2012 NWRI Clarke Prize Conference

Research and Innovations in Urban Water Sustainability

Recovery of Nutrients

Friday, November 2, 2012James L Barnard, Ph.D., D.Ing. h.c. BCEE, WEF Fellow

DRIVERS

The Looming Food Crises

Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize 2011

World Population Growth

10,000 BC……5 millionYear 1 ……….. 250 million1800……………1 billion1930…………...2 billion1960…………...3 billion1975………..….4 billion1987………..….5 billion2000…………...6 billion

TodayBillion

Today

6.9Billion

Population Structures by Age and Sex, 2005 Millions

300 100 100 300300 200 100 0 100 200 300

Less Developed Regions

More Developed Regions

Male Female Male Female

80+ 75-79 70-74 65-69 60-64 55-59 50-54 45-49 40-44 35-39 30-34 25-29 20-24 15-19 10-14

5-90-4

Age

Source: United Nations, World Population Prospects: The 2004 Revision, 2005.

Age Distribution of the World’s Population

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

1950 1990 2030

Within 2035 60 % of the global population will live in cities

World Watch Institute 2007: > 50 % is already living in urban areas

Urbanization in the world

Foreign Policy – May/June 2011

As the new year begins, the price of wheat is setting an all-time high in the United Kingdom. Food riots are spreading across Algeria. Russia is importing grain to sustain its cattle herds until spring

grazing begins. India is wrestling with an 18-percent annual food inflation rate,

sparking protests. China is looking abroad for potentially massive quantities of wheat

and corn. The Mexican government is buying corn futures to avoid

unmanageable tortilla price rises. the U.N. Food and Agricultural organization announced that its food

price index for December hit an all-time high.”

Other salient information

219,000 more mouths to feed every night US & Canada supply 2/3 of surplus food US now use 40% of grains for bio-fuel The world food safety net has evaporated Food production in some countries rely on

water bubbles Once bubbles are depleted these would become

grain importers Increased affluence requires more water and nutrients Increasing cost of fertilizers

BNR

Possible Resource RecoveryCooling Towers

Potable Water

Heat Recovery

Composting

Irrigation

Used Water

UrineSeparation

PowerProtein Recovery 

Gas

Fertilizer

Abundance of Chemicals on Earth

Nitrification

Nitrifyingbacteria

Ammonification

The Nitrogen Cycle

Decomposers(aerobic andanaerobic bacteriaand fungi)

Ammonium (NH4+) Nitrites (NO2

‐)

Nitrates (NO3‐)Nitrogen‐fixing

bacteria inroot nodulesof legumes

Precipitation

Plants

Nitrogen‐fixing soil bacteria

Assimilation

Nitrogen in atmosphere (N2)

Denitrifyingbacteria

Nitrifying bacteria

Recovery of Nitrogen

Pre-industrial revolution, many animals fewer people – manure used as fertilizer

Post industrial revolution, fewer animals more people Malthus wrote thesis “Essay on principle of

population” predicting mass starvation - Rwanda Discovery of Haber-Bosch process to fix nitrogen

from the atmosphere for munitions saved the world -BUT IT CONSUMES MORE THAN 1% OF ALL ENERGY AND OF NATURAL GAS

Every kg produced needs 12 kWh or energy as natural gas and power.

Opportunities at wastewater treatment plants

Ion exchange was proposed in the late 60ties for removing and capturing of ammonia – not successful

Nitrification/denitrification returns nitrogen to atmosphere but remains most cost effective

Ammonia in return streams can be captured byStripping and captureStruvite formationComposting

Removed with phosphorus

Clinoptilite Ion Exchange for Ammonia Recovery

Ammonia Stripping and capture from return streams - Oslo Norway From Evans 2009

HNO3 used for

absorption

Lower portion of adsorption column

Final Product 54% NH4 NO3

90% nitrogen removal

COST EFFECTIVE TOTAL NITROGEN REMOVAL

Nitrogen recovery

Only viable if less energy is used than fixing Nitrogen from the atmosphereHaber-Bosch process uses about 12

kWh/kg nitrogen fertilizer

`

Phosphorus recovery

The Local Phosphorus Cycle

PlantResidues

AnimalManures

and Biosolids AtmosphericDeposition

MineralFertilizers

OrganicPhosphorus• Microbial• Plant residue• Humus

Immobilization Soil SolutionPhosphorus• HPO4

‐2

• H2PO4‐1

Plant Uptake

Leaching(usually minor)

OrganicPhosphorus(CaP, FeP,MnP, AIP)

MineralSurfaces

(Clays, Fe andAI oxides,carbonates)

Runoff anderosion

Primary Minerals(Apatite)

ComponentInput to SoilLoss from Soil

Mineralization

Dissolution

Precipitation

Adsorption

Weathering

Desorption

Crop Harvest

Historical Sources of Phosphorus Fertilizer

A brief history of phosphorus: From the philosopher’s stone to nutrient recovery and reuse K. Ashley ,D. Cordell, D.Mavinic –Chemosphere 84 (2011) 737–746

Future Scenarios

Towards global phosphorus security: A systems framework for phosphorus recovery and reuse options D. Cordell, A. Rosemarin, J.J. Schröder , A.L. Smit - Chemosphere 84 (2011) 747–758

23,000,000

Phosphorus is a limited resource

Asimov on Chemistry

“We may be able to substitute nuclear power for coal power, and plastics for wood, and yeast for meat, and friendliness for isolation, but for phosphorus there is neither substitute nor replacement.” Isaac Asimov

Concept of Complete Phosphorus Recovery

Adapted from Petzet & Cornel, 2010

Incinerator Ash

Deposit in dedicated site for future recovery

Japan

http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/12/35/46084613.pdf

North AmericaStruvite

Mg.NH4.PO4. 6 H2O

Also recovers up to 20% of nitrogen 

Ostara Plant at Rock Creek OR

Treatment of Industrial Waste at Olburgen

Using corn for bio-fuel production

With 40% of the grain crop going to bio-fuels for no gain in energy and enormous subsidies

The Ultimate Nutrient Recycle

Urine Recovery

Urine recovery Urine contains 70% to 80% of

the Nitrogen and Phosphorus in domestic wastewater

When urine is separated and stored ammonia is hydrolyzed and the pH goes up

Within a few weeks the urine is totally free or pathogens

Research underway to recover struvite

Excess ammonia recovered with stripping and production of ammonia sulphate

Dual flush toilet

Backyard garden Kampala Uganda

MOTTO OF THE DAY

What doesn´t kill you makes you stronger !!!!!!!!