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Title: Seasonal treatment and economic evaluation of an algal wastewater system for energy and nutrient recovery

Journal Article · · Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C9EW00242A · OSTI ID:1562865
ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [2];  [2]; ORCiD logo [3]
  1. Engineering Research Center for Re-inventing the Nation's Urban Water Infrastructure (ReNUWIt); Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)
  2. Engineering Research Center for Re-inventing the Nation's Urban Water Infrastructure (ReNUWIt); New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces, NM (United States)
  3. Engineering Research Center for Re-inventing the Nation's Urban Water Infrastructure (ReNUWIt); Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States); National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Algal systems have been proposed for treating wastewater while simultaneously recovering energy and nutrients. In this study, an integrated system with algal treatment of municipal wastewater followed by hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) conversion and upgrading steps was evaluated. Pilot-scale treatment of primary clarified municipal wastewater effluent was evaluated in different seasons (cold, warm, and a transitional period in between) with different strains of algae selected for each season, and the warm season strain successfully met all local discharge regulations. The collected wastewater algae biomass was subjected to HTL at 300 and 350 °C and both energy and nutrient recoveries were much improved at the higher temperature. The transitional batch was found to have the highest biocrude oil yields, and its co-products had the highest nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) contents. Economic analysis of conversion processes informed by the observed HTL product yields was conducted. While this revealed that targeting biofuel products alone was not profitable, adding nutrient co-products (e.g., ammonium sulfate fertilizer), adjusting algae harvesting time, and incorporating component-specific conversion processes could substantially improve system economics. Overall, this study highlights connections between treatment and conversion processes, and demonstrates how these connections can be leveraged for more efficient resource recovery without compromising treatment operations.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1562865
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5100-74863; ESWRAR
Journal Information:
Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology, Vol. 5, Issue 9; ISSN 2053-1400
Publisher:
Royal Society of ChemistryCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 10 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Figures / Tables (7)