevant to the Canadian economy and it will include the development of the basic science to support processes that are energy-efficient, suitable for small systems and may produce methane (biogas) as a renewable energy source. The methane can either be used by the producers to fuel their own generators for electricity, for heating, or be sold to fuel providers. Organisms degrading high strength wastes can also produce heat which can be recovered for other uses in the facility.
