Recovering energy and nutrients from the wastewater treatment process using Bioelectrochemical systems

Wastewater contains energy, yet we spend even more energy getting rid of it. If you find this statement incongruous then this PhD will be of interest, it will explore energy and nutrient recovery from wastewater. In an industry that has to meet strict regulations, and assets have typically a 50 year cycle, making radical change is difficult. Creating a chain of technologies, each one working where it can work optimally is likely to the approach which will allow new technologies to be applied. Several large scale treatment plants now have anaerobic digesters to recover energy from sludge, but in dewatering this sludge a liquid is produced that is extremely high in energy containing organics and nutrients. Currently this liquid is fed back into the top of the works to re-undergo treatment, loosing the energy and nutrients that have been concentrated. We propose a study to conduct an economic assessment of what can be recovered from the AD filtrate, and what the value of this might be. We will then explore technologies, in particular in the suite of bioelectrochemical systems, which may be used to recover the energy and nutrients. These technologies will be developed in the lab, and at a pilot scale, with a view to demonstrating a technology that can then be implemented into the treatment works.