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Poplar Phytoremediation: Criteria for Successful Designs and
Long-term Operation
Advanced Hardwood Biofuels NorthwestPortland OR
April 12, 2016
Dr. Lou Licht, PE; Ecolotree, Inc.
1. Engineering with Plants - Phyto2. Roots move & remove ‘pollutants’3. Return results from HSRC ‘investment’4. Professor Erickson – road builder5. Speaking personally
Agenda
Phyto’s BIG IDEA: 1. Every drop 2. passes within a centimeter of a
root 3. before it reaches a drain pipe or
percolates.
Perspective : It was 26 years ago (1988)
that I planted the first poplar water treatment buffer
at The University of Iowa
Funded by Leopold Center for Sustainable
Agriculture
Word Phytoremediationcoined by Steve
Cunningham in 1992
Why start with poplar & willow phyto?
1. We can plant the root shallow or deepPredictable
Reactor Volume
6 foot deep roots for 5-year old hybrid poplar in Iowa
PHYTO FUNCTIONS :•Remove Water•Stabilization Soil Surface•Capture & Use Nutrients (N&P)•Adds Carbon and Oxygen
•Attached growth reactor
•Feeds & Grows MicrobesIncrease diversity Increase numberThroughout rhyzosphere
Picture by Dr. Phil Thompson, 1996, U Iowa Ph.D. Dissertation
Irrigated with coal bed methane water19 month old DN21 rootsKaycee WY. 2006
Grow fastPreformed root initialsGrow from polesUse water
Looking In Row Looking
Cross Row
PHYTO FUNCTIONS :•Removes Water(and solubles in the flow)
Landfill Leachate EBufferSalisbury NC.
Irrigation Water Use Pattern for Poplar in Washington Like Oregon (Smesrud, 2004)
Patterns:1. Older bigger
trees use more water
2. Trees use more water in hotter summer months
3. Midwest water use pattern will be same
Water taken up by roots flows via xylem to leaves & out STOMATES
This is old, well-proven data
Unregulated discharge
Why poplar phyto?2. Genetically selected and manipulated;
We select for biomass and phyto benefits
Greenwood Industries 25,000 acres poplar
3. Increased pollutant removal reactionsmicrobes + exudates + plant enzymes = increased pollutant reaction rates
Photo courtesy of Dr. Phil Thompson, Seattle University
Nitrification/Denitrification
2 Meters
(6 Feet)
N2NH3
NO3NO2
C
Expect Organics, Pathogens & Pharmaceuticals to be mineralized
2 Meters
(6 Feet)
BOD (fats, protein, carboy)
Pathogens
PharmaceuticalsC
Fluctuating water table pulses the redox potential
Poplar & willow roots thrive even when flooded
Why poplar & willow phyto?4. More peer-reviewed research essential for changing permitsInternational Phytosociety Journal & Environmental Science
& Technology are critical
Why poplar phyto?5. Over 400 Installed Sites
• Waste water Treatment• Manufactured gas plants• Refineries• Fuel terminals & tank farms• Military locations • Petrochemical spills• Landfills• Urban Brownfields• Urban and ag stream buffers
1990 - 2014 Ecolotree Project SitesAll Regulated Pollutant Treatment Projects
Landfill and Lagoon ETCapsLandfill leachate EBuffersOrganic chemical* EBuffers Arsenic EBuffers Brownfield EBufferWastewater Phyto Treat
Why Plants?6. Commodity
Cash Crop
Woody Fiber Lumber, Forage, and
Renewable Energy
Changes Economics!
Phyto MunicipalWaste water
Tertiary Treatment
10,000 towns have insufficient Ammonia – N &
Pathogen removal
3-cell lagoon
Oxidation ditch
Early data is like yeast – it makes the dough rise:Phyto test Cell
data
Three soils, 5 trees each,
irrigated daily with 3 liters
effluent
Trees July 2011
Early data is like yeast – it makes the dough rise
Chicago Landfill, Planted Fall 2009 is irrigated with 6 million liters leachate on 4 hectares, saves $150,000/year in hauling and treatment
Trees are 10 meters tall and very healthy after 5; 1.9 mgy leachate applied
•Mineral solids – sand, cobble, silt, clay
•Organic matter -(BOD)
•Nutrients that accelerate algae growth (N & P)
•Fecal pathogens (Virus, bacteria, fungus)
•Pharmaceuticals – man-made drugs and hormones
•Petrochemicals Pesticides, herbicides, •Automotive oils, fuels, grease•Industrial & home – paint, degreaser
•Metals (Cu, Zn, Pb)
•Salts – sodium chloride, ice remover, sea spray
•Predicted Rhyzofiltration Pollutant Removal Effect:Yes! Capture
Yes! Adsorb, Humus
Yes! Adsorb,Uptake
Yes! Capture many
Some! Adsorb& Breakdown
Yes! Capture, Adsorb, Humus & Breakdown
Yes!Precipitate
No! Not table salt
Criteria for Successful Design
Feasible – parts and assembly system is known Practical – useable by the ‘people in the field’ Economical – measured by $$$: Time, Talent, Mass of ‘Stuff’,
Efficiency of delivery Safe – acceptable risk for human and business health Legal – conforming to Laws of the Land. Moral – achieving sense of justice – example - ‘leaving options for
future generations’. Politically acceptable – fear management negotiated between
politicians, constituents & owners
Ecological – supports Ecosystem functions in natural cycles